Easter Bunnies

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Some of us in the house have the "Gift of Administration".  For Easter, my parents came over to color eggs with the kids.  Darrell and I were working on some stuff and when I walked into the kitchen, there was Gramps, filling up dye baskets and getting things going.  I was a little surprised; not that my dad had taken charge but I thought that he'd have waited till we had cameras and such rolling.  I then noticed that some chocolate bunnies were missing from the counter.
Duke had told Gramps "he was in charge of getting the egg coloring" and he had kindly taken some chocolate bunnies and given them to himself, my mom and Lilly.
Egg coloring proved to be hilarious.  Lilly thought every color was pink, and was especially thrilled when her hands turned color after "rolling" the eggs in the dye.  We put stickers on the eggs this year.  A cammo pack had the funny shaped squigglies to make the egg look cammo (duh).  Lilly called them poop.
Duke looks over at Lilly and says "You are VERY naked!" (she was in panties, but yes we wanted to save her clothes).  It became apparent that grandparents do not have the kind of reflexes/multi-tasking abilities that parents of small, quick children have to develop.

Earlier in the week we were getting in the car and Duke asked me if he could learn to drive.  WHAT?!?!  I thought I had a couple more years before we had this conversation...  I explained that legally he'd have to be 15 to learn to drive.  He then asked if he could get a car.  I explained that by 15 he could certainly have a job, so if he saved some money, yes he could buy himself a car.  This then prompted Lilly to tell me that she wanted to be "older", namely "2". 
This is all happening so fast...

What's in a Name?

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Duke and I travelled to Mecca (JoAnn Fabrics) this past weekend to pick out some fabric for Judd's sheets and changing pad covers.  So, when you see his room please keep in mind that I had input from other sources.  (Of course, I realize now that I should have taken his choice for the changing pad cover... but oh well.)
We are checking out and Duke is talking to the lady at the cash register.

"My name is Duke."
"How old are you?"
"I'm 3."
"I have a grandson that will be three soon."
"I have a new baby brother that's going to come out soon.  His name is Judd."
I interject and say that we also have a sissy at home and prompt him to tell her name.
"Sissy's name is Lilly."
"How old is your sissy, is she older or younger?"
"She's 1.  Sissy is 1."

There was some silence, or what resembles it in Duke (him mumbling and generally living on his own little planet), while I finished the transaction.  As we are walking away from the counter, he very earnestly is trying to tell the woman something.  I stop to give him the chance.

"This girl's name is Mommy," he says.
Gotta love it.

Lilly

Monday, February 7, 2011

We had Lilly's hearing tested when she was about 16 months old because she didn't say anything.  Didn't even make many sounds other than "Abet abet abet."  Since the hearing test for children consists of the child holding perfectly still while someone is putting a probe in their ear for 2 minutes, you can imagine that the results were inconclusive.  Rather than have a more lengthy (costly, dangerous) procedure done requiring anesthetics, we opted to wait till she was closer to 2 years old to see if it was an issue.

I am happy to say that her hearing must not be a problem.  Her speech is rapidly taking off.  While her pronunciation isn't perfect, she sure likes to say a lot of things, even sentences now which are usually prefaced with her favorite word No.

"No, I don't want to."
"No, mine mine mine."
"No, me me me me."
"No, I do it."
"No, I hold it."

You get the picture!  While she is slightly contrary and definitely has a little red-headed mind of her own (where on earth does she get that from!?!?!?!) she is very sweet, and seems to grow so more each day.  Maybe now that she can "express herself" verbally she's able to be a little sweeter physically (thankfully for brother, who hasn't had any bite marks in a while...).  She LOVES to help.  In fact, she won't take no for an answer.  Whether you're doing laundry, carrying something, unloading the dishwasher, etc. it's "I help".  And while a 20-month old isn't exactly helpful, I just hope that she keeps the desire to help for a few years when it will come in handy!

The thought that counts?

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Duke has one speed when it comes to things that have to be done.  That of a snail.  Eating, making his bed, riding a bike, any of these things can be dragged on for hours.  This morning he had a few extra chores and I was exhorting him, again, to hurry as the rest of us had already eaten our breakfast.  His was stone cold and he'd have to eat alone. 

"You stay in the hall, Mommy.  Don't come to the kitchen."
"Excuse me?  I am going to come to the kitchen."
"Why don't you lie down and take a break, Mommy.  Aren't you tired?  Would you like a little rest?"
I am not kidding you, he didn't even hesitate before changing gears.  The saddest part was, it almost worked!

Just a few funnies

Sunday, January 2, 2011

This morning before "wake-up" time (which should more appropriately be called "release from our room time" since they've usually been up looooong  before this magical hour arrives) I walked by the room to hear Duke talking to Lilly by her crib.  This is obviously something we're trying to discourage, the bedroom-sharing being new and each one instigating the other when they're trying to sleep.  But, it was close to freedom time and I saw that he was putting his pants on after going to the potty, so I stood there and listened for a minute to hear what he was saying.
"You're going to be a Mommy.  You're going to be a Mommy, Lilly and I'm going to be a race car driver."
If you've ever seen him drive his Jeep, you know that'll take a miracle.

A friend got him some G.I. Joe figurines for Christmas.  He keeps asking me what they are called as he'd never heard of them or had anything like that before.  This morning he was asking me about the "E-I-E-I-Joes."  Darrell suggested we take the kids to "Old McDonald's" (what Duke calls Micky D's) for breakfast!

One of the little crafts Duke made a school for Christmas was a photo of him dressed with wings and a halo.  "I'm not an angel, I'm a fairy, Mommy!"  We'll need to do more work on the story of Jesus' birth next year; I'm fairly certain there is no mention of fairies being invited to the party.

Catching Up

Monday, December 20, 2010

So, you may have noticed that I haven't posted anything for a very long time.  There were some comments made by a person who shall remain unnamed which went something like "your silly stories on your little blog."  Regardless of the intent, the result was me swearing off my blog for a while.  But, my kids do such funny things, and it's hard to get them all in my updates on my shutterfly site.  And hopefully I am starting to feel well enough to get some of my life back...

"How do you spell water?"
"W-a-t-e-r."
"I want some w-a-t-e-r please."
We've been doing reading lessons with Duke the last few weeks and he is really into spelling. 

The kids started sharing a room last night.  It didn't go as badly as it could have.  Lilly cried (she was the one who got displaced, so that was understandable) and Duke tried to comfort her.  "It's OK Lilly, lie down and go to sleep.  Can you cover yourself up?  Do you have your binky?  Mommy will be back at wake up time."  This went on for about 15 minutes (it seemed much longer) as we stood by the door to make sure he didn't try to climb into her crib.  She stopped crying and then started laughing, talking, etc.  If Duke was quiet for even a moment, she'd call out, "Duke!  Duke! (which sounds like Doo, Doo)  Hi!  Hi!" until he answered. 
One of the last things I heard him say before he fell asleep was, "Yes, that's my name Lilly.  Can you say your name?  Lilly.  My name is Darrell, but my also name is Duke."  My poor kids, all with also-names!
I didn't know how early they'd wake each other up this morning, and I was sure it'd be Duke waking her since he's my early bird.  But she got up before him, was jabbering away and calling his name again until he woke up.  "Can you see me Lilly?  I'm here.  Are you OK?" "Yeah."  And so on until 7 am, again with us hovering outside the door to keep people in their respective places.
Nap time was a different challenge.  Since Duke doesn't nap anymore and has a (not-so) quiet time, we explained over and over again the importance of being quiet so Lilly could sleep.  Needing a nap myself, I left poor D to cover for me.  He said they were making a lot of noise for a while, and then after it was quiet for a bit he heard "open your eyes Lilly, open your eyes" and by the time he got back to their room, he was poking her in the forehead through the slats of her crib.  D decided that Duke had enough quiet time for one day.

Duke wanted to play hide and seek with Lilly.  It was her turn to hide first.  We told her to hide and she dropped right where she was and buried her head under her hands. 

My crazy hunch was correct.  This baby is a boy.  And if I hadn't had a hunch, apparently I should have known by my out-of-control weight gain.  I've gained twice as much with this baby as I had with Lilly at this time.  Yikes.  And Christmas hasn't even come yet when I gorge myself with lots of delicious, calorie-laden foods for days at a time!  We know the Lord has not blessed me with willpower, so we will pray that my metabolism holds on for another year or so at least.  And the weather is not particularly cooperative for this Florida girl to go walking in the morning.  I am not getting out of bed if it's 32 degrees.  Period.

Overheard

Thursday, May 20, 2010

I never imagined the man I would marry saying, "You know, it's the typical scenario like getting everyone together for Dungeons and Dragons."
*(as an aside, I'd like to say that Darrell couldn't be a better husband or father.  Sometimes what we imagine is neither what we need nor what is good for us.  And I find it perfectly acceptable that while I'll poke fun at him for D&D, I personally have always wanted to try LARPing.  Maybe in a tutu.  Now I'll know how many people read this blog becasue certainly that will get some comments!)
"Happy Pretend Valentine's Day" is what I was greeted with when I went in to get him after quiet time one day last week.  Followed by, "What are we going to do for Pretend Valentine's Day?"  I don't know, there weren't any crafts for this particular holiday in my book...  My answer?  Let's go swimming!  Since we can't do it on real Valentine's Day, why not?

After spilling a whole bowl of pasta (of course with red sauce) on the (white) tile floor and subsequently watching the dogs lick it up, he said, "Oh, thank you dogs!" as they walked away from the now-cleanest-spot on the kitchen floor.

"Please make the fish cakes.  And not let Nonni take them all."  (A few weeks ago he had helped me cook dinner by crushing the crackers with a mallet for fish cakes.  I told him he could have one the next day as they weren't going to be ready for his dinner time.  The next day he asked for one and I had to tell him that Nonni had come over and we had eaten them all.  Apparently the blame lies with Nonni in his mind...)

"Miss Carmen, did you ever see a thing?" Miss Carmen is our swim instructor, and Duke has quite a crush on her. While he used to encourage his sister on during lessons, his cheers now consist of "Good job teaching her Miss Carmen" and "You're doing good Miss Carmen." I have to think she appreciates this; anyone who's ever seen an ISR swim lesson knows that the kids do nothing but scream for 10 solid minutes (and some from the time they turn down her street.) I have confirmed with her that Duke is the only person, ever, who has cheered for her during a lesson. (She did say she’ll get calls from parents whose kids have fallen in and not drowned thanking her, but after the fact.)  She's quite the catch for a boy like Duke; having two little boys of her own, she knows a lot about dinosaurs, lizards and fishing.  She also scuba dives.
It seems that he likes the older, dark-haired ladies. He also has a thing for Miss Amber, his sitter. He did slip up though; yesterday when she was over he called her Miss Car-mber. Oops. Gonna have to get a little better at that before you can juggle multiple women!