Listening Carefully

Sometimes I have such great ideas...at least they seem like great ideas. You never know until you actually try them. Right now I'm listening carefully because I thought it might be fun for John to have a sleepover with Eve. I put her mattress on his floor. I had second thoughts and thought I'd just pretend like I hadn't suggested it, but smart kid he is, he reminded me. So we'll see what happens. I don't think anybody is hurt yet, but it certainly isn't quiet up there.

Another great idea I had was getting an egg decorating kit for John that had both dye and stickers. I figured we could dye the eggs while he was asleep, and he could just put stickers on them. Well, the day after Easter they still hadn't been dyed, so I gave in and let him dye them. Should've kept with my great idea. We ended up with a dumped (by mistake) cup of pink dye all over the table, chair, floor, and John. Two days later I think his hand and belly are still a little bit pink. He had fun, though, and that's what mattered.

OK, after a bloodcurdling scream (I think Eve is just confused and mad that I left her because John was actually in bed and she was standing at the door), they seem to be calming down. She's definitely not a fan of this sleepover idea, but she's not really a fan of me leaving her in bed ever.

Since I haven't updated in a while, two stories about my two little boogers.

Teamwork...I was with John, either disciplining him or waiting for him to finish in the bathroom (don't remember which), and I came back into the kitchen to find a most disgusting effect of teamwork. Eve had opened the cabinet to the trash can. Callie (the dog) had retrieved a few things from the trash can including dirty paper towels, tissues, wipes, and a dirty diaper (her favorite). Eve was chewing on them. DISGUSTING!!!!!

"Manipulative Little Cuss"...That's what I called John when Buck finally got into the car at the airport (by the way, less than 20 minutes after I first left them and all is quiet...that could be good or terrible). John has been doing really great with potty training lately. He's actually started to tell me when he needs to go, although I still ask him and/or require him to go a lot, and he's started to pee standing up some, which makes the disrobing much less tedious. Anyway, he was in a bit of a funk when we went to pick Buck up from the airport the other evening. We went into the curbside line where signs are posted threatening all sorts of bad things if you leave the car. John didn't want to wait in the car and was whining to go inside. When he realized I wasn't going to budge he started crying that he wanted to go pee pee in the potty. Ahhh! We had just gone before we left, but I didn't want to take any chances, so I grabbed Eve's seat (waking her up) and led John in a mad dash to the potty...leaving the car, of course. He went a little, but was in no hurry to get back to the car. When I finally got him in, he started pitching a fit that he needed to go again. This time I decided to take my chances. At this point he hadn't once told me that he needed to go, and he had no problem wetting himself the day before, so clearly it had never been that traumatic before. Smart little booger, though. One way or another, he was going to get inside.

General updates:

John-is very talkative, and speaking well. He remembers more than I'd like. He doesn't like to participate in group activities. He does his own thing. He has really started loving books and being read to. He has certain songs that he loves and enjoys rolling his arms and clapping to. He still likes to hear Away in a Manger at night. He seems very coordinated and active, can ride a scooter and pedal a tricycle and is actually a quite good driver on the powered gator. He's very sweet in so many ways and pretty well mannered with reminders here and there. Unfortunately he's still very strong willed and still has a bit of a temper. We're in an "I don't want to" phase right now, which often leads into time out, a spanking, a trip to his room, and frequently a temper tantrum that lasts near an hour. Other times, I'll ask him to do something and he says in the sweetest voice "sure" and is so glad to help. He really enjoys fun TV, stickers, Daddy's pliers, and as I mentioned before, books, oh, and mixing sports (i.e. playing tennis with a golf club and football...really any combination). Oh, and that other top molar came in, but I have no idea when.

Eve-is so happy almost all the time. She's down to nursing 3 times a day. She either eats great, or not much at all, but more often it's great. She plays well on her own and doesn't mind that all the toys are cars, trains, balls, etc. (I really like that). She puts absolutely everything in her mouth and is usually really dirty. She doesn't seem to have a separation anxiety issue right now, but there are times that she definitely wants Mom. She's really starting to enjoy Daddy a whole lot now, too, I guess that's been for a while. She's standing well, and even squatting and bouncing a little, but shows no interest in walking. She gets into the cabinets and dogs' water dish a lot. I tell her "no" and she just grins from ear to ear. She often only takes one nap during the day is totally OK with that, but she sleeps great through the night and never gets angry if she's woken up. She's not a cuddler, at least not often. She loves raising her hands up in the air, then slamming them down. She smiles all the time, but doesn't laugh often. When she's in the right mood and we do get her to laugh, it's so fun. That's the only time she's ticklish. Still has only 2 teeth. She bites a lot, but not as an aggressive thing (I remember John going through that). She's also a pincher...ouch!

I love the dickens out of both of them. I just really feel so blessed. Now, I think I'm going to check on them!