Happy New Year!

I know it is a few hours early, but wanted to wish my reader(s), I think there is more than one, a Happy New Year. This year has been interesting and they will probably only get more interesting as the years progress. It is fun to go back and reminisce over some of things that I have posted not only this year but last as well, it is hard to believe I have been blogging for two years now as it seems like just yesterday the Boy was born (even though he is five).

As an update to what has been going on here, I took the Boy to his second pro hockey game (he went to an exhibition NHL game with us when he was much younger and this time we went to an ECHL game with a skate on the ice afterwards. We had a great time and not only did we get to see 7 goals for the home team, he also got the pro hockey fight experience. He seemed to really enjoy so it looks like we will have to make another trip soon. By his request we also went to the art museum, even heard some bagpipes while we were there which I thought was neat while he was a bit unsure. I also think he is getting antsy for school to be back in session, well at least I am.

The girl is starting to communicate even better and we hear new words all the time. She still eats everything as a couple of nights ago she ate a whole enchilada and some strawberries. I love the fact she will eat anything but at the same time I am not happy about as that means there is less of the good stuff for me. I am convinced she will speak Chinese before English as she loves Ni-Hao Kai-Lan and seems to have no trouble making the sounds of the Chinese words. In reality she has probably been talking the whole time and I am the one that needs to learn a new language.

Christmas was good, the Boy really loved as the one thing he asked Santa for, Santa brought among many other nice things. The Girl was also happy with her Kai-Lan, Sid the Science kid, Wonder Pets Dolls Santa brought her, among many other great things.

Finally as a wrap up to 2009, I will be continuing to write about the kids, my frustrations, etc., but I was curious to my reader (or readers carefully assuming there is more than one) if there are any questions or things you would like to read about in the coming year. Happy New Year, 2010 promisings to bring some exciting things to blog about. Stay tuned...

Placek and Santa Questions

Well being the week of Christmas it is time to make the Placek and give the Kitchenaid Mixer a workout. I have posted guards outside the doors to guard against family from trying to steal them. Granted I was given the business a little bit because I don't hand stir the flour in, but efficiency has taken over and my shoulders and arms are sure thankful. This is something that we all look forward to every Christmas. Some of you may be wondering what "Placek" is, so I will leave it to you to figure it out.

This season has brought some interesting questions and comments from the Boy about Santa. We have been fortunate to have his Santa photo taken with the same Santa every year, but he can't figure out why Santa always looks the same, and we simply can answer because it is Santa. He seems to know something is up but I think he is smart enough to know not to say anything or ask the right questions, as he certainly believes especially when I threaten to call Santa to tell about his behavior. Of course my favorite was the other day when he asked, "Will Santa bring presents for you and Mommy too?" So from that we got a couple little things to wrap up from Santa so we have avoided that for the time being. Sometimes I think he is trying to figure out how Santa does things and magic is always the answer. Well, he certainly is excited and especially since he asked for something specific we should be able to keep the magic of Santa alive and well.

Santa Claus

The kids got to see Santa Claus recently. Last year the Boy wouldn't go anywhere near him as he hid behind the stroller and the Girl happily sat on Santa's lap. Well this year the Boy agreed to stand next to Santa and the Girl freaked out a whee bit:
The Boy actually then talked to Santa and told him exactly what he wanted. Santa said he would do his best. He is very excited and can hardly wait for Christmas.

The Girl's First Haircut

What a difference from her screaming, crying brother at his first haircut. The only thing that I think bothered the Girl is the fact that she didn't get good salon head massage shampoo and conditioner. She did very well and was very cooperative, the only time she cried was when it was time to leave (remember they have a slide inside that she thought was fantastic).

The Pants Dilemma

The boy has become a pants destroyer. He can literally wear or tear holes in pants in less than one day. It is very frustrating as we are trying to get him to wear jeans in hope that he won't destroy them nearly as quick, but the problem lies in the snaps on jeans and the fact that he is five years old over 46 inches tall and only about 43-45 pounds. He has a hard time with snaps and is currently practicing, although he is great at legos, so we tried to convince him that the snaps are like legos which he believes but he has a hard time snapping the jeans back up. I thought about sticking in some legos on his pants and then he would probably never take them off, instead I went shopping for jeans with a button as opposed to a snap and had a real hard time finding any. Then I found a great solution and I almost cried, there are adjustable waist size 6 slim jeans that look like a snap/button but actually have a hook like on dress pants. So this week we will try those and see what happens otherwise I think his pants will be very religious because they will be so holey.

The girl is really trying to become my favorite as I found out she likes Taco Bell and on top of that the kids meals come with Cinnamon Twists. So after her cheesy roll-up we shared in the cinnamon twists and both very happy from the experience. On a side note, the cantina tacos are good and it is one of the very few fast foods that look just like the commercial. She is learning more and more words, but the best is still her lion roar (if you see her jsut ask her "What does a Lion say?"). She is also becoming quite expressive and this little girl knows what she wants and will throw a good tantrum to get it and it almost seems that she knows my weak times when I am frustrated to no end and will give in because those tantrums are clearly on another level.

Coming soon, first haircut pictures...

Hungry, Hungry Hippo

Sometimes I just don't understand how much a little toddler can eat. The girl who is 19 months old is going to eat us out of house and home. She eats what seems like 7 meals a day, and when it is Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner it seems like the only reason she stops eating is when we either stop giving her food or we run out. This morning thus far she has had two bowls of apple Cinnamon Cheerios, one Jimmy Dean sausage biscuit, and about 8 or 9 strawberries. I am pretty sure in about an hour or less she will want a snack. I realize she may be going through a growth spurt but this has been going on since she turned one and if she keeps this growth spurt up she will be taller than her brother by the time she is two. In six months she went from 29 inches to 33 inches at her 18 month checkup. So the question is can you feed a toddler, that is very demanding, too much?

The Boy is really enjoying hockey, I can't wait until he gets to play on a team as right now he is in the learn to play program where they do play some games but it is mostly learning to skate better, handle the puck a little, etc. He is adventurous some times too, he decides he wants to go play in the bigger groups because they look like they are having more fun because they use pucks more, I like the fact that he is willing to be adventurous but at the same time it scares me as I don't want him to get hurt because some of the kids in the other groups are 7 or a bit older as you have to go through the learn to play before being put on a team. He does ok just doesn't have the knowledge or all the skills of what they are doing to participate easily. He is also very excited for Christmas and even more so the Polar Express party they are having at school. I don't think the teacher knows what she has gotten herself into as he lives for this movie and his Polar Express Train and his CD, etc., etc., etc.

Also just a note for those who have missed it the new Disney Christmas special "Prep and Landing" is very good. The Boy didn't see it yet but he will be watching it on Dec. 18th at 7:00 on ABC Family. My wife and I really enjoyed it and I think we were both surprised by how much we liked it. (Just a note I don't get paid by Disney, but maybe I should.) The Boy has seen commercials for it and already quotes lines from the show.

5:00 AM

5:00 am is sure early unless you are 19 months old. The girl was up early this morning and would not go back to sleep, my wife and I both tried. Turns out she was hungry and we figure it must be a growth spurt. Granted she is a good eater, unlike her brother, and she will anything and everything she can get her hands on. Maybe she just wants to work on talking as each day it seems she has something new to say: chair, shoe, cracker, cookie, juice, choo-choo. All I know is 5:00 am is probably easy when you are 19 months old, although we may pay for it when it gets closer to bed time. When you are the parent, 5:00 am is not as much fun unless you are like my father who gets up very early for what I call his "4 am retiree meeting". Maybe she needed to get up to talk to Dzia Dzia*, or maybe because we did something and she was just punishing her parents.

* Dzia Dzia is a polish term for Grandpa and if you need a pronouciantion just find a Polish person to help you out.

I don't say that!

The Boy was watching me update the blog the other day and saw the graphic at the top. He got a little upset because it says, "Daddy I'm stinky!" He says he doesn't say that, which is right he is five now and he doesn't. I tried to explain to him that it is old and what I used to start typing the blog but he really didn't understand what a blog was, so there went another five minute conversation. He then proceeded to say that his sister doesn't say that either because she is just learning to talk. I thought about changing the title for a about .01 seconds but decided it will stay and be used fro grand embarrassment when he gets a little older.

The quote of the day from the Boy, "There is no crying or whining in the morning." He was talking about his sister, but then later before school he decided to whine a bit and reminded him of the rule that he made up. Needless to say he was not happy with me bringing it up.

Thanksgiving

We decided to have have our own thanksgiving dinner the weekend after Thanksgiving, well because turkey once a year is not enough so lets be sure to do it twice in four days. Plus it gave me a great excuse to buy a nice roasting pan, especially since Black Friday provided a great after Thanksgiving prices to get a great deal. Well here are a few pictures from our little "Thanksgiving Feast"© (at least copyrighted by the Boy as to him it is a feast even thought he really doesn't eat much more than the corn , rolls and green jello salad. Of course the Girl ate anything we put in front of her. Here are a couple of pictures:

Halloween Pictures

I hadn't downloaded the pictures off the camera in a while, so here are the Boy and the Girl in their Halloween costumes, I sure one costume will look similar to one you may have seen one or two previous times:

Just a couple of plain updates

At hockey recently my son did something that surprised me, he left his group to go to one of the other (slightly more) advanced groups. He did it merely for the fact he wanted to play with pucks, I was worried, but he did alright in the situation, but as soon as he saw his group with pucks he went back. I was surprised because he is usually will stay with the status quo. I asked him later and he said it looked like more fun. Hockey is still consuming him as I set up a little net for him to play in the basement, which he absolutely loved. And if you ask him what position he wants to play he most often says, "Defenseman" (or "Defencemen" for my Canadian readers).

The girl has started a new fascination, opening a drawer and trying to put her foot in and climb up onto the table or into the drawer. I have to figure what she is trying to do as she can't quite pull herself up so her leg mostly gets stuck in the drawer. She is starting to use a few more words, but she still remains quite expressive. Everyone says the Boy will eat us out of house and home, but the fact is she is the one that eats anything and everything, even Bobby's Goulash.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Preschool and Colds

Anyone that has kids in school can probably relate. The past few weeks have been long as my the Boy brought a cold from preschool that he has passed on to his sister and myself. The kids are doing much better and seem to be recovering. I, on the other hand thought I was recovering and then got hit with a little case of bronchitis. The worst part is it seems to worse at night when I am trying to sleep. Hopefully the antibiotics I am on start to do a better job so I can get more sleep and hence get better.

The Boy and his drawing have really improved. He is drawing more than scribbles these days. Things that are distinguishable are trains, apples, flowers, houses. He seems to be really taken by art and sports lately as he has really taken a strong liking to Hockey, as he asked the other day, "What would happen if I stayed at the ice rink all the time?"

The Girl has decided to try and start using words as opposed to her pointing and grunting. It is making things a bit easier and a little more fun, although with the words she uses there is usually a demand involved, like "Cracker!" or "Juice!" or her new favorite "Ball!" The other thing I want to know is why must she want to do the things that are the most annoying to adults. For example there is an extra dining chair in the corner that she insists on sitting on. the annoying part is she needs help to get on it and soon as she is up there for five seconds she gets down and wants up again. Also, she can climb up on the rest of the furniture so I don't get the big deal with the chair. I have thought of removing the annoying objects in the room, but it becomes an issue of where to put them as there really is no other place for them at the moment.

That Looks Like A Lot Of Work.

The Boy is really taking to drawing pictures these days. Not just scribbles anymore, but pictures with houses, cars, trains, hearts, etc. He also likes to draw race tracks. Well I was talking on the phone with my dad the other day and as I was walking around talking to him I noticed on a Sauder filing cabinet the Boy had drawn racetracks all over it with pencil. We were not happy about it, brought him into the room and talked to him about it. He then knew it was wrong. My wife then found a pencil and started erasing it, this was obviously taking a while and then the Boy walks by and says, "That looks like a lot of work." It was not a nice comment by him but we had a hard time not laughing at it.

Time Change?

It shall be interesting tomorrow morning with the time change (fall back). I hope the kids in their infinite wisdom sleep for that extra hour, although I don't think they have a real comprehension for what the time change is all about. It is the one weekend a year that gives you an extra hour to do with as you please - sleep, stay up later, maybe even watch the same hour of television over again since it will be 1:00am twice. I know the kids will be up at their normal time which means they will be up one hour earlier than what the real time is and I know I will be tired because I seem to always use that extra hour instead of getting that much needed sleep.

What goes on in those little heads?

This is a question my wife and I ask ourselves almost daily. It is a great mystery but at the same time I think we can tell through their eyes. There are some days like today where it seems everyone is trying to fight off a cold and they act in concert with each other to see if I will spontaneously combust, and I think I came real close today. There were a few times where one child or the other would be doing something they know they shouldn't and look at me with that wry smile or evil grin as I correct them I can see that twinkle in their eye that says, "Wow he is almost there, just another little push and he will explode!" I think they believe it will either be confetti and streamers or candy when I finally pop, I just know now that they are both in bed I will be indulging in a tall glass of milk and way too many Oreos to reset my combustion level so they can try again another day.

Showing off the moves

At hockey the Boy got to play with a puck for the first time on the ice. It was pretty exciting, here is some video of him going across the ice.

He has come a long way since his first practice where he was scared and cried the whole time on the ice. Every practice he gets better and tries more stuff.

Pumpkin Picking

We went to a local farm that has a great pumpkin patch along with animals and hayrides. A new calf was born about 30 minutes before we got there, and I like to stare at the black angus cows and think of the yummy steaks walking around. Here are a few pictures from our adventures:

Strawberry Shortcake is Dangerous

This is a Public Service Announcement for all you unsuspecting parents regarding Strawberry Shortcake. She is one dangerous little berry. Yesterday as my The Girl and I were playing she chucked one of here Strawberry Shortcake board books at me. It struck me in the side of the nose with quite a thud and my nose is still sore and tender today. Plus when it hit I felt sick to my stomach and a little woozy so I thought that it was broken, I don't think it is but it was quite painful. So I am staying a fair distance away from Strawberry Shortcake.

A new phrase from The Boy, "What the Fake?" I can only assume he learned this at school after I taught him, "Damn it!" Which he has turned to "Bam it!" All we try to do is ignore it so we shall see how long this lasts.

Watch out NHL!

The Boy started hockey, well actually a 'Learn to Play' hockey program. He has been talking about this a long time and it is finally here. His first day was a little rough, he was scared and his helmet was a little tight so I spent the session on the ice with him trying to get hom to skate around. However the second session was a ton better. He was on the ice by himself was able to get up most of the time by himself and most importantly he had a good time. So I figure the 2023 NHL draft he should be ready.

What a Start to the Week!!!

The Boy will turn five later this week, but to start off the week he is fighting a very small fever and very slight cough. Sure makes preparations for his birthday and his party a bit difficult. So now the house is divided in two, an area for The Girl and an area for the Boy in hopes of not getting everyone else ill. So far it is working out and the kids are keeping their distance from each other. It is hard for me because there is stuff I was going to do over each day while he was at school which has two days now gone from that and the week keeps getting shorter. So hopefully he gets better and can get back at it soon because it would be a big bummer to be sick on his birthday. For the most part he has done a real good job for an almost 5 year old of taking it easy and not overdoing it, although today he is starting to get antsy so hopefully he is getting better.

Tiger Woods

My wife and the Boy were watching TV, it may have been golf or a sports update on a channel but they were showing Tiger Woods and the conversation went something like this (or so I am told):

Boy: "Who is that?"
Mom: "Tiger Woods"
Boy: Tiger?
Mom: Yes, his name is Tiger like your name is Boy.
Boy: Is he golfing?
Mom: Yes.
Boy: He is getting a lot of goals!
Mom: No in golf you try to get the ball in the holes.
Boy: Oh, he is good at getting it in the holes.
Mom: Yes he is very good at getting it in the holes.
Boy: Not like Daddy who isn't good at getting in the holes and gets mad and throws his ticket on the ground.

Then the laughter ensued. So apparently Tiger Woods is a little better at golf than me. The story behind the ticket on the ground is from a golf outing I was at recently and they had raffle prizes. I bought some raffle tickets, one must have fallen out of my pocket when I got home and was in the garage as he saw it there a few days later. He asked what the ticket was for and I told him it was from a raffle at the golf outing outing that I didn't win. I guess he imagined the rest as :::sarcasm::: I don't get made playing golf :::end sarcasm:::.

Update on the kids

Updating on the last couple of weeks:

The Boy and I went to a couple of high school cross country meets which was very exciting to him and to me. He likes to run and watching people run, where I like the fact that he has taken a greater interest in sports. He will be starting the "learn to play" program for hockey soon so we shall see how it goes. We even went to a high school football game where he had a great time as well. In addition, he has taken a liking to doing math (or learning it at this point) as it all started with a simple dollar purchase at Target of Math Bingo. Sometimes it is amazing how the small things can make such a big difference.

The girl is eating just about anything she can get her hands or we put in front of her. One of her new favorites is risotto along with grilled zucchini. She also has a great love for shoes so I guess I will have to start hiding the credit cards.

Nothing much more exciting to post. The Boy's fifth birthday is coming soon and the excitement of the holidays after that.

The Bouncing Binky

I believe the Girl is going to be a major league pitcher as she throws many things and sometimes quite well. Her favorite thing to throw is her binky, especially when I open her door on my van. I am usually fishing this thing out of all kinds of places. Today at a store she threw it towards the middle of the van, it bounced off the diaper bag went under her seat hitting me in the leg and ending up in the parking lot about five feet behind me. Granted to her this is funny, probably more when I am crawling around under the car or all around trying to find or reach that binky.

She has also received her first taste of timeout. Well it was more of me holding her in my lap explaining to a 16 month old not to do something (I am sure I totally got through to her). The girl likes to climb on furniture, she can get down by herself as well but the issue is standing on furniture. A while ago we got a storage ottoman/table for our living room because we thought it would be better for the baby and bumping it with her head. We didn't realize the real danger would be her climbing on it, standing and smiling at us. Well we tell her to sit down and she usually listens but today was an exception, she stood smiling at me the whole time. I proceeded to get her down and she climbed back up so now came the timeout. I took her down and sat her on my lap and tried to explain that she is not to stand on furniture. She wasn't really happy with this and decided to scream and grab my face giving me a small cut on my cheek. After a minute I set her down and she continued to wail but she eventually calmed down and didn't climb on the ottoman again and I was relieved because I was afarid of the beating I may take the next time.

Shocked about a Haircut!

The haircut itself was not shocking but the way it came about was. The Boy generally hates getting haircuts, there is bribery and lots of consoling to be done at haircut time. Usually he would sit in my lap while his hair gets cut and there would be moments of crying, screaming and squirming to get away. Earlier last week he says to me before school, "Dad, I need a haircut because my hair is getting in my eyes. Can we go before school?" If it were open we would have been there right then and there, unfortunately we had to wait until Saturday. Saturday came and we went to go sign him up for beginner hockey program which we are all very excited about and then it was on to get a haircut. I feared he would change his attitude at the last minute because he sometimes does that in a predictable/unpredictable way. I asked, "Should we get a haircut now?" and he answered, "Yes." When we got there he went right up picked out his movie, Sponge Bob for those wondering (I don't like the show for him but in the event of making a haircut go smoothly I didn't argue). Then I asked him if he wanted to sit on my lap or sit by himself and he wanted to sit by himself, I think I was laying on the floor in shock at this point. Now I am getting really nervous waiting for the explosion to come... it never did! He sat still as much as a 4 yr. old can and did a really good job, even around the ears and over the eyes. Maybe next time he can just ride his bike there and do it all by himself, seems like sometimes he just grows up really fast.

Ahhh... Back to School!

I still am not sure who is happier about the Boy going back to preschool. He loves school and it gives me a chance to lose a little bit of the craziness around here. One thing he asked me this morning which was really sweet, "Will you miss me when I am at school?" Of course I'll miss him but I am sure he will not miss me once he gets there and gets with all of his new friends. Now just a couple of more years until the Girl gets to go to preschool.

On some other notes, the Girl can now climb on and off the couch all on her own. Start hiding the remote! She was quite proud today when she got off the couch all by herself without falling. In addition there seems to be nothing she won't eat, today she had some grilled zucchini with her hot dog for lunch. The Boy on the other hand is pretty picky and mostly just doesn't want to try stuff but occasionally he does and likes it, although yesterday he asked when I am done with lunch can I have more carrots so I am not complaining.

Finally, we went to a local park to walk, my son actually jogged a whole trail as the Girl and I tried to keep up in the stroller. Then we went and played on the playground, where I calmly (yes surprisingly calm) had to correct another dad for yelling at the Boy who was just trying to play with his kids. No harm done, just a helicopter parent swooping in. We had a good time all together as evidenced by the picture below:

The Curious Boy

The Boy is very curious as most 4 year olds are. My wife and I enjoy sitting out on our patio by the fire pit listening to Jimmy Buffet concerts on Sirius/XM radio and having margaritas, the Abyss, or the Key Lime Pie Martini. Well our son sometimes has trouble going to bed, more or less tries to stay up as late as he can. He has his Thomas the Train flashlight, and recently as we sitting outside we notice this light shining upon us, look up to see and out his bedroom window he is shining his flashlight on us. Sometimes it is hard to be upset when you are laughing as I was trying to get him back to bed.

First Baseball Game

We took the Boy to his first pro baseball game recently. He was very excited about this and I went out and got him a new glove to take with him in the morning which is not the easiest of tasks. The issue is he is left handed, so the selection was small and I was trying not to spend too much on a glove that he will grow out of in a year or two. That afternoon we went out played catch. It was a lot of fun for me and very exciting to play catch with my son for the first time with gloves and all. He did very well, and it was a great moment in my mind although after a while he lost some interest and wanted to do something else which was OK. At the game we had a great experience we saw homeruns, ate cotton candy, and enjoyed a beautiful night out at the ball park. We didn't catch a foul ball but he was ready.

I have to buy something!

Not me, the Boy. Today at Target he went nuts because I wouldn't buy him a toy. He was trying to push the cart to where he wanted to go and wasn't being a good listener. The conversation went something like this:

Boy: "I need to buy something."
Dad: "Do you have any money?"
Boy: "No!"
Dad: "Then how are you going to buy something?"
Boy: "Well, you could buy something and then give it to me." (with wry smile)
Dad: "Not today."
Boy: (literally explodes)

I picked him up put him in the cart and proceeded to go checkout with him crying and screaming through the store. The interesting thing was being able to tell who had kids and who did not, anyone with kids (even if they were not there) didn't bat an eye towards us and the ones without gave the look of "What did that man do to that poor child?" or "Can't you control your son?" At least it was a nice big store so it didn't sound as loud as opposed to our house and being in a smaller room with him. He cried all the way to the car and halfway home and then realized that I was just not listening anymore. Which brings me to the thought of wishing I could get something fun for myself every time I went to a store like Best Buy, Dick's Sporting Goods, Williams Sonoma, etc. Maybe it is time to start learning chores and earning some cash for the little man.

I know what I want!

This is The Girl and her tag line, "I know what I want!" She is very demanding little girl when she wants something. When I sit on the floor to play with her she must sit one of two places either between my legs and if there isn't room she will move them to her liking, or she will sit with my arms if I am laying on the floor. The other day I was laying on the floor and she was sitting between my arms, she got up and got her sippy cup brought it to me. She put in right next to my face, pulled on my hair to lift my head and then proceeded to point at her chest. "Yes sweetie, I will get you more juice." She certainly knows what she wants and knows how to get it.

One Month Until School

I know I was keeping track of home times I could be asked by son if it was school time yet, I simply lost count. At least now it is less than a month away and he seems pretty anxious. We have been doing what we can to keep him in the learning mode, for example, we started a year or two ago with the Pigeon books by Mo Willems and have since found his Elephant and Piggie books which he loves and reads all on his own. We even bought for a whole dollar Math Bingo at Target, he loves it and I think he is starting to understand some of the concept of math as most of it is counting on our fingers and then adding more fingers, it is just hard when three of us play and the answer is 81 as there just are not enough fingers to count. So far the potty process is going well, slow but well. He really wants to inducted us into geekdom and get our model train. In all honesty I am excited about the train because as a kid my parents always told me mine was under my bed... there never was a train. It is also a curse now because all we do is train stuff it seems, maybe we will even get monogrammed shirts with the name of our railroad and those cool engineer or conductor hats.

The Girl is doing great, she has her 15 month appointment next week, should be a fun one. She is walking all over, chasing her brother, and loves giving donks to her Daddy. She is developing quite the personality as she is a champion food tosser and I believe has the stinkiest diapers known to man. We have bought a new diaper pail and have even tried using those Oder Blocker bags and sometimes it is no match for some of her diapers. At least it is one of them using diapers now so I shouldn't complain. Teeth are coming in at an alarming rate and she made her first trip to the jeweler to help me pick out Mommy's something special for getting the Boy to use the Potty for everything. She thought the shiny things were awesome and I am sure that now I have upped the ante on what presents she will want for her 2nd birthday next year. I will try to post a picture later of the something nice as I am sure some of you are wondering what you get for making someone poop in the potty.

Follow-up to Splash Down

Well the boy went a few days with no activity on the potty. He tried once without a fight but no luck. Then that evening while my wife and I were not at home my mom was watching the kids, he did it again on the potty. So with any luck we are well on our way. Now is the fun part for my wife as I told her if the calendar idea works I would get her something nice, now I just have to figure out something nice. This will take some thinking as this is an odd situation to buy for a gift for, the boy of course got some toys and a model train is in the vary near future (Welcome to our Geekdom!) if keeps up the good work.

"Houston, we have splash down!"

Best day ever! The Boy after many different tries and many different methods finally did what I thought may never happen... in his words, "I put stink in the potty!!" Granted it was 10 o'clock at night, but it was a celebration in our house as he did it with no fight, no crying (well maybe some tears of joy from all of us), no trying to hold on to it anymore. We are all very proud of him.

As many of you may know we have tried many methods to get this to happen, but my wife gets all the credit here. She pulled out his Highlights calendar and told him to pick a day for no more diapers. He picked July 19th. Every day we marked off on the calendar and celebrated the fact that July 19th was "Potty Day, No more Diapers!!" There was some very hip dancing to go along with this exclamation each day. We got to the 19th and celebrated that it was Potty Day and there were no more diapers, he never asked for one but didn't sleep real well that night. Then today he seemed as if he needed to go and it was just a waiting game to see if he was going to try or if he was going to ask for a diaper. All day he was fine, then came bedtime and he went pee in the potty and to bed. He got up once and had an accident when he went to his spot in his room he would go when he wore a diaper and had to make stink. He was upset by this but we reassured him and he went back to bed. He got up again and went pee again, this time making it to the potty. Then he got up a third time in a bit of distress and said "The stink is coming out." We rushed to the potty, sat down and he tried. My wife read him a book, then he wanted alone time and soon he pushed it out and into the potty. We were all excited, he was so happy he had tears in his eyes. I can't tell you how proud I am, or how happy I am. Even though there are many days that would be the best days ever (marriage, births, etc.), this for today is it, the best day ever!

Go from Good to Not as Good

The Boy has been a pretty good boy all week, until this morning. He went from being a good helper, a good listener, and being nice to just the opposite, not listening, not being careful around The Girl, just doing everything and anything that will drive me nuts. Right when I think he is turning a corner he turns back and goes the other direction. I realize he is 4 and this is to be expected but it doesn't make it any less frustrating. Of course the kids were working together today on driving me nuts, as the Girl was proceeding to have small tantrums about who knows what, maybe it is time to take her shoe shopping. It is just one of those days today. Hopefully a good nap and everyone will be calm and happy again.

Back from Vacation

The family took a vacation last week and had a good time. We stayed in a lodge that had two suites, we were in the lower one and above us was the Stompersons. The unique thing about this was they seemed to not sit at all as I believe they all were in perpetual motion whenever we were in the suite. In addition, they not only walked vary loud they constantly dropped things that were louder than most fireworks. It certainly makes it tough to get your kids to bed with all the noise. Monday we went to the beach even though it was bit windy but the beach cabana that we got from One Step Ahead was awesome, big enough to fit all of us and could close the windy side and made it very nice near the cabana. Tuesday and Wednesday it was cold and off and on rainy so we tried to do some fun things around town and n earby towns, we climed a sand dune that overlooked the lake, we went to a farmers market and saw a big steam engine that the Boy enjoyed very much, did some shopping and even ventured to a mall. I know a mall is not the idea of vacation but when you have two kids and not many inside things to do sometimes you need to get out of the suite. Thursday it was cool again and cloudy but we went back to the beach, we endured and the sun actually came out which was nice and made all of us happy. We came home Friday and the kids were happy to be in there beds. All in all it was good and here are a few pictures:

Let's Go! Let's Stay Home!

It is a no win situation sometimes with the Boy. I try to do things and go places but on those days the Boy wants to stay home and play with his toys. This morning I agreed and said we could stay home, although playing with the toys was not what he really wanted to do, he wanted to bug the heck out of me. I like to play with him when I get the Girl to take a nap (sometimes she takes a morning nap), although with her awake it is more difficult because he wants me to play with legos or something chokable where she can't play. Then if I suggest we stay home and play and do stuff the Boy insists on going somewhere and doing something. I know the easy solution seems to be tell him one thing and then he will want to do the other. I believe he has ESP or something as he always seems to be to clever for that ploy. At least today I didn't have anything pressing to do where I needed to bribe him into going, but I did feel like I was wearing a "Kick Me!" sign on my back all morning.

Edit: I almost forgot the "When is Summer Break over?" question is now up to 11 times since school has been out.

I finally have a couple pictures of the kitchen for those of you that have yet to see it, I tried to clean up as much as the kids would allow:

Little Boys Day

The Boy was playing on the computer in one of his favorite activities making spin art. Well he prints out the pictures for us occasionally and hangs them on the fridge. Yesterday he made a spin art picture and brought it into the kitchen declaring it "Little Boys Day". Little Boys Day as I have been informed it is like Valentines Day but as my son said, "It celebrates Jesus and Me because they both love each other." So mark it on your calendar, June 13th is Little Boys Day.

The Museum

With a rainy day, I decided to take the kids to the Art Museum. The Girl took a long morning nap so we postponed the Boy's nap so we could do something new. It was a great day to be there as it was not very busy and it was a first for both children. The Boy has my sense of art (also consider he is 4) but it did not take us long to go through the whole museum. Granted we had to stop at the start as the Girl decided she wanted her milk right off the bat. Then we went room to room and I tried to point out some art he may have recognized from Little Einsteins or some of the books he used to look at. He was most interested in seeing what was next. So in a sense we saw the whole museum in a little over an hour and we didn't run. The Girl really liked the modern abstract art, more because I think of the brighter colors and it was a lot of shapes. Some of the darker rooms she didn't like so much but the last part of the museum was the best. We went searching for a snack and the best we could come up with was a $1.50 brownie that we all shared.

Walking all over me

The Girl is now really getting into the walking. She tries quite often and is getting quite good, although sometimes I think she believes it is faster to crawl. She got the internet and pointed to the screen showing this:
Her big brother better watch out because when she starts chasing him it will be trouble. There is a negative side to this, as she begins walking more and more she has stopped cleaning the floors. While crawling she would pick up everything and try to put it in her mouth, even after a freshly swept room she would find stuff and dart right for it. Now with the walking she doesn't see as concerned with the stuff on the floor, just more the stuff that she can't reach on tables and shelves.

On to other things, the best time of the day for the Girl is the Night-night train. We started this with the Boy which made bed time a lot easier but he has since stopped wanting to do it, however the the Girl loves it. When we get her PJs on she is already excited, then I give out the call "Allllll Aboard!" and she practically jumps out of her PJs. I guess since her brother is so much into trains she doesn't have much of a chance, but she loves the night-night train every night.

As for the count on the number of times I have been asked if Summer break is over yet, it is now up to two. Hopefully this will subside soon as I just may drop him off at school for a couple hours.

Third Day of Summer

On the third day of summer break my son said something to me that was good and bad all in one short question:

"Daddy, is summer break over yet I want to go to school?"

I was grateful that he likes school so much as most of my time in school I was trying to get out of school, but at the same time I thought it is going to be a long summer. Soon we will have our little pool setup, we will make trips to the zoo, we have a vacation planned, we have some camps for him to go to, so it will be ok it is just the current adjustment period of not having it.  I am interested to see what happens at the beginning of the school year to see how he reacts this time.

Summer Break

I remember in school I could not wait for summer break. The Boy however loves school so much he was very upset when I told him summer break was coming and there wouldn't be school for a while. He believed that it was like Easter break and was only a week so we shall see what happens in the coming days when he realizes we are not going to school. We have enrolled him in some camps that will hopefully make the summer without school more enjoyable for him. I guess the thing he doesn't realize is that I want him to go as much as he wants to go to school, especially since he wants to go as I think someday that fortune will get reversed. Although I need to deprogram him as a kid in his preschool has been teaching him some nice things:

The Boy: "DAMN!"
Daddy: What did he say?
Mommy: He said "Bam."
Daddy: Are you sure? Boy, what did you say?
The Boy: DAMN!
Daddy: that is a bad word, you do not say that. Where did you learn that from?
The Boy: My Friend from school.

Well at least he won't learn anything else from his friend as it is summer break.

The Girl is getting more daring with the walking. She has taken a few steps now and then but not much more but I think she will be flying around this house with her brother in not time. Today she opened the gate, granted we haven't locked it until today because she mostly left it alone, once she was through it was like lightening as she was trying to get away as quickly as possible.

I got to golf an actual round of golf for the first time in about 4 years. I have played in scrambles and the like usually twice a year since the Boy was born, but this was actual golf except the way I played. I am really glad they sell golf balls in dozens or else it would have been a short round. I just can't wait to get out there again.

Feeling Old

The Boy, as all children in their complete honesty, and I had a funny conversation that made me feel a bit older today:

Boy: "Daddy, what are those lines?"
Daddy: "What Lines?"
Boy: "Those lines."
Daddy: "Where are these lines?"
Boy: "On your face."

So now I know I am old.

The Child Comparison

Well now that the Girl is one year old I thought I would do a quick compare of their stats. First off somehow we ended up with two blue-eyed kids with my wife and I both green and brown eyes, I am sure the odds are off the chart. But here is there One Year comparison:

	The Boy:	The Girl:
Birth	7 lbs. 12 1/2 oz. 21 1/2 inches	6 lbs 13 oz. 21 1/4 inches
One Year	22 lbs. 4 oz. 32 inches	20 lbs 4 oz. 29 inches

I realize comparing them is meaningless. Even though I think they have the same energy which will either make me crazy or insane, not sure which one I just know that that much energy between the two of them is going to keep me hopping.

Learning to Read

The Boy is actively learning to read. He is quite funny in this aspect as I believe he is better at it then he lets on. Recently we went to National Train Day at our local train station where they had all kinds of model trains among other fun train stuff. The Boy loved it and got a magazine on your first model train set. Well the other day on the way to a grandparents house he was looking through it for the 1000th time and asked us to read something to him. We told him not know while we were in the car and suddenly from the back seat we hear "Enter.... to..... win.... a.... train.... set." For which I respond, "Didn't need much help did you?" as my wife and I had a good laugh.

The Girl is on the verge of walking as when we got to the grandparents house and set her down she put her feet down and stood there for a good 20 or so seconds in the least. She currently zips around with her walker and has even learned to turn around with it. Today she found the joy of running into my legs as she thought it was pretty funny.

The New Seat

With The Girl being one now and 20 pounds she is a forward facing seat now. She seems to enjoy this new view on life, now she can see where she is going as opposed to where she has been. Although I have found this to be a bit troubling, she now can see me and for her that is great but for me not so much as she always wants attention. I have what they call a conversation mirror (kid mirror that pops down so I can see the people I am talking to do in the back or the kids I am scolding) and I am trying to ge there to look at that to see my face because now that she can see me she yells out for my attention. Either she wants my attention or her mommy has told her to be a backseat driver, I am not sure which is the case yet since she doesn't use words yet. I am sure we will all get used to it but for now I guess I will have to deal her telling me how to drive.

The Girl is now One!

My Princess turned One!

It was recently The Girl's first birthday. She was very excited not to be "zero" any more. She took part in all the party festivities, and couldn't wait to get her hands on that cake. I am not sure who was more excited though, The Girl or my wife, after all it was a Pink Princess Party.

She received lots of nice gifts and can't decide which gift to give the most attention to, and her brother is a big help as he can't stop playing with her tea set. In addition, when she was opening presents he wanted to put one of the hair bows in his hair. I simply just shake my head and smile as I guess he needs more time playing sports.

Here are a couple of more pictures of The Girl enjoying the cake and in her party dress. You may also notice in a couple of the pictures you can see glimpses of the kitchen that I have been working on and now that the party is done maybe I will get the time to get it cleaned up and take some pictures for all to see.

Does it really mean something?

This post is more about me and my craziness and superstitions than anything. I realized some od facts about some numbers recently within my life. If you add up the important dates birthdays of my wife and children, then add in our wedding anniversary and it equals my birthday:

1 + 3 + 8 + 9 = 21

That to me is very interesting.

On the second part of this whole number thing, after discovering tha I started thinking about my favorite and important number, 43. Some ask why that is my number, well in short order it was on of the first numbers I wore playing football when I first could play sports in grade school. Also it has come up many times in good and bad times in my life. When I was diagnosed with diabetes I was in room 403 with IV machine number 43. I also did a random number generator once where it asked all these question and then picked your lucky number from 1 to 100 and it picked 43. So where this is all going is the fact that if you add up all the months of the above dates:

5 + 8 + 9 + 10 + 11 = 43

So right now I am excited and freaked out all at the same time by this discovery even though it goes right along with my superstitions.

Busy and Fun Weekend

We had a very busy weekend now that we are all healthy. Friday the Boy, Girl and I went over to a friends house to play, we all had a good time and I think this is one of the few times my son didn't throw a tantrum when leaving, although he did say on the way home he wanted to stay there forever. I don't know how their parents would feel since they already have three boys, I mean what is one more.

The big day was Saturday. It was special trip day. It was a surprise. Well he figured out what we were doing as soon as we hit the on ramp of the expressway. We were going to see Thomas the Train. Although the train shirt he was wearing and Thomas DVD he was watching in the car might have been big hints. As usual we didn't quite leave on time so when we got there it was a quick walk to get to the station where Thomas was at for our ride time. Everything was going quite smoothly until the usual disaster hit, the Boy as he does on many occasions tripped and fell, he skinned his knee with a small cut so it was bleeding right as we are going to wait in line for our ride time on Thomas. So my wife is holding the Girl and I am trying to clean up his knee and spray some Neo To Go on his knee and it was just a scream fest. Once I got the bleeding stopped and sprayed it we just let it go and he was fine. (I said usual because this tripping has happened before at things we go to do and some how he ends up hurting himself.) The train ride was great and it was off to lunch which went rather smoothly except when the Girl was trying to snatch a Boy Scout's chicken nugget at the next table, it was actually quite funny. The we went to do some of the activities when both kids started on that slow downhill slope of a meltdown. We lasted as long as we could and went home. Unfortunately I still am yet to get a picture of the Boy standing with Thomas as he seems to have a fear of getting his picturte taken with imaginary things/people like Santa, because usually he hams it up pretty good and likes to have his picture taken. Then to top off Saturday, I got my new grill and my wife and I got to go out for the evening and enjoy the nice weather.

Then Sunday was yard work day and getting caught up in my garden. We also bought a swing for the Girl as you can see in the picture on the left and she loved it. I also got use my grill and after the first test it did pretty well. So I think it will be a few days before we recover from such a busy, crazy but fantastic weekend.

Spring Break and Sick Again

Spring break time and it has been alright, a little crazy and making me wonder what the summer is going to be like. The Girl is much better, and is tearing into food at an alarming rate, must be a growth spurt. The Boy has caught a cold that will probably run through the family again after it seems like we all just got healthy again. Although for a kid, I must say I am impressed with the Boy as he is dying to go to school and Spring break is killing him. He asks every day and usually more than once. Beyond that we have been moving more stuff out of the Living Room which the Girl is now overtaking as we were happy to have some adult space back just a short while ago. The Boy got a Big Wheel for Easter and loves it, calls it a "Low Rider" sometimes but he would ride it everywhere, probably even to school. My favorite part is when the wheel slips when he pedals, it sure brings back the good old days. And I think we have finally made a kitchen floor decision and now that I am healthy again for the moment I will hopefully have the kitchen done soon.

Yes the above seems random with no real flow but I just was given a n update and typed as it pooped in my head. Two kids that are into everything home together does that to you.

The Power of The Cookie

Kids love cookies and treats there is no way around it. I love the power a cookie holds. It could be the denial of it which cause great disaster or the rewarding high from doing something and getting that delicious cookie. I haven't done much cooking with being sick last month (doing better by the way), my son asked me to make some cookies because as he sadi "I have never had any." Granted when you are four and you Daddy doesn't make cookies for a while it seems like never in his short life thus far. If you wondering on the cookies it is one of my all-time favorites, chocolate chip. I have worked a lot of recipes to get the texture and flavor I like - a little bit of cranch with a thick cookie with soft middle with chocolate and white chocolate chips. So now for getting him to finish meals or do cerain things he can earn that cookie reward which to him is the greatest thing as he says, "Daddy, you make the best cookies in the whole world."

March Madness is Almost Over

Well if you thought this was about the NCAAs, you are wrong. It has been March Madness in our house all month long, not basketball but illness. I will be happy when the clock strikes 12:00 am April 1st and that this whole month has been a cruel joke. The Boy and the Girl are both finally getting better, I may be turning the corner after being sick all month long and hopefully my wife will start to get better as well. So if you are in the stock market I would suggest buying up Reckitt Benckiser stock, as we will be disinfecting our house (for those saying "huh?", they make Lysol products). I will certainly be happy when March is over and hopefully on to a much healthier April.

Who Really Needs Sleep?

Seems like a silly question, but it has come to light quite often in our home. With kids and taking care of them, "Who Really Needs Sleep?" is what I am asking. When The Boy was born and we brought him home he had trouble eating at first so my wife and I were up pretty much 48 hours straight beyond all the lost sleep in the hospital and what not. We felt like sleep was overrated and were both functioning quite well, until her mom came over to care for the Boy and we crashed hard. There have been other times when we have questioned needing sleep, like currently with both kids sick (actually the Boy is back at school today - YIPPEE!!) we have been up a lot at night while trying to recover ourselves. The Girl has needed aerosol treatments every four hours for at least two days straight. The first night I handled it at 12:00 am and 4:00 am and it went rather smoothly. Then last night I took the 12:00 am and my wife took the 4:00 am, only problem was she was up at 2:00 am, finally getting her back to sleep by 3:10ish am and then the Boy was up 3:30 am to go potty, then the Girl woke up again at 5:40 but just wailed for a moment and went back to sleep. So the question remains, "Who Really Needs Sleep?"

Sickness

A nice cough-cold combination has taken over over house. I had it for two weeks and am hopefully getting over it finally, My wife just started getting it early last week. The Boy got it and has had a fever for four of the past five days. The Girl has it and needs to do breathing treatments ever four fours for the next two days. Usually just one of us gets it and it is passed from person to person, not all at once. There is nothing like trying to give breathing treatments to a 10 month old who doesn't understand what is going on, the fun ones should be in the middle of the night, hopefully she just sleeps right through them. The Boy and this fever are killing me. He just wants to go back to school and I just want to send him. The doctor and the school say once the fever is gone, no problem except that the fever is hanging on. Well Hopefully we will all recover soon and quickly so we can get back to arguing about nap time and trying to make the kids eat their veggies.

Shooters, Cardboard and Ikea

I realize it has been a bit but I have been fighting off a cough and cold which I have now passed to the children. At least this time I didn't get it from them. I just hope we can get through it quickly, although after a week I am still having a hard time shaking the cough.

Recently my wife and I went to Ikea to purchase a new table for our kitchen redo along with some other accessories. It is probably a good thing there is not an Ikea right near by as we love that store. We went to go look at and probably buy a particular square table with pull out leaves but we ended up getting something completely different although we both love it. It is a counter height stainless steel table with four stools with washable covers. It is, as the boy would say, "Awesome!" Now maybe it is not the most practical for our 10 month old, but sometimes you have to have something for yourself instead of the kids. The Boy loves it and thinks it is neat that he gets to sit so high.

Once the table was picked out and we were starting to get into accessory mode it was go time. We had a lot of fun picking out new stuff and then even buying new dishes because we wanted to. I think the best part, besides helping the economy, was just getting what we wanted for a change.

With Ikea stuff there is a lot of cardboard. We bought the Boy some stuff and he was more interested in the cardboard. so after recycling about 90% he is busy playing with the other 10%. Sometimes I think Why not just buy all the stuff I want in cardboard packages then we both win... I get stuff and he gets fun cardboard. This leads me the final part of the title which is actually the first part, "Shooters." The pre-school my son goes to does not allow weapon play of any kind (as I am sure most schools are the same), but the kids are vary creative in the sense of they know they can't play with toys a certain way so they come up with different ways and words to accomplish the same thing. There was a long cardboard tube and this is what the Boy had to say, "Dad, look at my shooter. It is a shooter that shoots things but it isn't gun." I laughed and appreciated his creativeness.

As for the Girl, she is really starting to motor around on the hands and knees as well as pulling herself and walking along furniture. She has also developed some great facial expressions. And occasionally she gets the name "Miss 'Tude" as she is developing quite a personality sometimes with a little attitude.

Finally, the kitchen redo is almost done, we just have to figure out flooring so hopefully I will be posting pictures soon.

Daddy, Do you know what uranus looks like?

This is the question I was asked out of the blue from The Boy. I almost burst out in laughter, but then quickly remembered they were studying space, the solar system and the planets in preschool. After I responded to have him tell me, he explained that Uranus has rings that go up and down and Saturn has rings that go side to side.

He had his second ice skating lesson and did it all almost all by himself the whole time. So if he shows this kind of improvement each lesson and practice I figure he will be ready for the NHL by age 7, making him the youngest NHL player ever. Although if he plays for our loved Red Wings then it may take a few more years to actually play in the NHL as their depth in their minor league team is very deep.

Ready for the NHL

The Boy started ice skating lessons recently. He has started his long journey to be the next great player in the NHL. The first lesson went OK as it was his first time on ice skates on the ice. He is really excited about playing hockey but realizes he must first learn to skate. The lessons are six weeks, so hopefully by then he will gain some comfort on the ice and begin to learn to balance and skate a bit.

The Girl is getting quicker and starting to pull herself up on all types of furniture. Plus she is in the process of trying to drive me out of my mind with the razor sharp finger nails. She is also still fighting any types of food beyond fruit. I know this is normal but her brother when small ate just about anything we gave him and to this day sometimes will say, "If I finish my dinner can I have some carrots?" So I guess one out of two isn't bad.

The kitchen is coming along, the cabinets are done, so the tile backsplash, floor and electrical outlets switches are all that is left beyond accessories and a new table. Hopefully with any luck or cooperation from the children the glass tile backsplash will be done this weekend.

Crawling and Chloroform

First we will talk about the crawling, The Girl has become quite the crawler, she has started to crawl on her hand and knees. She is also getting really good at pulling herself on whatever she can find. I guess this means she will soon be walking and that only means one thing - SHOES! If she is like her Mommy she will have a love for shoes but hopefully she won't be in the shoe of the month club. In addition she also has her bottom teeth starting to come in which seem to bother her more than the top teeth coming in.

Now the part that got your attention, chloroform. We were all going to do some shopping together and The Boy asked, "How do leaves change color?" Since I had the important job of driving the car I said, "I don't know so we will let Mommy answer." So Mommy started to say, "There is less sun. Trees have chloroform... no, they have chlorophyll which helps them turn green...." The rest really isn't important but it was very funny, so much so that if I answered the question myself my driving probably would have been much safer from all the laughter. Although I will say my wife is pretty is smart as if you want a simple answer to his question I have linked a page for you: http://www.sciencemadesimple.com/leaves.html.

And for those wondering about the kitchen progress. Well after painting it once and not liking it we went the paint sample route. After paint colors 6 and 7 we have narrowed it down to two. We have our tile backsplash pieces so it should start to come together. Now if we could only find a few extra hours in the day to get it all done.

Fruititarian

The Girl I believe is a fruititarian now. She used to have vegetables and fruit but refuses the vegetables, even the ones she liked. Today she tried spaghetti, didn't like it but she ate about eight spoonfuls. Granted she has had a cold, but I think she is going to grow up to be one of the fruits in the fruit of the loom commercials. In addition, she has at least four teeth that I can see although I don't like to venture around in her mouth too much as I don't want to lose a finger.

She is also starting to pull herself on things as she received a music table for Christmas and now she crawls over to it at least four or five times a day and pulls herself up and plays some beautiful music.

The Boy is still crazy as ever, we have been building a lot of lego cars, trucks and planes lately. He is very creative in what he builds. He also starts his ice skating lessons very soon, he is excited and hopefully it will be something he likes.

Finally, the kitchen remodel is moving along as our glass tiles should arrive soon and the countertops are in, but we are having a heck of a time trying to find a light brown color to paint the walls. What happened to the basic Crayola colors in the 8 pack box (blue, green, red, yellow, black, brown, orange, purple)? It is frustrating but we will get it done.

A night without Mommy

My wife had to go out of town for a seminar recently and I had the kids for two days and one night by myself. Not a huge deal but without Mommy it was bigger than one would think. The addition to that is the Boy got sick over missed school one of the days and we had to go to the doctor and the pharmacy. Well I iwll recap the fun night I had after I put the Boy to bed with the Girl to follow shortly. Fortunately for me the Girl decided to take a little cat nap while I put the Boy to bed, so we went up read a story, brushed teeth, sung songs and went to bed. Ten minutes later his pillow was wet, I went up and checked it out and it was not very wet so I just flipped it over. About a half hour after that after I got the Girl to bed he woke up calling for me as he didn't want me to leave. I assured him I was staying and suggesated he go to sleep and get some rest so he feels better. Then during one of my favorite TV shows the Girl wakes up so I run up and give her her pacifier and she goes right back to sleep. Then with 10 minutes left in my show my son wakes up and wants to know who is going to play with him, I convience him once again to go back to sleep. Ah quiet for a while now. About 12:30 am the Boy wakes up again missing two of his buddies (stuffed animals), we find them and he goes back to sleep, then about a half and hour later he wakes up again crying about what I am not sure as I am pretty tired at this point. Then about 45 minutes later he is up again wanting it to be morning time, again I convince him to go back to sleep. About a half hour after that he wakes again, details to me are sketchy at this point as the amount of sleep I have gotten is very little and very interrupted. I believe he woke up one more time, at least I remember getting up and looking at my clock again as it was now a little after 3:00 am but that is all I can recall. Then 4:30 am the Girl wakes up hungry so I prepare a bottle feed her and she goes back to sleep, then five minutes later the Boy wakes again uncovered. Back to bed, it is now 5:20 the girl wakes again crying, I try to give her the pacifier but it is not working so I let her cry it out as I know I should but it is hard. She falls back asleep and then about 5:50 am my son wakes up wanting to know who is going to play with him again. I get him back to sleep and change my alarm clock from 6:10 to 6:45 figuring the Girl had milk so I am good, well my alarm goes off at 6:45 am, I am not happy about this as everyone is finally asleep and I have to get up, get ready and get the Boy up so he can be ready in time to go to school. I thought once when he was born and when we first brought him home from the hosiptal that sleep was overrated when neither my wife and I didn't sleep for about 48 hours as we were having a hard time getting him to eat. I don't think I everr recovered except knowing that for when the kids are in need, sleep is overrated.

On another note, the Boy went from being a boy to being "MY" boy as he tried his first chicken wing today. I was very excited. He has started to enter his first steps towards being a man. Now I just have to find out what his favorite sauce is.

Snow Days! I used to love them, now I hate them.

Snow days used to be a wonderful thing, now the Boy is in school and I don't like them anymore. He gets crazier each and every one. I like having my time with my 8 month old while he is in school because we can try to get a few things done, but a snow day I feel like my main goal is to maintain some sense of sanity. It wouldn't be so bad if we could all go out and play in the snow but the Girl is not quite ready for that yet. I would buy a snowmobile with a car seat attachment if it meant I could take him to school, of course he would like that too much. Well the day is half done and I can still see straight so hopefully the kids will be easy on me this afternoon. So as far as I am concerned snow days are overrated and should be banned!

Ten Tiny Razor Blades

There is something that was forgotten for a while after the Boy, the little tiny razor blades that babies have for fingernails. The Girl has them and she knows how to incapacitate her Daddy. She seems to know any pressure point or spot where she can make my whole arm going numb or hurt like it was just smashed by a thousand pound boulder. Her new favorite past time is trying to remove my eyebrows. I have really thought about wearing my hockey helmet with cage, but then I think she would just yank my head around with it. If there is anything to fear it is those tiny razor blades on the tips of her fingers.

The Cabinet and the Inauguration

The title sounds awfully political but as you read you find it is not all that much. First let me start with the cabinet, the entertainment cabinet. We have this entertainment cabinet in our living room that is a kid magnet, now with our second child they both must hang on, run into, kick, hit, play with the doors, etc. It is very puzzling to me what is so fascinating about this one piece of furniture. Nothing else in the room is bothered quite this much. Someday I will exact my revenge on this cabinet for causing so much concern.

Now on to the Inauguration. I had my the Boy and the Girl watch this historic moment. Well the Girl ate and slept through it so not much excitement there. The Boy on the other hand watched it intently as he knew something important was happening but really doesn't understand all what was going on. He knew it was about the President and that the new President was Barack Obama but he didn't know more than that. I told him someday he will understand the importance of this day but probably not for a while, he simply said "OK!" The one thing he did say that surprised me was, "I wish we could go to this." So in the back of my mind I planted the idea of someday going ot the Inauguration and I can tell him it was all his idea.

Busy, Busy, Busy!

2009 started off with a bang and we have been very busy. The Girl is getting around a lot these days and she gets a little quicker every day. We had to put a gate back up which s frustrating to the Boy who is all of four and wants to be able to go where he wants when he wants. As I mentioned we are remodeling(updating) our kitchen which is moving along. I think we have settled on a few things, the cabinets are being painted, we are getting some sort of stone counter top (most decided on Silestone but just want to be sure), ordered all the new knobs and hinges, currently deciding on a backsplash and flooring. I am very excited for this project and can't wait cook in the updated kitchen. In addition, the Boy has started back at school so we are working on getting back into our daily routine which is rough with some fo kitchen disarray.

Some news, the Girl has her first tooth coming in. My wife discovered it. We knew she was teething as she just went through her second teething ring by biting a hole in it, this time it was probably the tooth. She seems very happy about it and is all the much closer to feeding herself.

The Boy and I went sledding today and he actually went down the hill by himself a couple of times, once was even face first. I thought it was awesome as sometimes he wants someone with him for reassurance. Then I wasn't really happy about it as I had to go down the hill to get the sled, I know he is four but if you ride it down, you carry it back up. All in all it was an exciting day today.