Caught in the Act

The other day I let the kids go out in the backyard to play on the playset Steve built for them this summer. They were given strict orders to stay on the swings and not to climb up into the tower. Before anyone goes off about me being an overprotective mother, let me comment that the reason for the mandate is that Steve hadn't yet been able to reattach the slide that blew off in the 70mph wind storm we had the other week and I didn't want the kids forgetting about the gaping hole and falling out the front side of the tower. But back to our story... the kids were out there playing on the swings which isn't particularly fun for Colby at the moment because he can't get on the swing himself and also hasn't quite mastered the leg pump technique to keep himself going. I happened to glance out just in time to see my daughter pushing her brother on the swing and laughing with him. It's moments like those that remind me that my children DO love each other and that all the times I encourage them to treat each other with kindness really do sink in. As soon as she took a break, I called her over to praise her up. That, too, was a good lesson. She ran right back over and asked Colby if he'd like another turn on the swing - even moms need a reminder sometimes that kindness breeds kindness and praise goes further than admonition.

I....just.....can't....stop!

We've pretty much stopped napping Colby. If he naps, he's moderately more likable between the hours of 4 and 7pm, but then he won't go to sleep. He will remain awake in his bed, sometimes until after Steve and I have gone to sleep. It's not fun, so instead we keep him up and endure him between the hours of 4 and 7pm. Sometimes, though, we win some kind of parental booby prize where he shines during that time - perhaps out of utter exhaustion.

One evening after dinner he was so tired that when I touched him with my cold hands while helping him get his jammies on, he burst into laughter and giggled heartily for quite some time. Soon all I had to do was look at him with wide eyes and he would burst into hysterical laughter. If I simultaneously puffed out my cheeks, he was lost in peels of uncontrollable laughter until he couldn't breathe. I had settled him into bed and walked across the room to tuck Kailin in. I was doing her bed bugs when I noticed that he was sitting up, laughing uncontrollable again. I went back over and asked him what he was laughing at. He said Bubbee's bed bugs were funny. I told him that he needed to start settling down and he said, "I twying, Mommy. I.....*giggle, giggle, giggle*....... just......*giggle, giggle, giggle*...... can't.......*giggle, giggle, giggle*......stop!!" and truly he could not. Finally he did and I vowed to remember those moments the next time he was being....three and unbearable. It happened the very next day. And such is life with a three year old boy!

Jesus take the wheel....

I overheard the following conversation the other day while the kids were playing Little People in the living room.

K: "You have that one. And this guy is Jesus. And this is Jesus' truck."
C: "Oh, okay." (that boy will almost always accept anything his sister says and the absolute de facto truth!)
They went on playing for a few minutes when I then heard Kailin scream, "Colby!!! WHAT did you do to Jesus?!" I never did learn what sad fate had befallen the Lord, but I trust that it wasn't a nice one! When I relayed this story to a friend of mine she asked if Jesus was a Ford man or.... I guess I never went in the living room to see which truck was His, so it'll have to stay a mystery.

Later that very same day as I was finishing up our supper, Kailin was puttering around helping me by setting the table. She said, "I'm a puff-head, I'm a puff-head...." over and over. Then she asked, "Mom, do you know what I am?" I postulated, "a puff-head?" "Nope, I'm a pothead!" "Uh....let's not say that one again, okay?" Lovely. My five year old aspires to be a pothead. I suppose that, on the bright side, we know it's something she can achieve. Ha ha.

Horton, Peter Sam, and Sebastard

Three guys walk into a bar.... no wait...three kids sitting at my kitchen table.

Today at lunch Kailin started calling Colby "Horton". She said he likes it. He didn't object. Colby started calling Dawson "Peter Sam". He didn't imply that Dawson liked it. Dawson didn't object.

Later today at lunch, Kailin was talking about "The Little Mermaid" and she said that her favorite part was the one where Ariel does "this" (where "this" is a lot of arm waving that I don't recall Ariel actually doing...) and that she didn't like the parts where Ariel has lost her voice. I agreed that I don't like it when she's lost her voice, but told her that my favorite part is where Sebastian is singing to Eric and Ariel and that happens when she doesn't have her voice. She agreed. "The part where Sebastard is singing is pretty good. And then those fish dump the boat over." She continued to use "Sebastard" throughout the day - even though I continued to say it correctly.

I giggled to myself each and every time and then found new and interesting ways to get her to say it. I know - I'm horrible. Then at dinner I tried to get her to say it for Steve and she said she couldn't remember his name. Finally, on the way home from open house at school she did remember and then Steve and I laughed together for a very long time.

I'm moving out....

Last week just before bed, Kailin and I had a long discussion about what happens when kids grow up. "What will you do," she asked, "when Colby and me grow up?" "Be sad and lonely," I said. "Why?" "Because you'll grow up and move out and this house will be horribly quiet." "What?" "Well if you're not here talking and giggling then it's going to be quiet." "Why won't I be here?" "Because when you get all grown up you will move out and have your own house." "Why would I do that?" "You'll want to have your own place, trust me. Now it's time for bed. Goodnight!"

Today at lunch, Kailin very seriously informed her brother that when they get all grown up, I will be moving out. Me. I told her that she was a bit mistaken. She told me that I must be joking. I told her that I most definitely was not moving out. She's convinced, still, that I am joking. I guess we'll see who's right - maybe by the time the kids are grown they will indeed finally have taken over the house and we will actually flee....

Another one bites the dust...

And another one's gone, another one's gone, another one bites the dust....

Kailin lost her second tooth today. It went the same way as the first - unnoticed and swallowed. She finally felt that it was gone and came running for confirmation. She also spent a great deal of time in front of the mirror admiring her new smile. Ha ha. I am just glad that it happened before school pictures. It's all about me, you know. I did want her to be kind of toothless for pictures because I figured that by next year she'd have at least some of her "big" teeth in.

She called my mom and also talked to Steve. She told them both that she wished she could stop eating her teeth "and just put it in a bag under my pillow so the tooth fairy could change it into 'sun-tin'". Poor kid. She took it in stride. She and her equally overtired brother are watching 101 Dalmatians at the moment and then she's going to write ANOTHER letter to the tooth fairy for tonight.

Toothwatch 2010

I've been remiss in posting updates to Toothwatch 2010. As is typical, the tooth has become looser and looser but had continued to refuse to "loose out".

As of yesterday, the tooth was able to be pushed completely horizontal in either direction and the tiny jagged "roots" were showing. We cajoled Kailin into giving it a good yank, but nothing happened.

We were up at the lake cottage this weekend and ate lunch on the road home today. I made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches as they have been something she's been able to bite without pain and the idea of cutting up any sandwich into tiny pieces for "road eating" with 2 dogs in the back and no good way to clean up the kids after the meal was not desirable. She did complain a bit that biting the sandwich was hurting, so I told her to tear pieces off and left it at that.

When we stopped for a bathroom break, I was loading the kids in the car and thought I caught a glimpse of a gap-toothed smile. Sure enough, the tooth came out sometime during lunch and has been swallowed. I was a little nervous that given the overtired and overemotional state of my darling daughter she would burst into tears and mourn it's loss, but she actually giggled about it and agreed that we'd write the tooth fairy a little note explaining that she ate her tooth. She's hoping the tooth fairy will think it's funny and she assures me that, like Santa Claus, the tooth fairy knows everything and she's already keen to the story. I guess we'll see!