Could It Be This Easy?

Annabelle just came up to me out of the blue and said "Mommy, I don't want to wear diapers anymore." Clearly I must have misunderstood her, just two days ago she informed me that she will be wearing diapers forever because she loves them so much. And not the pull ups either, real diapers. Naturally I asked what she meant by that and she repeated herself and then proceeded to tell me that she was ready to wear big girl pants and use the potty. This came as a mighty shock considering Annabelle has NEVER actually *gone* on the potty... Not for lack of trying on my part, of course. So when she asked if we had any monkey underpants (which we do) and could she wear them now (right when she was about to go in for a nap), I was overcome with a feeling that cannot be described in words. It was sort of a feeling of horror, dread, fear and joy all jumbled together. She was so pleased with her decision that there was no way I could have said no. So at the moment Annabelle is napping and wearing her big girl Curious George underpants and I am wondering how much laundry I will be doing today.

*Update: Annabelle of course woke up from her nap completely soaked. She has decided that she would be better off trying pull-up training pants for a while... I concur.

The Weed Wacker

Last Saturday was the first nice day in a loooooong time. Annabelle and Jack played outside most of the day with the little sand/water table that Jack got for his birthday. After Nick filled the water side of the table, Annabelle grabbed the hose and discovered that she could make a rainbow, so she set the nozzle to "mist" and made her own personal geyser!

Bored with the Geyser, Annabelle breaks out the bubble mower and attempts to give our weeds, I mean grass, a trim.

Quickly distracted by something much more exciting, Annabelle runs the mower directly in front of Jack, who was charging full speed ahead!

Baby Boy

Annabelle-isms

A few things Annabelle has said recently that have made me chuckle...

on riding her bike in the house:

Mommy, I need to park my bike in front of the spaceman door.

The spaceman door? We have a special door for space men?

No Mommy, the spaaaaaceman door. You know, where you take the laundry.

Do you mean the basement door?

Yes Mommy, the spaceman door.

on what to eat for dinner:

Mommy, will you make forgetties and neatballs for me?

running in to Jack's room one morning and discovering that he was not there:

Where's the little fella?

seeing Jack with his binky downstairs:

Remember the rules Jackie, the binky has to stay in your bed.

helping me make breakfast this morning:

I'm very proud of you for making me pancakes, Mommy!

trying to calm her little friend who was upset about a cookie:

(patting him on the back) It's OK, if you behave and stop crying maybe your Mommy will make banana bread for you.

and my personal favorite:

Excuse me, Mother.

What a Difference A Year Makes...

April 14, 2007
April 12, 2006

Happy Easter!!!

On Saturday we had an Easter egg hunt with the kids on our cult de sac. The kids all gathered at our neighbor's house while most of the adults went out and hid the eggs. They were each given a special basket for egg collecting... Jack of course swiped a couple of cars from the neighbor's house and carried them around in his big pink basket. When anyone tried to put an egg in his basket he looked at them like they were insane and then chucked it out.

Once Jack realized that the eggs were filled with candy he quickly changed his tune. Sadly by that time all of the 300+ eggs had been found.

Lucky for Jack, big sister Annabelle was on the case! She collected enough eggs for both of them and was happy to share the loot.

After the egg hunt, the sugar coated children all went back to the neighbors' and tore their house apart.

Happy Easter!!

Training Him Well

Our coffee maker has a little alarm bell that goes off to signal when the coffee has finished brewing. Jack has obviously picked up on this and has started calling out "coffee's ready" when the bell goes off!

LunesVille

This one decided to wear her biking gear around the house the other day. She was so excited about it that she refused to take it off, even when we went to the grocery store (the elbow pads are still on underneath the coat)! She walked around the grocery store in full kit and was the recipient of many looks and giggles. One evil little girl even scoffed at her. Not because she was wearing the helmet and knee pads but because she was wearing Dora!! Apparently, in her world Dora the Explorer is sooooo not cool anymore...
But wearing a helmet and knee pads in a grocery store is???

The Birthday Boy

I think that having one child who is very demanding, and loud, and dramatic, especially for a first child, has made me appreciate what an amazing little boy Jack is. I keep waiting for the "terrible two's" to start but really, nothing about Jack thus far has been too terrible. Apart from him being exceptionally mischievous, and having anger management issues when he wants something he can't have, he has been a real joy to be around!

Jack is very easy going. From the moment he wakes up he is just full of smiles. He never cries for no reason and he doesn't whine (yet). He is happy 95% of the time. He is very sweet and extremely tolerant of his older sister who is constantly trying to take things from him.

Jack is mad about all things with wheels, especially cars. You could stick him in a room with 1,000 different types of toys and after carefully inspecting each and every one he will most likely end up with a car or a train in his hands, which he will be content to play with for hours.

He is also fascinated by liquid. If there is any type of liquid within his sight line chances are that he will find it, spill it, splash around in it, and then try and drink up whatever is left. If he is outside and there is even the smallest puddle, he will find it and he'll usually end up sitting in it. He is a big fan of splashing around in our neighbor's birdbath. Also, he takes no prisoners when it comes to sippy cups...

Jack loves books. He loves to sit on my lap and read a story each night before bed. I let him choose his book and I don't even mind that it is almost April and I am still reading Twas the Night Before Christmas, because the way he says "Santa" is just that cute.

Jack is very observant. I often catch him watching things and then trying to imitate them. He could definitely be categorized as the "silent but dangerous" type. He also likes to inspect things to see how they work. Sometimes, watching the way he handles things I could almost imagine him being a surgeon, but then other times he's like a bull in a china shop... He is very good at knocking things over and dumping things out, and taking batteries out of things!

I love the way that Jack gets excited when he sees me, he gives me a giant smile and yells "Mommy!" (finally). I love how when I pick him up he'll give me a little pat on the back. I also love how sometimes if I'm standing at the sink washing dishes he will come up behind me and hug my legs, when I turn to look at him he will give me a huge sneaky smile and then run away.

I think it's funny that Jack hates Playdough. When he sees me getting the Playdough out for Annabelle he shakes his head and says "nooooo". He refers to Playdough as "ucky" and refuses to touch it but will happily sit at the table and play with the different cookie cutter shapes that came with it.

Over the past few month Jack's vocabulary has increased at an incredible rate and he has suddenly started speaking in sentences. He can count to about 10 (give or take a few numbers), knows most colors and shapes, and even knows his ABC's (in his own particular order)!

Jack is still a very, very, very messy eater and it scares me that he no longer wants to sit in his little booster chair. I can still get him in there on occasion but it's getting tricky, he wants to be like his big sister and sit in a big chair. He is growing up way too fast...

Happy Birthday baby boy!!!

Two Years Ago Today...

Happy Birthday Jack Henry!!!

I'm playing around with YouTube and stuck this up quickly. I'll try and put a better video together soon.

Cheeky Monkey-ness

Last night trying to get Annabelle into the house...

"Come on Annabelle, it's time to go in."
"No, no, no, Mommy. You can go in with Jackie and I'll stay here with my friends."

While putting the kids to bed...

"Ok Jack, let's go. Say goodnight to Annabelle."
"Night Monkey."

Some Big Shoes To Fill

Hanging out in Daddy's tennis shoes

Small (and cute) But Very Dangerous

Jack is a complete menace. We went to the Children's Discovery Museum yesterday and he absolutely tore it to shreds!

The Museum is an old Victorian house that has been converted into a super toddler haven of fun. Each room in the house sort of has a theme; on the bottom floor there was a train room, a ball room, a water room, and a drawing room with a big chalk board. Most of the kids there seemed to be able to keep all the props from the different rooms where they belonged. Not Jack...

He was running around like a lunatic from room to room, looking like a mad scientist in that splash apron, tracking water all over the museum and soaking everyone! He was throwing balls and trains and chalk into the water table and filling cups with water and tossing it EVERWHERE. He climbed into the water table twice and managed to get into the employees office at least 4 times. The whole time I was chasing after him trying to stop this (and I also looked like a crazy person)!

By the end of the day Jack was completely drenched and it was lucky for us that my neighbor had brought a change of clothes for her son who wears the same size as Jack because it was freezing outside! After I had changed him Jack threw a complete tantrum because I wouldn't let him back near the water table and I had to drag him out kicking and screaming... I don't think we will be allowed back there any time soon.

I'm So Sparkly!

Annabelle attended two birthday parties this past weekend... The first was a princess themed party on Saturday at which Cinderella and her pal Belle made an appearance. The princesses played a few games with the kiddies and then gave the girls a mini sparkly make over. Annabelle wasn't overly enamored by Cinderella, or Belle, but she was very excited to put on a fancy dress for the party and even more excited to get made up, as she kept exclaiming, "I'm so sparkly!"

After that sparkly was her word for the weekend... After having a bath: "look Mommy I'm sparkly clean!" After brushing her teeth: "look Mommy, my teeth are sparkly!" ...and so on.

The sparkly-ness finally toned down on Sunday when she went to the next party, which was Little Mermaid themed. After that all the talk was about the great blue cake that Lila's Daddy made and how she ate the frosting. Or should I say; how she repeatedly stuck her fork in the cake while they were singing happy birthday and ate the frosting before the cake was actually served?

A Week In Pictures

February 20-Just sat in the puddle

February 21-Laps around the house

February 22-Three, going on 16

February 24-Hot dogs and chips on Cape CodFebruary 25-Trains February 26-Too much padding. Can't. Move.February 26-The ShovellerFebruary 27-Never too sleepy to playFebruary 28-More laps around the house

"Saaaay Mommy"

Jack never says Mommy. Trying to get him to say Mommy has become a little game with us... He can say it, he just chooses not too. Whenever I ask him to say Mommy he smiles and laughs and moves on.

Yesterday I was trying to get him to say, "thank you Mommy" after I had given him a candy cane. Every time I said "saaaay thank you Mommy" he looked at me, said "thank you" and then laughed. I kept stressing, "thank you MOMMY" until finally he looked at me with his sly little smile and said "thank you for the candy cane".

Jack is 23 months old today!

Oh The Weather Outside Is Frightful

This weather is a nightmare. I hate it. I don't usually mind the cold, or the snow, but I can't stand when it snows and then rains and freezes, turning your street into a sheet of ice... Or when the snow plow piles everything up in front of your house making it almost impossible to shovel, because it is now a pile of ice.

It took me over an hour to get my car out of the driveway this morning. I never park in the driveway. I moved my car off of the street yesterday so that the evil snow plow could do it's job and instead of getting a nice clear spot where my car is usually parked, I got a pile of ice. Thanks snowplow guy. As an aside, my neighbor went to go by an ice pick.

I bent one of my windshield wipers this morning whilst trying to chisel the ice from my car. Normally I would take the optimistic approach and think of it as a motivator to go and get new wipers but annoyingly enough, in a rare moment of insanity I had recently made a trip to the Auto Zone and purchased new ones.

Apparently most of the stores in our area have run out of rock salt. I never understand why this happens. You would think that they would get it right by now... Supply and demand people. Every year there is winter in New England, every year it snows, every year people need rock salt. The shelf stockers should have figured this one out by now.

I hate that I can't take the kids outside to play. In the nicer weather going for walks to the park and playing outside is a HUGE part of our day. I would let them play outside in the snow if I weren't afraid that their snot might freeze, oh that and the fact that the snow is actually ice.

*update: Ice picks are hard to come by at the moment. On the upside, my nice elderly neighbors (who helped push my car this morning) have found some sand or something and gritted the driveway and our front walk!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Valentine's Day was pretty uneventful around here... It was too cold/snowy/rainy to go out so our neighbor and her 2 little boys came over to make cookies with Annabelle and Jack. They brought over chocolate heart shaped lollipops (seen here in the picture) and by the time they left all of the kids were hopped up on sugar and covered in flour and chocolate.

The rest of the day was spent running in circles around the house and making cards for Daddy.

Later on...

Annabelle gives Jack a big Valentine's Day hug

Or was she trying to choke him?

Out Of The Mouth Of Annabelle:

"Mommy, please stop... You can't sing".

*observation made while I was singing along to a CD in the car

Tickle? Me Elmo TMX

OR... Beat Me, Kick Me, Wrestle Me, Throw Me To The Ground And Run Me Over With A Shopping Cart Elmo.