Helping Out

Natalie was still awake last night when I was taking my shower. I just started lathering my hair when she pulled the curtain back, spotted the water dripping from the spigot and dipped her hands into it. Then I heard her head out of the bathroom and down the hall.

Thirty seconds later, Natalie was back. She repeated her strange ritual. Thirty seconds later, again. And again. When I got out of the shower, she came into the bathroom, opened the washcloth drawer and took one out, then gestured at the faucet and said "eh, eh, eh". I asked her if she wanted me to turn it on, and she nodded her head "yes". She put the washcloth under the stream of water, looked at it and apparently decided it wasn't wet enough, and put it under the water again. When she was finally satisfied that there was enough water on the washcloth, she headed out of the bathroom and down the hall.

By this time, I was really curious so I quietly followed her. What I saw in the living room was this: The TV was tuned in to a football game. Ron was lying on the floor, staring at the TV. And Natalie was rubbing the washcloth into Ron's already-damp hair.

I guess she had decided he needed his hair washed, and was accomplishing the job slowly but surely. She must have known that Ron starts his new job today, and wanted him to look good for his first day.

Feeding the Baby

Natalie got a few dolls for her birthday, and surprisingly, Sam has been playing with them every so often. He's especially interested in the one that drinks her bottle, then wets her diaper.

Last night, I was cooking supper when he came into the kitchen clutching that doll. He said, "I'm feeding the baby!" and I said "mm-hmm" absentmindedly, without even looking. Then I finally looked up and, rather than seeing Sam feeding her a bottle, he was proudly nursing the baby.

I'm glad he still sees mama's milk as the natural way of things, in spite of Natalie being exclusively bottle-fed for the past four months.

Spontaneous Affection

Sammy will hug and kiss me goodbye in the morning before I leave for work, but other than that, he's not one for all that mushy stuff. I think I've only heard him say "I love you" a handful of times.

So I was surprised a few nights ago, when he spontaneously threw his arms around my neck and said "I love you." "I love you, too!" I said to him. "You're my favorite little boy in the whole world."

"I'm the BEST kind!" he replied.

Yes, you are, kid. Yes, you are.

Favorites of the week

Favorite bumper sticker: I don't have ADHD, I have ADOS (Attention Deficit....Oooooh, shiny)



Favorite blonde joke: A blonde takes her car into the shop to have it fixed. The mechanic comes out, tells her it's ready to go, and she says, "So, what's the deal?" "Just crap in the carburator," the mechanic replies. "Oh," the blonde says. "How often do I need to do that?"



Favorite Sammy moment: Last night at the dinner table, when he held a mouthful of milk in his mouth without swallowing. That usually ends badly, so I nagged him to swallow it until he finally did. "Thank you," I said to him. "It's back again," he said as he pursed his lips and puffed out his cheeks.



Favorite Natalie moment: When she learned to point at things to get what she wants. All week long, it's been....point, point, "nnnn, nnnn"

We went to the county fair last night, and on the way home, Sammy kept saying his tummy hurt. "I really sick," he said. "I need some medicine." I assured him that his tummy just wanted some healthy food, and he'd feel better after we ate supper.

We got home, and he went up the stairs. On the top landing, he threw up. It took everything I had in me to not do the same. There is nothing worse than the smell of vomit. This morning, he seemed fine, though, so it was hopefully just a case of too much fair food. He only ate two mini-donuts and drank some root beer float, though. That doesn't seem like much to me.

Enough talk about sicknesses for this week. Here is an excerpt from a recent performance by the 2-year-old:

(I never before realized that Are You Sleeping and Where Is Thumbkin share the same tune)
Are you sleeping
Are you sleeping
Brother John
Brother John
How are you at daycare?
How are you at daycare?
Run and hide
Run and hide

I Prefer Chocolate, Too

Grocery shopping with the kids yesterday, I was pushing the cart down the dairy aisle. When Sammy saw the eggs, he said hopefully, "Let's get the chocolate eggs today." I looked up to see that he was eyeing the brown eggs and practically drooling at the thought of all that "chocolate". If only, kid. If only.

Kids Say the Darndest Things

Kids crack me up. The following two conversations both took place within fifteen minutes of me waking up this morning.

Conversation #1: (background: we're going to a craft show later this morning; but like so many of the things we do on the weekends, it doesn't open until 10:00)

Sammy: "What we doing today?"

Me: "We're going to a craft show but it's not open yet. You wake up so early that nothing's open when you get up."

Sammy: repeating, "Nothing open." Then: "But my eyes are open!"

Conversation #2: (background: Natalie had a dirty diaper and I had just changed her)

Sammy: "Where Nye peanut go?"

Me: "Huh?"

Sammy: "Where Nye peanut....penis go?"

Me: laughing, "Well, she's a girl and she doesn't have one."

Sammy, chasing Nye who's crawling away, and pulling down the back of her diaper to check the way that I check for poop: "Let me check, Nye. Nope, no penis."

A rose by any other name...

This morning, the kids were up bright and early, as usual. This, coupled with the fact that I didn't get to bed until midnight last night, and Natalie was waking up to eat all night long, made for a very short night.

At some point during the morning, the kids and I were in my bedroom. I was changing my alarm clock forward an hour, and Sammy said, "What are you doing, Mommy?" and I said, "I'm being tired and crabby." Sammy said, "I look at 'tired and crabby', too" and picked up the alarm clock. I didn't bother correcting him. Tomato, to-mah-to, and all that.

We went out to eat for my birthday on Sunday. This is huge, because we haven’t ever taken both kids out to a restaurant. It was challenging enough when it was just Sammy.

We chose an all-you-can-eat buffet. Not the most exciting place I could have chosen, but there was a method to my madness. With really little kids, it’s all about getting in and out as quickly as you can, before anyone gets bored or melts down. So you see, a buffet totally eliminates all of the wait-to-order and wait-for-your-food time.

Before we went inside, we went over expectations with Sammy. I told him about restaurant manners, and how we all need to stay sitting at the table until everyone is finished eating. Spelling things out for him makes such a huge difference. We did have to remind him of his restaurant manners a couple of times while we were eating, but he did really well overall. I was so proud of him! He right away made small talk with the people at the surrounding tables. “This is chicken,” he said to the gentleman on his right. “That’s Nye,” he informed the people on our left. There are no strangers to him – just friends he hasn’t met yet. I don’t know where that social butterfly gene comes from. Certainly not from his dad or me.

This morning as I was putting on my earrings, Sammy watched me and then said, “Putting on your ornaments, Mommy?” Out of the mouths of babes.

Random acts of cuteness

Natalie recently started cooing. When she does this, she gets very animated, as though she’s carrying on a conversation. Over the weekend, she was doing this, and I said to Sam, “What do you think she’s saying?” I should have known he’d have a ready response. His answer: “Dirty diapers.”

There are a lot of birthdays right now in Sam’s toddler room at daycare. He’ll turn 2 on Wednesday; his friend M turns 2 today, and his friend A turns 2 on Thursday. They must have had a birthday party last week for another child as well, because yesterday Sam was digging in the garbage can in our office. He pulled out a rolled-up piece of cardboard, placed it on top of his head, and declared it a “birthday hat”.

He does keep us laughing.