curious

O: Dada, let me smell your belly. [sniff] Ewwwwww!  Gross!  That's 'sgusting.....

Hmmm.  How you got that hole in your belly?

wow, they talk a lot

Oliver, quit acting like a baby.

Don't call me a baby.  That is very rude.  That is very naughty.

comments from j, today

To me:
Mama, I love you so much. I just wish I could care about you.

To Matt (while playing horse on Matt's stomach):
This game of lumpy horse is so much fun!

never can catch a break

Mama, I feel hors-ble today. And I had a bad, bad nap.

the beyond

Mama, are there bad guys with God?

No. Everyone with God is good.

But there are bad guys here...

Yes. Sometimes people make bad choices on earth.

But why?

I don't know. That's why we have the freedom to make choices. So we can learn from them. I'd rather make kind and loving choices. What about you?

Well I'm going to be a policeman so I can stop the bad guys. But one day a bad guy got up into Heaven. And he got near God. God had to stop him. So He put him in jail.

awwww

I took the time to "do" J's hair today. This involves blow-drying it so that the front sticks up. It's adorable. He's adorable all the time. But this is just...different somehow.

I just asked him "how'd you get to be so cute?"

God.

are you ok?

Matt: [sneeze]

O: Da-da? 'K? Da-da....'k?

Yeah, buddy. I'm ok.

Here da-da. Noh. (nose) Here, da-da. 'K? [hands Matt tissue]

learn to deal with it

Matt is taking an antibiotic that leaves a gross taste in his mouth. Last night, he was groaning about the taste and J overheard it.

Daddy, just don't complain. If you stop complaining, it will just taste better.

love hearing them interact

Brudda?

What?

Cookie! Loo-K. Cookie!

No. That's not a cookie. It's a game. Can you say game?

GAY!

Good job!

Brudda?

this is what sick's like

During the times of 105 degree fevers, I spent most of the days doing this:



He was miserable, clingy, whiny, tired, grumpy....you name it, that was him. He spent the nights in our bed (or maybe is still in our bed....he's not well enough for me to determine whether or not it's changed his sleep patterns yet). And so, his naps have gone out the window too. I've learned 2 very important things during this week of holding him while he sleeps.

1. He snores like an old man! That kid has some serious noises coming out of him. I'm not quite sure how he doesn't wake himself up.

2. My 4 year old is much more resourceful than I had given him credit for. After holding a napping Buggy for 2 hours (after he had already slept 2 hours) I came downstairs to find J playing nicely in the family room floor. When I went to throw something away, I found 4 go-gurt wrappers in the trash.

Oh my! You've gotten so big that you opened these wrappers yourself!

No, actually. I couldn't open them. I jus' got the scissors out. But I didn't cut off my fingers!

Well, there's that at least.

can you follow these rules?

While playing "game", J described the rules to us....

If you lose, you lose. You don't get a turn. But if you win, you get another turn. So only if you win can you get a turn. The winner keeps going. If you lose, it's not your turn. You lose. Ok??

Um, sure. Ok.

Some pictures from "game" And just in case you're dying of curiosity, game has no real rules, other than the ones we make up as we go....but it involves throwing balls up the stairs.


Buggy just wanted to walk on the stairs.


So we had to add the gate.

throwing words back at me

This morning I was a little frustrated with the way the kids were being clingy and whiny. J was standing in a doorway I was trying to walk through. After unsuccessfully asking him to move, I said "could you just move out of my way!"

He looked at me with a frown and said: don't say that to me! It's a (dis)respectful, rude choice!

circular logic

What's a boovy trap?

Matt: it's when you have a treasure and you don't want people to get it. So you put little traps around it to fool people.

Like a boovy trap?

[pause]

Yeah, like that.

self-esteem isn't lacking

Aren't I such a cutie-smarty pants?

what more could the less fortunate possibly want?

J: I'm feeling awful today.

Why?

Because some kids don't have any toys. Some kids don't have a Batman-cave. I should give those kids my batman-cave....

......then I can get that dragon castle.

Valentine's Day

I love this day. I love love. I love roses, daisies, hearts, pink, candy, sweets, romance, poems....well, I love it all. I know there are Valentine's day naysayers. And while I agree that love should be celebrated every day, I think there's just something wonderful about the over-the-top, mushy stuff that is February 14th. Whether it's romantic love, familial love, or friendly love, I think this day is so special.

I want my boys to grow up loving this day as well. So, I started the day off special. I put them in their special Valentine's shirts.

Man of your dreams

Loads of Love

I decorated, and left a vase of goodies just for them.





For school, J brought Valentines for his classmates. He also had a mail truck to collect his Valentines from his classmates.


After J's school day, they got to eat their goodies. And boy, did that go over well!





I took them to the park. They always love the park. It's a special treat any time it happens. (phone images....sorry for size!)





And for dinner, I planned a love-themed menu. Red strawberries, pink-dye hard boiled eggs with hearts drawn on them, and pink-dye pancakes in heart shapes.



Then we snuggled in bed and read several stories about love and family. All in all, a great day. And I hope they end up loving Valentine's day as much as I do.

we might be too into glee...

yah, yah, gah guh grey
yah, yah, gah guh goooo
yah, yah, yah, yah, yah.

Ollie speak for "What if God Was One of Us"

regarding getting rid of pull-ups overnight

It's my privilege to NOT tinkle in the bed. Then I get a lot of presents.

sick

Me: J, I think you need another breathing treatment.

J: Whyyyyy?

Me: Because you keep coughing.

J (cough, cough, cough): No (cough, cough) I (cough) don't! (cough, cough, cough, cough, cough)

18 months....

err, make that 19.5 months. And that's how delayed our doctor's appointment was.

It started out routinely enough. He runs around the office, giving me near palpitations at how many germ-infested things he touches, and I try to pretend he's not actually touching anything.

Then we get escorted back to our room, where the nurse proceeds to torture him by taking his temperature and checking his height. Oh, and he's also naked (other than a diaper) which is the equivalent of his worst nightmare (more on that in another post). Nurse-Helpful reaches to take him from my arms so that she can weigh him in another room. He turns his head, burying it into my shoulder, and gives me a look like "is this lady for real? She wants to hold me after taking my temperature?!?"

So I carry him to be weighed, where again, he melts into hysterical sobs when I put him down. A clown hangs above the scale. Nurse-Helpful tries to show him this. Seriously? A clown? Who on earth thinks clowns are fun? Ollie takes after his father and cries harder.

I manage to calm him again when Nurse-Helpful leaves. For the record, she only ever appears for the initial weigh-ins at well visits and to give shots...perhaps that's why neither of my kids like her. They much prefer the Sick-Nurse, who knows us by name and always remembers quirky things about both of my boys. In fact, Sick-Nurse popped in to say hello and ask where big brother was that day (thankfully at school).

Long story short, Height: 34 3/4 inches (95 %). Weight: 31 lbs., 3 oz. (95%). Head circumference: off the charts. Vaccinations: 2. Tears: Many.

When I mentioned his big head, the pediatrician said "It's not big. It fits right in with the rest of him." And that's why I love her. She's so wonderful and fantastically on top of things with how behind we are on shots. She always knows exactly when he can and can't have another vaccine without me even having to tell her. She was so happy with how far he's come with his sensory issues and his walking. She was also glad to see his ear tubes in place. That has been the best decision! With all the sicknesses miraculously gone, he's made huge progress and is healthy for the first time in a long time.

Pre-shots and before he was aware there was something to be fearful of (sorry for the crappy cell-phone quality pics):