-isms

Wade'isms

*I don't remember how to 'ism something with a vowel at the end. I always thought you were supposed to drop the vowel, but then you'd have WADisms... which just sounds phlegmy.

1. He still hasn't grown into his ears, but he is now heavier than L.

2. He likes to randomly eat goose poop - which drives me bonkers.

3. It is going to take a long time to train him to walk properly.... he's a terrible walker.

4. He has dug several impressive holes in the backyard.

5. He is a ridiculously loving, affectionate puppy.

G - isms

1. He is still having number 2 issues. Potty training is significantly more frustrating with him than with D, because G honestly wants to be "a big boy" and he can't figure out why he keeps having accidents. He also doesn't seem to understand why we keep getting so frustrated with him when he makes a huge mess in his pants.

2. Current favorites are Iron Man and Lightning McQueen. He still loves Thomas, but "McQueen Car" has been a big deal lately.

3. One of his favorite shows right now is Doc McStuffins.

4. His speech is much clearer now; I can hear the "witty" retorts in his fights with D... "No - YOU GET DOWN D___!" as apposed to his previous screeching. It is only a small step ahead.

5. He dresses himself in the morning without being asked. Something D hasn't figured out, yet.

L - isms

1. She will still drop everything to dance to Gangnam Style. Luckily, though, she has stopped specifically requesting it.

2. She loves Thomas the Tank Engine.

3. She has to sleep with her talking Abby Cadabby doll every night, (a gift from my friend J for her first birthday), and will not settle down without Abby. Since she is still sleeping in our room, every morning we wake up to Abby Cadabby's voice singing about how fun rhyming is.

4. She still maintains the temper she's had since she was born. She is a feisty girl! When her brothers take something from her, or knock her down, she lays right into them. She certainly sounds like she is swearing.

5. She has discovered, "NO, MINE." Huzzah.

D - isms

1. D loves board games. He has walked right into that age and wants to play board games every single night. Luckily, I can usually convince him to play one of the games that I don't mind playing, but he still doesn't seem to understand that he isn't going to win each time.

2. I'm reading him Harry Potter, a chapter each night. I've given him the option to opt out of reading it, if he can't sit still. We have finished three chapters and he has asked not to read two nights... so right now the ratio is every other night. We watched the movie in order to get him interested in the series, and it worked. Harry is on his way to the Wizard World tomorrow.

3. He is obsessed with Lego culture. He spends a ridiculous amount of time thinking about Legos, but can't actually build anything, yet. I've put together some of the Legos that we have, but he just tears them apart. I honestly wonder if he actually LIKES playing with Lego, or if it is a marketing thing.

4. He is a bossy pants. He is SUCH an oldest child. He gets pretty upset if G doesn't want to play exactly how he wants to play.

5. He desperately wants to have a play date with his friends at school. I've sent letters to school with him to give to his friend's parents requesting a play date, but he is devastated that no one has called him, yet. I'm thinking I may have to call one of his friend's parents and ask about a play date... which terrifies me because I am always so awkward about those types of things. I talked to a mother down the street who has a little girl in D's class about her daughter coming over for a play date, but she has avoided talking to me since then... so I'm guessing that is a no.

Top Bunk D

G's New Bed

G spent his first night in his big boy bed!

He loved it and is completely ready to pass on his toddler bed to his baby sister.

Spicy and Wade

Some people think that I'm completely nuts for getting a new puppy;

Daefyd thinks that I got him a puppy for his birthday...

... but in reality, I got the puppy for Spicy!

Big Girl Bed

Can't Sleep... SO Here are some random pictures

Pretending to be Han Solo frozen in carbonite

Taking Galactus for a walk

Love for Brobee

Bee

Wade

YES, I am aware that there are no G pictures.

I couldn't find any where he was wearing pants.

Potty Training Update: Karate

We decided to potty train G this summer. We started early and tried several different methods. We tried bribing him with candy, which didn't work. Then we tried bribing him with tattoos, which worked great for a little while and he started transitioning out of wanting the tattoos and into just using the little potty by himself. In the early summer he went six weeks wearing underpants all day, with minor accidents, and Pull-Ups at night.

... and then he regressed. He regressed so badly that he was asking to be called , "Baby G,"and wanted me to put him only in diapers. So, we made him wear underpants instead, and he soiled pair.. after pair... after pair. He went back into Pull-Ups full time and was going through them so often that I completely cut him off of name brand Pull-Ups with Lightning McQueen on them to the much cheaper, no name brand with Shrek on them. He was not happy about losing McQueen - but he was going through a bag a week... which is INSANE. We tried everything. Nothing worked.

At the beginning of the summer we would praise him and tell him that he was doing such a great job that he could join Karate classes with D in the fall... until he regressed and we tried to tell him that he wouldn't get to go to Karate anymore, because he couldn't use the potty.

Last week D had his first week of Karate and G did not go. He was understandably upset and we explained that because he couldn't use the potty, like a big boy, he couldn't do big boy things - like Karate.

This past week he is a changed kid - he uses the potty without being asked (the real toilet, even, not just the little potty). He has also seemed to overcome his fear of pooping on the potty - which drove P crazy.

So, this week we rewarded his hard work by taking him to Karate.

He loved it!

In unrelated, yet related, news, the puppy is almost housebroken. Huzzah.

Chocolate

I have a whole box of chocolate that I need to sell.

So buy some chocolate, okay?

Birthday Party

Two of my favorite tiny people celebrated birthdays this weekend.

It was a superhero theme and my kids had no problem with that one.

Here are some of my favorite shots of the day.

Birthday Boy Number 1

Birthday Boy Number 2

Meet The Creature

D felt uncomfortable with me meeting his new teacher. Maybe because he has only met her twice. He had no problem with me meeting his jk teacher and actually encouraged it.

Tonight was Meet the Teacher night at his school, and while P was working, I took all three kids to go and check things out.

D was excited about showing me his new room, but didn't have much interest in showing me anything else. His teacher seems nice enough. We ran into a couple of his friends in the hallways, kids that had been to his birthday party, and he was happy to say hi to a couple who are in the Monday/Wednesday class, that he won't be seeing as much anymore. He also told me all about his new friend "Cam."

But, before we left he NEEDED to see his jk teacher. She had hung the melted crayon art that we made with her name on it by the door. He was so excited to see her that he ran into the room, yelled her name, and gave her a giant hug. Maybe he just misses his jk teacher.

First SK Homework

I wanted to share this because it was pretty cute.

D had to make an "All About Me" poster for his first SK homework. He made the exact same one last year, but did this one all on his own. He decorated it himself, I just cut out the pictures for him and helped him glue them on straight (he was getting frustrated if the pictures didn't fit in the designated box).

On the back it reads:

This is a picture of me... sticking my tongue out.

My family is... My Mom, My Dad, G, L, me PLUS my new puppy Wade, Spicy and Beowulf

I like ... Marvel and DC Superheroes

I don't like ...  olives and tomatoes

This summer I... went bike riding with Pa

I am special because... I do karate and soccer

He was *SO EXCITED* about this that, even though he was in bed, when he heard P come home from work he NEEDED to tell him to look at his homework. He also wanted me to call Pa and tell him about the poster. After talking to my Dad I thought I might share the poster here, so that he could see it.

Memories, and By Memories, I mean a box of Eagle Crap

My parent's moved recently.

My Dad found a box somewhere labelled "L's Stuff" and set it aside to give to me this weekend.

I popped it open when I got home to see what was in it.

Here is a short and incomplete inventory of what was inside:

- one bridesmaid troll doll (I used to have the whole wedding party)
- my old jewelry box with some of my great-grandmother's jewelry
- my high school sketchbook
- all of my 35mm negatives from 1998 until 2000
- some really (REALLY) bad teenaged angst art
- a small collection of soapstone animals
- an ugly vase
- two naked baby angel knick knacks
- a glass apple that I was given after completing my co-op in a grade one/two class
- a cow statue
- a wooden box I made in elementary school at 'design and tech.'
- a shell
- sand art I made with my brother when we were on vacation one year
- my first bible, that was actually my cousin's, that I discovered when I opened it up and saw her name printed on the inside
- the magazines that I bought right after 9/11 to document that time
- one of my baby booties
- a Scottish doll my grandmother brought me from ... Scotland
- a cross I was given on my baptism
- a coffee table book of Monet paintings
- a cedar egg that you were supposed to use to soak up shoe stink
- some other random crap that I am forgetting even though I went through it less than an hour ago

and

- a LOT of eagle stuff; a stuffed eagle toy, an eagle statue, a picture of an eagle on a wooden board, a pewter eagle on some sort of purple crystally thing, and (MY FAVORITE) a collectible eagle plate.

To be honest, I am parting with most of this crap... but I can't part with the eagle stuff - because it makes me laugh far too much. I've GOT to find a place on my wall to hang the eagle plate...

... oh man, I was a weird kid. My kids don't stand a chance!

First Day of SK

First Day

First Day of Montessori 2012

104 Days of Summer Vacation, 'til School Comes Along, Just to End It...

Last Day of Summer Vacation... *sigh*