Not a cryable offense

This is my new favorite thing to say to the kids. When I hear whining or crying, I assess the situation and if it is over something like a piece of rice stuck to a hand I will just tell them it is not a cryable offense and to stop crying. Mean mommy? Maybe. But these kids whine over EVERYTHING. That rice example is real. Happened to Dylan tonight. I did cut him some slack tonight, though. He has been running a pretty high fever all afternoon and he has spent 90% of his waking hours in my arms today. FYI, it IS possible to skewer kabobs with one hand and hold a sick little baby in the other.

Tough Bunnies

Whenever Sophia is in a negative mood and refuses to do something I ask her to do or requests something like candy for breakfast I tell her "tough bunnies", just do it or no you can't have that. It always amuses me when she replies that she doesn't want "tough bunnies" or that she is ok with it and says, "I WANT tough bunnies".

Another bit of amusement I had was last night after bath when Sophia was singing Baa baa black sheep. The verses weren't quite all the right words, however, the last one stuck out to me. In stead of one for the little boy who lives down the lane, she sings "one for the liggle boy who lives down in Maine". HA!

New Hair

Why does he fear me? Little ol' me? Notice how Dylan is cowering away from me.

Looks good here, we shall see after I wash it and have to run out the door with out drying it.

I didn't disown DYLAN after HIS hair cut! But then, he IS pretty cute.

At long last

Took a while to motivate myself, but the photos of our trip are up on shutterfly!

Amazing

I have been listening to Sophia run, jump and dance her way around the house singing away. She is just amazing and wonderful. Singing all her nursery rhymes, sometimes attempting to sing the real words, other times, just making them up for fun or to describe what she is doing - tippy toeing, etc...

In attempts to grow my hair out, I went out and got my hair cut. Yes, this makes sense to me. I would like it to be one length, and the bottom is growing out in the back and I have felt like I have a mullet. Tried out a new hair dresser. I can't say if I like it or not. Usually have to wait a week or so to see how workable it is and if I can do it myself. So far, I guess it is cute. Dylan was hilarious, though. I normally don't wear my hair straight as it takes too long to do so he doesn't see me like that. Well, I walked in the door and instead of running to me, he stopped at the kitchen stool and just stared. And stared. Not sure how long it was before he blinked. When I did finally pick him up, he wouldn't look at me. HA! So, now it is his turn. Ethan took him to the barber for their first father/son coiffing. My turn to stand and stare.

Why?

Story time with Sophia has been taken longer due to one word: why. She is more curious now and at each page she asks "why?" about 5 times. Why is there a nose? Why is he in a bucket?... I haven't even started reading yet and she has had 5 why's.

Today has been one of my longest days with the kids. The morning felt like I was living in "dog time" You know - one hour would pass yet it was actually 7 hours in people time? So, I was up for 21 hours by the time the clock struck 8am. Or so it felt.

Favorite word: Abbel (apple). Yes, Dylan says it about 10 000 times a day. He insists on getting one and for me to cut him a piece and then when I hand it to him, he turns his head away and says, noooooooooo. Did I mention today was extra long?

Eye spy with my little eye...

... a new incisor! Dylan will be returning to Quincy with a couple new teeth. I can see one incisor poking through and the other top one is just about through. Maybe he will stop thrashing around all night in his crib now and get some sleep!

All the cousins arrived yesterday and getting along well. There is another set of little arms eager to carry Dylan around even if he isn't so crazy about the idea. He has accepted this ride a few times, though and seemed comfortable. I took Dylan and Grace to a playground this morning and we scouted out a new beach.

3/4 mile

Look out, Eminem, there's a new block buster about to be shot: 3/4mile. Story of a toddler who would walk all on his own (accompanied by his grandpa) around a pond measuring 3/4 miles each day. Dialogue may get a little dry, consisting of mainly hiiiiiii and byyyyye as he passes each senior citizen and the occasional woof if one is walking their dog. I am sure he would sell out at the box office on his cute looks though. Even waking up at 4.15am today didn't stop him from going on his walk. New favorite word for Dylan, by the way, is Bo (boat).

Vaca day 3

Had a full day with the warmer weather. Started the day WAY too early, with Dylan waking us at 4.45... again. Went for a dip in the pool, Sophia enjoying it again and Dylan having fun dipping his feet in along the edge. Kids went down for early naps and Ethan went out to the boat rental early for a couple hours of fun on his own. When the young-uns woke we joined him around 1.30 and were out and about on the ocean for the next 3.5 hours. stopped for a little sandbar fun, saw a bunch of dolphins (ok, yes, I was the one who spotted them, and yes, I did refer to them as sharks. Easy mistake), and then headed home for dinner. Ethan and I enjoyed another hot tub/ pool dip under the stars and are back in our stations - laptop on each lap.

Little fish

The temp climbed to about 50 yesterday, so it was time for SWIMMING. Sophia was very anxious to try it out. She had never been in a pool before, so this was exciting for her. She was willing to brave the cold to get into the pool. I, too, therefore had to brave the cold and get wet with her. Ahhh, mother love. She had a great time and couldn't wait to try again today. The sun was warmer this morning and a little more tolerable. Looking forward to when it REALLY warms up next week and we can frolic by the pool. Bummed that Dylan isn't allowed in - still in diapers. Stupid pool rules... There is a cranky lady next to the pool that is a tattle tale apparently and looks for people not abiding by the stupid rules. Hmph. Heading out on the boat this afternoon. Dylan should be excited about that. Speaking of boats... There are NO toddler boat books around - board book with just a few words per page. SO, I have decided it is my job to write one. I need help though, so all you boat people, here is your homework. The theme/ tune will be to that of " When Barnacle Bill was one, he learned to play the drum..." Only, the word that rhymes with the numbers from 1 to 10 need to be a boat term or type of boat. For example, "When Barnacle Bill was Three, he rode his first jetski..." I am NOT the best person to come up with boat rhymes, so your help would be appreciated. Oh, and getting me a publisher, etc... would be cool too. :)

Flor-old-a

So, it is true. Old people really do come here and take over. I kind of feel like we are in a retirement community at the condo we are staying. Old people continuously walking by up and down the street. But then the oldies are everywhere else too.

Kids did pretty well on the plane. Dylan of course fell asleep about half an hour before we landed... They were not interested in any of the few toys I packed for more than 3 minutes. The best toy were the buttons for the lights and flight attendants above our heads. I think there is still a footprint across my cheek thanks to Dylan. It is a little colder. Ok, a LOT colder than I was hoping for so far. Not 8F, mind you that we left behind, but not bikini and ice cream weather either. We did have a warm welcome when we arrived at the condo, though, so that was nice.

Confirmed

I have been trying to teach Dylan how to say Sophia's name. I know he can do the consonants yet, so I have worked with what he knows. Ee-ah (S o f ee ah). He has pointed to her picture and referred to her now by saying Ee-ah!

Twice his age

Sophia is now twice Dylan's age. Not sure the exact day, but pretty much around now as she was a week shy of her 19mo "birthday" when Dylan was born. Trying to think back at how she was when he was born. In my mind she seems to have been much older than the little Dylan I cuddle today. Maybe because he is the youngest and Sophia has grown so much and knows so many more things, but I feel like Dylan is still a baby now. When he was an actual baby, though, I feel like Sophia was this big girl toddler. I can't remember he not talking much and expecting her to be more independent. I guess I keep going back and forth on this. I am amazed all the time by Dylan at how much he understands and knows, yet when I think of Sophia at this age I think "of course she knew all that" as she was the big sister already. I guess this will only make sense to me as I am not explaining it all very well here. Maybe I should have kept this blog piece in my head. :)