The Best Words I Ever Heard

Colin said the most wondeful thing yesterday. I asked him to give me a hug, a "real hug with arms". When you ask for a "real hug with arms", Colin gives a you a huge bear hug. So he was giving me a huge hug and said quietly "I love you mommy, I love you very very much".

Mice

Colin has some new friends. They are "mice". Not real mice, imaginary mice. They appeared yesterday morning when Colin woke up. When I went in to get him, he told me the "mice are in the corner, hello mice!". At first I worried about an infestation, but quickly realized he was pretending. He told the mice to get in his crib. Then he gave them a pillow "this is your pillow, mice".

The mice hung around all day yesterday and Colin would chat with them on occasion. At bedtime last night, the mice were back in the corner. He asked them to get in his crib with him and then told them to go to sleep. He promply started fake snoring and said "the mice are sleeping".

So I closed the door saying "Goodnight Colin, Goodnight mice".

Time Out!

When I picked Colin up from school today he very proudly told me that “Colin and Ethan got time out!”. I asked what Colin and Ethan were doing to get that time out and he said “running and screaming”. I can only imagine what the two of them were doing. Ethan likes to greet Colin with a growl when he sees him and Colin growls back at him. I guess it’s the boy toddler version of “what’s up”.

The funny thing is that time-outs really don’t work for Colin. I only realized this because he will do something he knows is wrong and then put himself in a time out. It can’t be THAT bad if he punishes himself. So in order to get some behaviors in check, I started a new form of consequence. Namely, one of his puzzles goes into the closet for a time out. Which puzzle goes in the closet depends on the offense. For something silly like running or screaming it’s usually the cow puzzle or Thomas puzzle. For a serious issue, like bonking Owen on the head, the “horsey puzzle” goes in the closet.

This was working really well. He would listen to the warning of losing the puzzle and would immediately apologize and modify his behavior. But today I was sort of paying attention to him and he did his high pitched screaming. He then said “no screaming”. Then he picked up his puzzle, walked to the closet, put it in and shut the door. “Bye bye horsey puzzle…sorry for screaming”.

Seriously…what child punishes himself? He’s making my job way too easy.

Colin mid scream:

Elephant Envy

Colin and Owen had their first disagreement over a toy. On Owen’s exersaucer is a blue elephant. As I’ve said before elephants are in the top three of Colin’s favorite animals. And it’s blue, which makes it extra special. It’s also Owen’s favorite toy because it’s easily grab-able and squishy. It is the perfect teething toy.

For a few weeks Colin has been turning Owen away from the blue elephant saying “you can play over here!” Owen happily starts chewing on whatever toy Colin has placed in front of him. Yesterday this all changed. Colin rotated Owen to have him play with the lion saying “Owen play with the lion!”. Owen quickly moved himself back to the blue elephant. Colin moved him again, “Owen, you play over there!”. Owen moved himself back again. Colin has figured out how to remove the toys from the exersaucer, so he quickly grabbed the elephant off of the exersaucer and ran away with it. Owen promptly started crying.

So I went to Colin to retrieve the elephant and to encourage him to share with Owen. As soon as Owen had the elephant back he was fine. Now it was Colin’s turn to cry. He then calmly told me. “Owen has a tiger! Owen has a monkey! Owen has a lion! Owen has a chimp! Owen has a hippo! Owen has a giraffe! Colin has the elephant!”

And really, how can you argue with that?

First Tooth!

Today is a big day in the life of Owen. He got his first tooth. The poor thing is miserable with it, but atleast it's not phantom teething. I can feel the tooth poking through and can see it. I'm absolutely shocked he already has a tooth. I was expecting a late teether like Colin.

I tried to get a picture of the new pearly white. It was pretty much impossible. But I'll post a few pictures of my effort.







And one of Colin for good measure:

W is for Elephant!

Colin recently went through a phase of waking up because his blankets fell off of him in the middle of the night. Chris or I would walk into his room and he would be hysterically crying "blankets!!!!". We would quickly cover him back up and he would say "night night" and fall back asleep. It was a 5 second foray into his room, but enough to hinder a good night's sleep for all of us. Especially me since Owen still wakes on occasion to nurse.

So, in an attempt to solve the blanket issue, we decided to buy a new bigger quilt. One that would have more staying power to prevent it from being kicked off. I took out the computer and let Colin pick out his new blanket. It was no surprise that he picked out the "animal blanket!".



Colin has a few favorite animals that he loves more than all others. Namely: horses, elephants and hippos, in that order. His new blanket does not have a horse (it has a donkey), does not have an elephant and does not have a hippo. After his initial joy at seeing his new blanket, Colin got upset about that fact. He soon spotted the warthog and decided that it was an elephant. In his defense, it's an awful rendition of a warthog and does sort of look like an elephant. However, it is above the "W" which is confusing. So Colin said "W is for for for for Elephant!". He knows this is silly because he's very aware that elephant starts with an "E". Chris and I looked at each other to try to decide if we should push the fact that the warthog, is in fact, not an elephant. But, sometimes battles are better left unfought. So we told him the elephant's name is "Warthog" which would explain the "W". He seems very happy with his elephant named Warthog.

Happy Thankgiving

Thanksgiving 2007

The first thing I have to say about traveling with two kids is that the prep time required is astounding. Especially when you have a projectile pooper and a child with food allergies. Chris and I started packing for Thanksgiving at around 4 pm on Wednesday. The first step was Chris to take a trip to Stop and Shop for provisions. I stayed at home and began packing.

Our provisions included: nine cloth diapers for Owen, ten normal diapers (obviously too many diapers, but you never know), ten diapers for Colin, a pack of wipes, four outfits for Owen (two nice outfits, two comfy outfits), three outfits for Colin (two nice…one primary outfit with a backup and a comfy outfit just in case), two burp cloths, a nursing cover, two blankets, two warm winter hats (one for each), Colin’s jacket, ten or so books for the ride up including a brand new Dora sticker book, two DVDs (only to be used under emergency conditions), food for Colin (a waffle for breakfast, cooked pasta, peas and carrots, blueberries, strawberries, fruit treats and crackers), drinks for Colin (two big straw cups full of soy milk, an extra supply of apple juice and three extra straw cups), and the digital camera.

By 9:00 a.m. Thursday morning we were all packed and prepared to go. We left the boys in the pajamas, I nursed Owen and we were in the car and ready to drive! The trip up to CT was unremarkable. Colin happily looked at books, Owen slept and then played with a toy. Sigh, it was good. We got to Brig and Evan’s and were able to spend some time with them. We saw Baby Liam’s adorable nursery and Colin had a blast playing with Tuli. I nursed Owen twice, changed both boys into their tier one nice outfits and we headed off to N.

Once again, we were all packed up in the car and ready to go. Owen fell asleep, Colin ate crackers and looked at books and we survived the drive. We did have to circumnavigate when we realized the Merritt was closed a few exits ahead, but apparently Chris used “the force” to get us to N.

We when arrived Colin was beyond excited for “happy Thanksgiving”. He was extremely excited to see Matthew and Elizabeth. The dinner there was nice. Chris ate his meal quickly while trying to entertain Colin. We ate in the living room around the coffee table.

Nursing Owen was interesting. I had to sneak upstairs to do it in private. I had my nursing cover all ready to go, but surveyed the scene and quickly realized it would be weird to nurse in front of everyone. Thankfully he wasn’t on a nursing every 45 minute kick, so it wasn’t too bad.

We left around 4 to get on the road and hopefully get back before the boys really got tired and Owen got fussy. So we changed, the boys, Owen got in comfy clothes and we got on the road. All was well for about the first 45 minutes, as we approached the Tappan Zee bridge, Owen started to cry. At first it was a soft cry, but it quickly turned desperate. I hung over the front seat so he could see my face. That made it worse. We made it over the bridge in the POURING rain (seriously so bad that we saw a car spin off the road…they were okay thankfully) and we pulled off the highway into a mall parking lot. I got Owen out of his car seat to nurse him. I started feeding him, but of course he was just happy to be out of the car seat and wanted to coo and smile. I got him to nurse and then BOOM poop explosion. I hopped up, Chris jumped up and grabbed the diaper bag and I changed him (thankfully the poop was contained in the diaper). So I sat back down in the front seat and started nursing him again. Two minutes later BOOM another poop explosion. This time it blasted out of the top of the diaper all over Owen. So now I have a naked baby on the front seat of the car, a pooped through outfit and an extremely poopy diaper. So Owen went into comfy outfit #2 and I put him in the carseat to head on our way.

Thankfully he cheerfully started playing with his carseat toys, but it was Colin’s turn to get angry at the car ride. He was very cranky (no nap and SO tired of the car). We were cracking up when he said "all done!", I asked "all done with what Colin" and he answered "all done with the CAR!"

When we got him home and out of the bath we have a ritual of letting him pick out his pajamas (or as he calls them ta-jamas). He has two favorite pairs, a pair he calls the "elerant ta-jamas" (they have elephants, lions and monkeys on them) and his "lion ta-jamas" (they have lions on them). He jumped out of the bath and said "lion ta-jamas!". We calmly told him the lion pajamas were dirty and in the wash. So Chris grabbed the "elephant pajamas" and he told Colin he could wear the elephant pajamas tonight. Colin looked at him and said "lion ta-jamas". He explained again and told him the lion pajamas were diry. Colin looked right at him and pointed to the lion on the "elephant pajamas" and said "There's a lion right there, LOOK!". We died laughing. He was right.

So, to sum up the day, it was long, it was hard, it was at times stressful and at times hilarious. But me, Chris, Colin, Owen were together. And that’s the most important thing in the world. I’m so thankful for my boys.

More School!!!

Apparently Colin really really likes school. I know this because he screams when I pick him up "more school!!!!" Today he actually cried on the drive home. I know this is a good thing because it's important for his life that he think school is a exciting.

That said, I'm starting to wonder if Colin is in the right school. He's being put in time outs for not listening and for spinning. I'm not sure what the spinning is all about. Is he overstimulated? Is he bored? Is there something going on more sinister? I've been picking people's brains about Colin's school. Most have commented that he might be bored. I know for certain that he is probably bored with the academics. He's 2.5 and as far as rote learning, he's pretty much set until kindergarten. My goal for him is that he thrive socially. And when it comes to socializing, does the type of school matter?

I feel a little silly worrying so much about having such a young child in the "right" school. I never wanted to be that kind of parent. The kind that worries about the "right" school for a 2.5 year old. But, here I am worrying. We're going to look at a Montessori school for him. He might do better in a more fluid learning environment.

Regardless, he's thriving lately. I mean, really really thriving. Time outs or not, he's coming home with songs, new words and talks about his friends. I suppose I just need to hold on to that and try to relax.

Cloth Diapers

I've embarked on a new little adventure with Mr. Owen. I don't quite know why I'm feeling the need to start something new, perhaps the green peacock logo on NBC is prompting me to be more environmentally conscious. Or maybe I'm just insane and I'm feeling the need to add one more thing on my plate. But regardless, I bought a few cloth diapers to test run.

The first thing I've noticed is just how soft they feel. The insides are made of fleece and they are remarkably soft. The second thing I noticed is that they are adorable. I've become so very tired of seeing Elmo all over Colin's behind. It's nice to have a few more color options.

Of course, two days into the experiment our dryer broke. How's that for irony. Thankfully it was something simple which was quickly fixed by the repairman, but 12 hours without a dryer is an eternity with two little ones. It revealed a downside to cloth diapers. Mainly, you have to revisit the poop hours after it has occured. Which is, honestly, pretty gross. Even with 100% breastmilk poo.

But regardless, the upside is that Owen looks adorable in them. And they do seem comfy. I'm sure I won't be cloth diapering full time, but even using them for eight diapers a day makes me feel good.

Here are some pictures of the little man in his new diapers...

He's singing...really singing

Recently, Colin has learned the art of song. Because six months ago he couldn't say two words together, this is nothing short of miraculous in my eyes. So for my first post, I present Colin and his amazing voice :)