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.