Things that warm a mother's heart (NOT!) continued....

I suppose I will need an entire section (of my life) devoted to things like this and this and this!

PLEASE stop screwing me!

...said the four-year-old to his two-year-old screw driver-wielding brother....

Are we there yet?

It's a little cramped around our house right now. Between construction and a crawling baby, there are MANY road blocks inside and around our house. The other day our 4-year-old and 2-year-old were sitting behind a baby fence (yes, apparently when you're old enough to be OUTSIDE of the fence, it's more fun to be INSIDE). They were pretending to drive to Magic Mountain (which is only about a half-hour away). This was their conversation:

2YO: We're going to Magic Mountain. How far is it?
4YO: It's 2 hours away, 1...2...we're there!

Jump Mommy Jump!

Who knew that jumping around could be so much fun!!! The boys seemed a bit skeptical that their mother would actually get up and jump on the trampoline. You can see their close inspection in the lower-right photo.

Next?!

Armies...tanks...and casualties.

About a month ago my husband bought our sons (4 and 2) their first set of green army men. The boys were delighted when they woke up to see them arranged in their fortified enclosure (paper castle). Our four year old exclaimed "armies! armies!" (meaning "soldiers"). The favored items were the two tanks. But casualties mounted quickly as one tank lost it's gun on the way to an appointment (with the help of our four year old) and the second tank was left at the appointment (credit goes to the two-year-old). Did I mention that happened on the first day of play?

Waving Baby

Brawny Baby must be one of the most personable babies ever! I kept thinking I had a lot of photos of him waving. When I took stock, there were even more than I remembered.

"He's so daaarling!"

Our two-year-old gets an amazing number of comments about how "daaarling" he is. I wonder if I need to consult a dictionary for the definition of the word "darling." Yes that is DIRT on his face in two of those photos, some kind of food item in a third, and if you could only hear the maniacle laugh coming out of his mouth in the fourth...you might decide to consult a dictionary with me!

For more evidence to support my claim see here, here, and here!

Technically speaking

On the way home from a restaurant today, our two-year-old started playing his own version of the "What does (fill in the blank) start with?" It went like this:

2YO: "What starts with 'car'?"
Mom: "'Car' starts with 'c'"
2YO: "What starts with 'tree'?"
Mom: "'Tree' starts with 't'"
2YO: "What starts with 'boat'?"
Dad: "Boat starts with gas"
2YO: "No it doesn't!!!"

More Things that Warm a Mother's Heart (NOT!)

As if it wasn't enough to see my then three-year-old loving riding a motorcycle, now I've got machine guns to contend with!

Hair today, gone tomorrow

At nine months old, Brawny Baby's hair was getting out of hand. I think his new "do" suits him well, not to mention it highlights how much he looks like his brothers.

Resident Gardeners

Again, I ask myself ... why do I buy toys and things like sandboxes, when real (cheap) things like dirt are so much more fun?!?

I like birds

This evening our four-year-old and I were outside. There was a bird up on the phone wire and he pensively said, "I like birds."

I put my hand on his head and lovingly said, "aw, you do?"

He said, "yeah...I like to scare them."

Now he is a very sweet-natured boy, so this comes across particularly funny to me. And by scare them, I now understand what he and his brother are doing when they're "screaming" at the birds on the wires. I always thought he was "talking" to them - you know, in bird-language. Live and learn.

A ceiling eatin' snake

Four-year-old to Mom: "What would happen if a snake ate a ceiling?"
Mom: "Snakes don't eat ceilings."
4YO: "It would if it was a ceiling eatin' snake."

We're good men

Our four-year-old and two-year-old running around like super-heroes:

4YO - "Let's go get the bad men so they don't kill Jesus."
2Y0 - "Okay"
4Y0 - "Because we're good men"

It's not odd that they think of themselves as good, but men?!!!

You look just like a flower

When I bought this floation ring, I knew there would be a price to pay beyond the cash register. I am the only female in our household. I didn't buy this to make a point. When I bought it, we were on our way to swim at a friend's house and it was the only one left at the store (our other one had a hole in it).

Today, as my husband prepared our pool stuff for a Memorial Day pool party the flowery ring reappeared. He started out with it around his neck, making the boys laugh at how it didn't fit. Next thing I knew he had it around his face (see the photo). Our four-year-old responded, "you look just like a flower!" And then like all things that crack the boys up (usually instigated by their dad) they proceeded to plead "can I try too." Well, one thing lead to another, and eventually even the baby and I posed for photos.

You've got to be able to appreciate a dad who spends the day with his family, the better part of the afternoon in the backyard with the boys playing in a wading pool, with water guns, etc etc and then still has a sense of humor and playfulness about getting ready for a pool party tomorrow. We love him!

Praying for chips

Our four-year-old started his bedtime prayer tonight with a request for God to make his leg feel better (he had injections at his well-child visit). Our two-year-old followed-up "and that I can have more chips."

Setting a Bad Example

About once a month, my friend and I meet for lunch with our boys at a mall that is half-way between our homes (picture two adults and five boys ages 5,4,3,2,& 8 mos - there is also an 8 year old when school is out). At one point, I talked with the two oldest boys about something they were doing that was setting a bad example for the younger boys. It wasn't a big deal, just a quick conversation.

Apparently the conversation wasn't quite as discreet as I thought. Yesterday morning I overheard my two-year-old acting out the following exchange between two of his Hot Wheels:

Blue car: "you're setting a bad example" (it then bumps into the black car)
Black car: "you're setting a bad example"
(for the full conversation, repeat above non-stop for about 5 minutes).

"Is there blood?!?"

My four-year-old now responds to any exclamation of pain from any member of the family with, "Is there blood?!?"

Now, I'm not sure if he actually wants to see some blood, if he's truly curious about the severity of the injury, or if he's just mimicking me. I guess I'll have to wait to see how he responds when we finally get a "yes" answer to the "Is there blood?" question.

Mad Dog

Ah the fun of the digital delay! Periodically I am surprised by what I actually capture compared to what I intend to photograph. This photo of our son and his dog Taz is not at all what it appears. Both the dog and the boy are fast friends (see also here and here) - and what's actually happening is our son is calling Taz to follow him, and Taz is stalling and licking his chops.

Tinkertoy Daddy

I may need a whole section dedicated to family portraits. Tinkertoy Daddy is his latest work, and in case you missed any of the others, they are:

Tinkertoy Mommy
A Portrait of Mommy also affectionately known as "deranged Mommy"
A Family Portrait

Bodysurfing Baby

Is this kid ready to bodysurf, or what!?

The worm doesn't like that hand

We were watching a family video from last summer when our son had an opportunity to pick up a worm (for fishing). His cousin dangled it infront of him and tried to get him to either pick up or touch the worm. While watching the video our son made the following observation, "The worm doesn't like the hand...and it really doesn't like the fishing pole."

That takes the cake

After celebrating his birthday a day early, and receiving a few well-wishes on his actual birthday yesterday, our now four-year-old son was convinced that TODAY was still his birthday. When we told him that his birthday was over he responded, "but there's still birthday cake." I didn't know that the celebration lasted as long as the cake!

I'm curious, does that mean if there's no cake, there's no birthday??

NOW it's my birthday!

Our oldest son turns four tomorrow. We are celebrating his birthday today at "A Day Out With Thomas". This morning as he was getting dressed he said to his dad, "I need my Thomas underwear." After he put them on he proudly announced "Now it's my birthday!"

(And if anyone is thinking about giving me a hard time about celebrating his birthday a day early this year- I did go into labor on the 29th...it just took 41 hours for him to make his grand entrance.)

Crime and Punishment

Our sons have been playing with some die-cast airplanes lately- bombers to be exact. Our almost-four-year-old started out dropping "bombers" on the bad guys - then he switched to dropping webs (think Spiderman) "to bring back the bad guys and throw icky water on them."

I'll be sure to stay on my best behavior!

Just the Two of Us

My hopes for a family photo on Easter failed this year in spite of hauling my camera all over town with us. My last hope, a photo after lunch, failed when our oldest got grumpy ("I don't want to take a picture now") and his younger brother fell asleep in the car on the way home. Leave it to Brawny Baby (Mr. Easy-going) to oblige his mommy and have his picture taken - with a smile even after being woken up. Oh well, I guess 2 out of 5 family members is better than none at all.

Family Portrait

Artistic renderings of the family seem to be en-vogue lately at our house. I find this one more flattering than the last two. In case you don't recognize us: Mommy has the long neck, Daddy has the big head, the almost-four-year-old and two-year-old are up top, and Brawny Baby is the little one (lower right).

"The pig noses help you climb"

We just got the swing set installed, and our almost-four-year-old exclaimed with delight, "the pig noses help you climb!" My initial response was, "What??!!!" Then I looked at the knobs and huh, they DO kinda look like pig noses don't they???

London bridge is falling down...

Actually the boys call it a "tunnel" when one stands up and the other inches underneath. I think some retro-fitting is in order here.

Is there a doctor in the house?

This weekend, my almost-four-year-old and two-year-old were playing in the backyard together. My older son calmly came to the door and said, "Mom, I need a band-aid." So to verify the necessity I asked, "why do you need a band-aid?" His answer, "so my finger doesn't fall off."

Is it calloused that I laughed out loud at his response???? Just for the record, I did go see the paper-cut-like injury - and provided a Spiderman band-aid.

Whoa little pachaderm!

Portraits of Mommy

Today my almost-four-year-old son excitedly called me over to "see the picture I drew of you!!" Granted I have been dealing with kids that are sick and whiney all day - but will somebody please let me know if it's really this bad??!!

This isn't my son's first artistic rendering of me, just the most "eye-catching."

If I was pretend...

Talking about a character from his favorite show Little Einsteins, our almost-four-year-old said, "if I was pretend, I would give Annie a hug."

It struck me as funny that his thought process wasn't "if Annie was real..."

Noculars and Re-noculars

This morning our almost-four-year-old was playing with his binoculars, which he calls "noculars." I explained that if there was only one lens it would be called a "monocular." He then filled me in on this little ditty of information: "And when I turn them around backwards they're called re-noculars."

Cold Play

Okay it's not snowing outside, but this is Los Angeles for crying out loud! Anything below 50 degrees is freezing to me. Apparently my "cold" gene isn't hereditary.

Stretch-Earstrong

This is our almost four-year-old marching around showing off his "elephant ears". It's even funnier when his little brother marches around behind him doing the same thing - but I have yet to catch their little circus duet on camera.

"Mommy, is your head gonna pop?"

A couple weeks ago on my way to a sinus infection, I commented to my husband that I was so stuffed-up that I felt like my head was going to pop. Later that day while I was driving, my oldest son somewhat cautiously asked, "Mommy, is your head really gonna pop?" When I finally stopped laughing, I was able to reassure him that it only FELT like my head was going to pop.

"I'm the Maker"

With Brawny Baby's fleece taggie blankets clinging to his shirt, our oldest son announced, "I'm the Maker!" Slightly perplexed I asked, "What?!" And he again replied, "I'm the Maker!" It finally dawned on me that he meant "Baker" - and the fleece blankets were his apron.

He may not be the Maker, but he gets points for creativity!

If I only had a hammer...

He looks so manly...you almost don't notice the hammers are facing the wrong direction. Then again, maybe he was trying to figure out how a dentist might use a hammer.

Headlines

I know there's a great headline here...I just can't seem to come up with it myself.

"I've got one eye, I'm a PIRATE!"

Grown-ups and Dolts

Currently at the "house of plague" there is a chorus of medicine being distributed throughout the day (4 out of 5 family members). After watching me make multiple faces of disgust while taking some colorful geltabs (I hate swallowing pills), my oldest son asked quite inquisitively "what is that?" pointing to the geltabs. I explained that they were medicine for grown-ups, adults. (He understands the word "grown-up"...I'm working on "adult").

After I took the medicine, he said, "Mommy, are you an adult?" To which I replied "yes." Then he said, "Can kids be little dolts too?"

The color blue is already taken

There's a new argument brewing at our house. Our first-born is convinced that blue is his favorite color. I know I shouldn't laugh, but it is humorous to see him try to establish his ownership of the color when our second-born comments that blue is his favorite color too. ("But blue is MY favorite color!")

Considering our recent conversation about my dad, and the fact that I never knew there were exclusive rights available for common titles and colors, I'm starting to wonder if there are some things I haven't thought of that I'd better claim for myself :)

THAT cow doesn't moo

Let me preface this by saying I grew up on a small farm/ranch. As a kid exhibiting animals at the fair, it always amazed me to meet kids that didn't know where their milk/meat came from (aside from the grocery store).

Tonight, I made filet mignon for dinner. My husband was explaining to our son that meat comes from cows (steers if you want to get picky about it). When we sat down to eat, mine was too rare for my taste and I made some comment that it was still "mooing." After putting it on the grill a little longer, I sat down to eat.

My son said, "that's not a cow..."
So I poked it with my fork and said "sure it is...moo"
He replied, "THAT one doesn't moo!"

Am I gonna get a ticket?

In recent days Back-seat driver #1 has been very interested in "speed" - as in, "how fast are we going now? Are we going too fast? What happens if we go too fast?"

I explained that if we go too fast we will get a ticket from a police officer. I had to clarify that the "ticket" would be a bad thing (not like a ticket to go ride Thomas the Tank Engine).

So, yesterday he was spinning in circles in the living room and fell down. I asked what happened, and he said, "I was spinning too fast (pause)...am I gonna get a ticket?"

Why DO we buy so many toys???

I was catching up on some of my favorite blogs today, when one of Busy Mom's posts reminded me of a question I often ask myself: Why do we buy so many toys, when it's the everyday household items that seem to get the biggest kicks?

In the last few months I've posted about the kids playing in and with tupperware, dirt, food, toilet paper, a potty seat, a chair etc.

To drive the point home, here are a few photos of our oldest playing in boxes, and our second-born in of all things, a laundry detergent bucket.

Here's Your Sign

While approaching a stop sign today, our 3 1/2 year old practiced his emerging reading skills. He carefully spelled out "P.O.T.S." and then exclaimed "STOP!"

Maybe we should start with Hebrew instead of English.

Can I pull the trigger now?

The question our 3 1/2 year old asked this morning about flushing the toilet. Where does he come up with this stuff???

Discovery

Yesterday our 3 1/2 year made a startling discovery while going to the bathroom.

Son: "What's THAT?!!!"
Mom: "What's what" (not looking)
Son: "That! Behind my pee-pee!"

He was of course referring to the rest of his male anatomy. What is startling about that, you ask? Well, I guess it was startling to me that he just NOW noticed it.

Tinkertoy Mommy

When we brought Brawny Baby home from the hospital, I was introduced to my "stand-in" created by our 3 1/2 year-old. He affectionately referred to her as "Tinkertoy Mommy."

I wonder if I should be flattered or offended?

Going Postal

Maybe someone can explain this one to me. When my son (3 1/2) takes a bath, he likes to put this bowl on his head and proclaim, "I'm the mailman!" I don't really get it, but now he's got his little brother doing the same thing too.

"Need More Bread"

Much of the time our son has a rather angelic face, however during Christmas dinner our almost 2 year-old shocked us when he chanted out in a gruff voice (like something you'd expect to hear in the Exorcist) "NEED MORE BREAD...NEED MORE BREAD!" I wish I had an audio clip to go with the photo!

"Do you call my Grandpa 'Dad'?"

This morning at breakfast the following conversation took place:

Son: "Do you call my Grandpa 'Dad'?"
Me: "Yes, your Grandpa is my dad."
Son: "But I don't want you to call my Grandpa 'Dad'"

Baby Bjorn Lederhosen

Not long ago, my son asked if he could carry Brawny Baby in the Baby Bjorn. He was crest-fallen when I said he wasn't yet big enough to carry the baby. However he was easily appeased when I saddled him with his bear. The funny thing to me is that the carrier (obviously riding a little low) looks more like Lederhosen than a baby carrier.

A side note - I didn't know until tonight that "bjorn" means "bear". I don't know, but it seems to me there is a joke in here somewhere!

Potty humor of a 3 1/2 year-old

More laughs from the privacy of the bathroom:

"Did you see that little doink of poopy?" - (doink?!)
"Help! The poopy's caaaatching me!" - (trying to escape the rising pile under his bottom)
"Heeey, that poopy made a 'C'?" - (referring to the shape of the deposit)
"Oh, I didn't go poopy, that's just a piece of poopy" (what??!!!)

And in case you missed it, this is still my favorite post on the subject.

"I'm riding SHAMUUUU!"

Thank goodness my almost 2 year-old wasn't sitting on ME when he uttered those words, but my poor husband, he was rather shocked by the apparent comparison.

We were just at Sea World a couple weeks ago meeting my girlfriend of 30+ years. Nine of us (my friend and her three kids, me and my three kids, plus my nephew) climbed on the Shamu statue together and had our photo taken. Everyone except my almost 2 year-old cooperated. Considering his resistance on the statue, it surprises me that he would pretend to be "riding Shamu" again with his dad.

Just a side note, my friend and I met when I was two years old...so 30+ years doesn't age me quite as much as you might think :)

Old Mac Donald has diversified

Back in November I posted about the verses our 3 1/2 year-old added to Old Mac Donald had a Farm.

It would appear the old man has diversified his interests even more. Today our son was singing about his tree, burp cloth, house and ball. I haven't figured out the "tale tale here and a tale tale there," but I understand the ball with a "roll roll here and a roll roll there" because we don't bounce the ball in the house. :)

Also joining the chorus was our almost 2 year-old son (though it came out "Old Mac Donald hammy fammy, e-i-e-i-o"). I found it all rather entertaining, but I think my 14 year-old nephew who had just spent two and a half hours in the car listening to the "extended version" was ready to boot the old man off the farm.

I reveled in reminding him of the round after round of Down by the Station that he used to sing for the hour and a half trip back and forth to Sea World when he was little.

Right to Privacy?

Our oldest son has been at his Grandparents' house for the last week. It is his first time solo away from home. His 13 year-old cousin (my nephew) is also there.

Apparently today when my nephew was in the bathroom our son knocked on the door and said, "My Mom lets me come in when she's going."

(I let him come in? I didn't know I had a choice!!!)

Dirty Politics

If you can't stand the heat....

"Go out tha kitchen Mom...please"

Words heard from my 23 month old after serving him lunch today. Still not sure where he picked it up, why he wanted me out, or how to respond for that matter. Oh well, I'll give it more thought next year.

Happy New Year!

"Me no here"

At dinner tonight our almost 2-year-old stuck his fingers in his ears and with a smile on his face said, "me no here". My husband and I heard the same thing, "me no here". We thought it was pretty hilarious that he would think he wasn't there just because he couldn't hear anything.

As we laughed about our son's humor and talked about how it reminded us of our nephew who used to cover his eyes and say, "I'm not real" - we both realized at the same time that he was actually making a rather matter-of-fact observation that when his fingers were in his ears, he couldn't "hear".

Oh well, the joke's on us. We no hear either!

Things that warm a mother's heart (NOT!)

Seeing my 3 year old on a motorcycle...












...with THIS look on his face!

"Penguins aren't FOOD!"

We were watching the March of the Penguins last night - My mom recommended the movie as totally unobjectionable. So, I wasn't quite prepared for the number of questions (of a serious nature) I was hit with while watching the movie. I had to answer "why did he die, Mommy? (referring to a few different penguins). But the stumper happened in a scene where a seal grabs a penguin in his mouth. My son asked "why did the seal bite the penguin?" I answered that penguins are one of the things that seals eat. To which my 3 1/2 year old adamantly stated "penguins aren't FOOD!"

Boy do I have a lot of explaining to do about "food"!

"See Jesus!"

My husband is a Nativity scene addict, which he readily admits. One of the five (and counting) nativity scenes we have is a small, kind of hokey, and very loud "talking" nativity. He likes to sit down with the boys at night to let them "push the button" and hear the nativity tell the story of Jesus' birth. This has elicited "I want to see JESUS" from the boys, pointing up at the mantle (to the untrained eye it might look like they're pointing into the sky). After they've listened to the message, he goes through "what's that" pointing to each of the different people/animals/objects. Our 3 1/2 year old and almost 2 year old alternate giving him answers.

The other night, they were going through the usual routine - the boys asked to see Jesus, they then listened to the story and started naming the objects. (Okay you know this little idyllic scene has to break down somewhere right?!!) My husband says to the almost two year old, "what's that?" (pointing to a cow) and he says "SHEEP!". And without missing a beat his older brother says, "that's not a sheep ya goof, that's a COW!"

Now I have to admit that the "ya goof" comment comes straight from me (good natured as it is). But I'd never heard my son say it before (and I have to say I am impressed with his timing and somewhat appropriate use of the term). Laughing, my husband ribbed me a little about the different impartation the two of us are making to our boys. "See Jesus" vs. "Ya goof". Well, I guess he's right :)

Hide and Seek Toddler-Style

Reading about the game of hide and seek at Busy Mom's house reminded me of my nephew's (13) recent attempt to teach our boys how to play hide and seek.

Once we convince our 3 1/2 year old to stop running out of his hiding place as soon as the counting is done, the game goes something like this:

Nephew: "Okay, go hide (1...2...3...4...etc.)"
Son #1: (giggles and runs to the same hiding place almost everytime)
Son #2: (giggles and follows closely on the heels of Son #1)
Nephew: "...9...10...Ready or not, here I come!"

At this point it is totally obvious where the boys are hiding, but to keep things interesting, my nephew walks around saying in a loud voice "hmmm, I wonder where he is."

Son #1: (giggles from under the bed)
Son #2: (standing right next to the bed in plain sight)
Nephew: "Gee, I wonder where he's hiding?"
Son #1: (gleefully laughing) "I'm under HEEEERE!!!!!" (still waiting to be found)

The best part, we actually caught the whole thing on video :)

Toddler Send-offs: "He can wave for himself"

Waving at people as they leave our house is a big deal around here. For a while, the boys always wanted to "wave for Daddy" when he left for work in the morning. (Don't get me started on the disappointed faces if Daddy doesn't see them and wave back).

I got quite the chuckle one morning when my husband was leaving and I asked if my son wanted to wave to him. His response was, "he can wave for himself today."

"Can you get my ball out of the horny bushes?"

A few weeks ago while playing outside our 3 1/2 year old got his soccer ball STUCK (and I mean literally) in the rose bushes. I told him to stay back while I got the ball. I then proceeded to get caught by thorns facing two different directions, yelling out "Ouch ouch ouch ouch OUCH!" until both the ball and I were finally liberated.

Hoping for a "teachable moment," I took the opportunity to show the wounds to my son, and asked him to please not throw the ball into the thorny bushes again.

Today, my husband was playing in the front yard with the boys, and thought it was very funny that our son asked "can you please get my ball out of the horny bushes?" It appears he at least got the gist of our little talk.

Toddler Send-offs: "Have fun!"

It doesn't sound like an odd send-off. I catch myself often saying it. But it struck me as hilarious the first time I heard our oldest son earnestly tell his daddy to "Have fun!" as he left for work. Now our almost 2 year-old has caught on, and both send their daddy to work with a boisterous "have fun!"

Backseat driver #2

Well it was bound to happen eventually. Yesterday our second-born (almost two-year old) turned into backseat driver #2. I wonder if it just rubbed off backseat driver #1, or if he can claim it all as his own.

I was pulling out of our neighborhood when all of a sudden I heard, "Watch OUT Mommy!" (there was no immediate danger)... followed shortly thereafter by "watch OUT the bus Mommy"...and "watch OUT the trash truck" etc.

I wonder if I'll soon hear another version of backseat driver #1s - "please don't crash the van, Mommy". I'll keep you posted.

For someone who knows a lot about animals....

I'm starting to realize that for someone who knows a lot about animals (I grew up on a small farm/ranch), I'm not doing a great job passing that information along to my children. My first hint was the "DONK" incident I mentioned in my last post. Then yesterday we had this conversation:

son: "I wouldn't want to have animals in my house"
mom: "Why not?"
son: "I just wouldn't like to have them in my house"
mom: "What about Taz ?"
son: "Taz isn't an animal, he's just a dog."

What does a donkey say?

We've been to the zoo a lot recently. The zebras have been a focus of my oldest son's attention as they went from being "scary" to being his favorite thing to see. I recently explained to him that zebras make the same sound as a donkey.

Yesterday before we left for the zoo, he informed me that "zebras sound like donkeys, they go 'DONK'". I guess I should have explained what a donkey sounds like.

"Today is Three's Day"

Let me start this by admitting that I talk to myself out loud. I often don't realize I'm doing it until someone responds to me unexpectedly.

A few weeks ago, after a moment trying to figure out what day of the week it was, I said aloud "Today is Tuesday." Our 3 1/2 year old followed without missing a beat, "nooooo, today is THREE's day."

Blankets-they're not just for sleeping anymore...

This is our son's favorite blanket ("nigh-nigh"). There's no telling what all it will be used for in the hours before bedtime. I've seen it used as:
1. a rocking horse blindfold
2. a speed bump
3. a tunnel (crimped in a closet door and draped across the couch
4. a basketball
5. a bus wash
6. cargo
7. a street (both boys drive their Hot Wheels on the rows as though they are lanes)
8. a booster seat
9. something to drag while running around the house laughing hysterically















...and of course sleeping

Is Daddy a BIG boy?

On a recent morning I was putting sunscreen on my 3 1/2 year old (we live in California and yes,they still need sunscreen in winter) and he asked to put it on himself. Not wanting him to get it in his eyes, I dissuaded him with "you need to wait until you're a bigger boy to put it on yourself." Which he followed up with, "Is Daddy a big boy - and puts on his own sunscreen?"

Who's spa is it anyway?

It's like he was saying, "have you got my spa ready yet?!"

For anyone just tuning in - I don't consider Taz one of my children - he's our boys' dog. This post is part of the "week of Taz". Funny thing about revisiting his antics...it has reminded me how he acts so much more like a cat than a dog (with the exception of his love for water). He even lays on his back and bats at things with his paws. And though it seems he likes to be inside all the time to be around people...it is rumored that he just likes the air conditioning.

Batteries

Anyone who has children knows the astounding quantity of batteries a family can go through. There are weeks where it seems I change different batteries daily - much to our children's fascination. Even our 22 month old is familiar with batteries, and knows that they are the "key" to making some of his favorite toys work. "Flashlight needs babberies, Mommy....Hopcopper (helicopter) needs babberies..."

Last night, my husband's car died. Turned out it needed a new battery. As the kids and I went to pick up my husband - our 3 1/2 year old asked where we were going. I explained we had to go the shop to pick up Daddy because his car needed a new battery. After which he asked rather incredulously, "just ONE battery?!!"

A Dog and his Boy

"Taz wants to talk to Grandma too"

Christmas card oh Christmas card....

I was working on our Christmas letter tonight and started having flashbacks to last year's drama of taking the Christmas card photo. Not only was I trying to coordinate two boys, but the dog kept interfering. I briefly considered including him, until he started running around the yard like a maniac (followed by my feeling like a maniac for trying to coordinate two toddlers and a dog using a digital camera).

Two days, four photo sessions, and something like 200 images later, I finally got the shot. Some of the reject photos were so silly I actually put together a two page spread in our family album entitled "The Anatomy of a Christmas Card" in which I commemorated the "best of the worst" photos.

"Stay outta tha MUD Taz!!!"

I've been posting about our dog Taz in preparation for his homecoming. He obviously loves water - and it doesn't have to be CLEAN. In fact, Taz could be considered a "waterhound" - he cannot pass by the smallest amount of water without at least putting in his feet. This makes me a bit crazy as we have LIGHT carpet in our house. I don't think I realized how often I was getting after him until I heard my son at the door gruffly saying,
"Stay outta tha MUD Taz!!"

I didn't get a picture of Taz, but suffice it to say, he didn't listen.

Playing is hard work

Did I mention Taz likes water?

Dog Boy? Water Boy? Water Dog!!!!

Just after we got Taz and all his doggy "supplies," our son had to check everything out. I THINK this was before Taz visited the water bowl...but that may just be wishful thinking.

I quickly removed the inside "courtesy bowl" as soon as I realized just how much Taz LOVES water.

A boy and his dog

We adopted Taz in August of 2003, when he was the same age as our oldest son (then 16 months old). The two were fast friends from the get-go. The top photo quickly became a typical scene around the house. We still get lots of laughs when friends see Taz lay down- almost ALWAYS "froggy style".