Just for the Books

Still have lots of pictures to post, but today is not the day. The weather is finally warming up (every now and then) so we're enjoying the sunshine (every now and then). We had a beautiful weekend to work/play in the yard, go for a hike on the neighborhood nature trail with fun neighbor friends, and finish it off with a cookout (same friends). Today, Tuesday, is nice as well so we went to the zoo and really enjoyed it.
Baby is at 28 weeks now and still doing well. We decided we needed a nickname to make it more personal. I just don't like "it" and "the baby". John has chosen Little Batman. I suppose we'll go with that since we haven't come up with anything better. John will NOT have a say in the given name, though. I feel certain it would be a super hero name since I am now Iceman, Buck is the Green Goblin (or Grobrin as John says it), Eve is Wonderwoman, and John is always Iron Man.
John's mouth continues to amuse us on a regular basis. It's never the same without the expression behind it, but I'll write some down none-the-less.
Saturday we were going to lunch. I was carrying Eve and John was walking with Buck. John really likes to race, so he mentioned that since they were faster, the boys got to go in first. We corrected him (first time we've introduced this concept) and said that boys always let the girls go in first...that way we call them "gentlemen". He was not too keen on the idea. After church Saturday night we were asking questions about his lesson. He said a girl was sick and was healed. "Who healed her?" "God, but I don't want girls to go in first. I want to go in first. I don't want to be a gentleman. That's why I'm mad at you!" I didn't know until that moment that he was upset with us, but apparently he'd been harboring this anger all day. He rattled off the answer so quickly and without pause at any point, it really cracked us up.
Sunday morning Iron Man, Wonder Woman, and Ice Man were racing the Green Goblin to see who could get ready fastest for church (we have to be there super early, so have to be creative in getting them ready fast...a superhero race was the key this week). I mentioned that Wonder Woman has the lasso of truth and that she could catch the Green Goblin in her lasso when he comes down stairs and ask if he brushed his teeth (slow him down and make him tell the truth...I don't know a whole lot about Wonder Woman and needed to find a way for her to help...clearly I was grasping at straws). Anyway, when the Green Goblin came downstairs we caught him with the lasso of truth. A few minutes later Iron Man put him to the test again "Are you sure you brushed your teeth?" With a big smile he replied "Do they look clean?" John's matter-of-fact response "They're not sparkling."
Funny kid.
Another one for the books; although not funny until we have a few years behind us. Yesterday was another of the ultimate tests of wills. In the morning I asked John to eat a small piece of banana with breakfast, about a 1/2". He said "No Thank you", which was nice for manners, but I said he needed to eat it anyway, just a bite. Mind you, banana is not a fruit that he hates. He eats (or should I say used to eat) it quite often. We sat at the table for about an hour fighting over the meaning of obedience, and discussing that when I ask him to do something he needs to obey right away. This continued into a bad attitude, which was met with vinegar in his mouth. We took a break from timeout to get ready for school. He came home and decided he still didn't want the banana, which at this point was getting rather soggy and brown, so he went straight up to his room for a nap. Many spankings, much time in timeout, 4 toys gone for the week, a few more doses of vinegar, and many tears from the both of us later (approximately 11 hours and 45 minutes), Daddy finally convinced him to eat the small piece of banana just seconds before the "straight to bed" clock alarm rang. Needless to say, he ate a lot for supper after that. Anyone guess where that strong will came from?

"J"

Lots of other fun stuff from this weekend (awesome fun in the snow and a super special Valentine's date), but I'll have to update on that later when there's time to upload pictures.
TODAY'S BIG NEWS...
We were having a little coloring time while we watched Daddy practice guitar at church this morning (a Sunday morning ritual complete with McDonald's biscuits and lots of dancing) and all of a sudden John showed me that he had written his name. He's never really gotten close to making any letters except "o", and usually he's lucky if he gets that. I don't know that he's really tried, and we haven't pushed him. He doesn't really even ever say that he's tried to write anything, but today I looked down and there was the most perfect "J" I've ever seen! The rest of his name looked a little jumbled, but the "J" was PERFECT! I was so proud. When we get access to a scanner, we'll have to scan it in. It's so awesome! I'm just so darn proud!

You Never Know...

What might come out of his mouth next! Sometimes I just have to record what John says because it's hilarious.
1. The other night we were eating supper and John was really acting silly. I said "John, where did you learn to be so silly?" His prompt response "Daddy". I suppose he was just being honest...and was probably right. Later he listed everyone at the table and said we were all silly, but when I asked who was the silliest..."me"...again, an honest, and probably true answer.
2. Today John had pictures at school. When he wakes up in the morning, his hair is rather unruly. Dampening it a little and trying to brush it down is just frustrating and fruitless, so I usually don't bother. BUT, picture day, we got it good and wet and brushed it. He actually let me with little resistance, and I told him he looked so handsome. It was super cold this morning, so I asked if he wanted to wear his hat. Of course he did, and I immediately (without thinking...first response) said "pooh, it's going to mess up your nice hair". He took it off before getting out of the car and said, "look, Mom, my hair is still handsome".
3. I really wish I could share the whole story because it's hilarious, and if we had it on video it would make us lots of $$, but it's personal. So, for the sake of jogging our memories, there was a rather amusing (in hindsight) even last night where Buck and John were playing with a bouncy ball. After realizing he had hurt Dad, John was so compassionate. It was both sweet and rediculously funny at the same time. Sorry to disappoint anyone who doesn't get the entire story. I'm sure John will come up with something else really funny soon.

Knew I Forgot Something

We recently changed up our bath routine. Who knew an old Gospel song would get kids so excited for tubbie time. "Soon and Very Soon"...we are going (pronounced gone) to take a bath...halleleujah halleleujah we're going to take a bath. They love it! And it makes me laugh. And I know we're changing up His song, but I bet it makes God laugh, too.

In Other News...

We had a cold snap here recently. No fun to be had outside, so what better to do than make cupcakes? (Cleaning the dishes manually, of course...a little salmanella never hurt anybody, right?)

And then eating them...

I'd say Eve enjoyed it. Unfortunately John was very serious about his cupcake, so the pictures didn't turn out so great, but he certainly enjoyed it.

After eating cupcakes, there's nothing like a good indoor football to work it off. John is perfecting his stance.

Then came the "blizzard" of 2010. We knew better than to have high expectations, but poor John and Eve didn't. We got a dusting of ice (really less even than it looks like in the pictures). We showed John in the morning and his dimple was permanently fixed in his cheek. Too bad we didn't have the video camera ready because he was so excited. It took 30-45 minutes to find enough clothes to try to keep us all warm and semi-dry. As soon as we walked outside John said "Where's the snow?" Sorry, buddy, you're looking at it. We piled the kids in the wagon and pulled out the boogie board and headed up to the clubhouse to see if there was enough ice to sled a bit. John came down twice (Buck had to push the whole way, but it was sort of like sledding). The first time was not so exciting, but the second time he chased a huge goose into the pond, so that was fun. By this time Eve was crying miserably and saying "cold" (sounds more like "code" in her best southern accent). She had one trip on the sled to say we did it, and cried the rest of the way home...and for 30 minutes after we got inside (through hot chocolate and fruit snacks). She HATED IT! The cold, that is. So 30 minutes outside was more than enough for us.

Then we spent the next few days inside.
During a little girl time, Eve got her first pedicure. She showed her toes off when Buck and John got back from the grocery store, but was otherwise indifferent. I thought it was cute.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, we had a crafty day yesterday.

I mentioned before that John is having some growing pains. Wanting more independence, having more of an attitude, trying to learn to play rough appropriately, trying to learn to deal appropriately with anger. So, I've been collecting toys when we've had issues. I had a nice little pile stored up and told him when he had a whole good day he could have them back. Granted, I'm not getting my hopes up, but yesterday he had a great day! Great attitude, very helpful, reasonable obedient, no tantrums, no time outs, great nap (I've finally had to separate them for nap time - Eve in our room in the pack & play and John in his room - otherwise neither would sleep and letting him play in the playroom during quiet time ended with paint all over the floor and a major tantrum). AND, to top it off, after he finished dinner he cleared his place without anyone asking...AND cleared everyone else's without being asked. Every now and then we ask him to help with that, but don't expect it. WOW! So, of course, I wanted to make a big deal of it. I made a big family announcement "Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls" (John likes to say that...probably from a movie, except he says "gentlefin"). I went on and on as if he was getting an award, and we all made a huge deal. I've never seen him so proud. It was kind of neat. Afterward Buck played his guitar, John played "drums" on the couch, and Eve and I danced. What a blast! A great end to a great day.

It's Groundhog Day!

I'm not sure what the groundhog did today, but EVE'S FIRST MOLAR CAME OUT OF ITS HOLE! We're so excited. I'm sure she's looking forward to skittles, and is one step closer. John gets them for his Friday treat sometimes. Usually he shares his treat with her, but the first time he shared skittles I thought I was going to have to pull over and give her back blows (such a great mom). She was so mad when he wouldn't, by my directive, give her any more. So it's about time she finally has a molar, and maybe that explains why she's been so snuggly lately. I can't say I haven't loved it, but it's just not her nature...especially with me.
This morning we painted Valentine cards. Nothing special in mind, but the weather has been cruddy and/or someone has been sick for quite some time, so we needed something fun for the rainy day. John is so creative and loves making different things, cutting, gluing, painting...putting it all together. Eve is very prolific with her art. She runs her hands through the paint for a few good swipes then quickly requests a clean slate. She also painted her face. Nice.
Although we're having a bit of a rough patch with John's attitude, I'm loving both of their little personalities. Eve's is hard to explain, but it's just simply fun. She's always being goofy, copying what John is doing, running around carefree. She's definitely a wild one. Few fears. A ham. Loves to make funny faces and laugh. She's reapeating almost everything, although not really getting it right. She loves talking on the phone and will babble away for quite some time. She's just her own little funny person and cracks us up all the time.
John definitely has a strong personality and is entering a stage of being rough and having a bad attitude, but at the same time, he is so thoughtful sometimes and says the funniest things. I love watching the wheels turn, then hearing what he comes up with. Today he looked at a new Sponge Bob Square pants ball (from a neighbor) and sait it was a cheese ball (fairly accurate but amusing description). He's so excited that Grandma has a birthday coming up and is busy making plans, spider man party games and cupcakes were among his recommendations. When we were working on our cards today he kept saying "this is going to be a GREAT party!" Unfortunately I can never get the real him on the video camera. He's so sweet to climb in bed beside me in the morning, give me a kiss, and tell me "good morning, Mama. Did you have a good nap?" then at night I'll give him a kiss and his joke is to wipe it off rather dramatically. He also loves helping and is very interested in the baby. Today he "tooted her" (at the time he was assuming it was a girl). That simply means he raspberried my belly. We had a good laugh when the baby kicked back. Must've tickled a little.
What a fun little bunch we have!