living and learning

Caleb, at 27 months old, is still sleeping in a crib.

You see, when Micaiah was 2.5 years old, we moved. I decided that I was not taking two cribs, so when we moved, we set up a twin bed for Micaiah. He was thrilled with his newfound freedom and made bedtime an absolute nightmare by just refusing to stay in bed.

As if getting him into bed was not hard enough, he also started waking up in the middle of the night and getting out of bed. Here are a few gems:

~One night around 3 a.m., I awoke to a bright light. I truly thought that our bedroom was on fire. I yelled, "Oh my God!" and then laughed hysterically when I realized that Micaiah was flicking our bedroom light on and off.

~Another time, I awoke to the sound of Micaiah riding his tricycle up and down our hallway at 4:00 in the morning.

~Thankfully, I am a light sleeper because I heard the refrigerator door shut on yet another night. As I stumbled out to the kitchen, I realized that it was 4:30 a.m. and that Micaiah was sitting at the kitchen table eating blue jello.

As I said, Caleb is still sleeping in a crib.

poof

I have this problem lately...

As soon as I post something on my blog, the opposite happens in real life. Last week, in this post I said that there were 4 healthy people in this house. Two days later, all four of us were sick. Then, I posted in this post that Caleb is doing great with potty training. Guess who went through five pairs of pants yesterday? I don't think he made it to the toilet even once! He has been staying dry all day long and as soon as I post it on this blog...POOF...just like that, it's gone. Not true anymore. Maybe I should post things like, "I can NOT eat whatever I want and never gain weight. I am NOT rich. I do NOT live in a year-round 70 degree climate." Will those things become true? *wink wink*

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Micaiah was riding his little tricycle around last night before bed. I said, "You need to go and sit down, Mic. It's almost time to read books." He rode away and then came back into the kitchen. "Mom, I am sitting down." (on his bike, he meant.) Well, he did have a point.

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Apparently, Caleb has grown several inches recently. Pants that were fitting nicely are now too short. Both of his winter coats are too short and many of his shirts rise too high now. Seriously, these clothes fit okay last month. It's a good thing that we have some of Micaiah's things for him to grow into. He is wearing a 3T already.

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Did I mention that Mic is officially done napping? And that I am officially in mourning over this fact? Okay, it's not that bad but I do miss the two hours of time to myself. He is sleeping about 11 hours a night (12 hours on occasion) and is sleeping well. I am enforcing a quiet time where he has to stay on my bed with books/quiet toys for about an hour. But that is always subject to change. He's the kind of kid who follows me around all day and wants to be entertained, so the one-hour quiet time is necessary for both of us to get a little break.

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The boys are awake and asking for food, so I'd better comply before it gets ugly around here.

at least it's not Spiderman

My boys have a hero. It started when we moved here and has continued to grow with time. This hero's name is continually spoken around our house at random times.

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's Pastor Dave! *insert superhero music*

You see, this weekend we had several interesting conversations, which made me realize that their hero worship is at an all-time high. Tell me what you think:

Me: Keith, look...Mic's new (hand-me-down) jeans are Levi's . Aren't they nice?
Mic: Mom, these are Levi's jeans?!?! I'm wearing Levi's jeans??
Me: No, honey...the brand is called Levi's.
Mic: Oh. (He totally thinks they were his friend's jeans) Caleb, I'm wearing Levi's jeans!!
Caleb: Oh. Caleb have Pastor Dave's jeans!

Later that night:

Me: Christmas is coming soon. Mic, do you know why we celebrate Christmas?
Mic: I will get lots and lots of new stuff. (Commercialism at its finest.)
Me: Ummmm, yeah...but it's someone's birthday.
Mic: NO, IT'S NOT! IT'S CHRISTMAS.
Me: It is someone's birthday. We pray to Him, we sing worship songs to Him...when we pray we say "Dear Lord _____"
Mic: (looks up questioningly) Pastor Dave???

So, there you have it. All this time at church, I thought we were praying to and worshipping Jesus. I guess Mic has been singing straight to...Pastor Dave.

Oh my. I guess we'd better start working on the theology around here? (just kidding)

never before heard

Last night, Micaiah said, "I'm finished with my snack now, boo". To me.

I assure that "boo" is not a pet name that we use around here. What a weird kid.

HOW many?

Mic: Mom, when we grow up there will be three men here. (He meant Keith, Mic and Caleb.)

Me: You are right, both you and Caleb will be men. You can even marry a lady if you want.

Mic: I'll be married to you, Mom.

Me: Well, Daddy is my husband, so you'll have to marry a different lady.

Mic: But we can be three husbands, Mom.

Me: So you think that all three of you will be my husband?

Mic: Yup.

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Today I saw the cutest thing that I have ever seen. A Halloween parade put on my Mic's preschool class. We were the last parents to get there (oops!) and I felt terrible because all of the other kids were seated with their food and Mic was just sitting there watching them eat! Apparently we were supposed to get our own child's plate and since I wasn't there yet...he waited. As soon as I got there, I got him some goodies but trust me...I won't be late next time there is a party. But the best part was that Keith took off of work and came to the party and parade! The children were so cute and they sang three songs for us. Mic was so cute in his costume. I'll post pictures soon.

After everyone was done eating, Mic said loudly, "But Mom, there is so much food left!" Then he went and walked around the food table repeatedly, saying, "I'm not going to touch Mom, I just want to look." He is definitely a growing boy!

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I'm looking forward to a visit with my dad this weekend! He is driving up here right now in our second car(!!!) and will be staying with us for a few days. I am so grateful to God for what He has provided through my dad and stepmom.

overheard

At 7:00 a.m. on Sunday morning, I awoke to this sound in the next room (the boys share a bedroom):

Caleb: Caiah, wake up!
Mic: Caleb, go back to sleep.
Caleb: Caiah, wake up!
Mic: (slightly yelling) Caleb, it's too early for me to wake up yet. Look! It's dark outside. Mommy says I can't get out of bed too early. I have to stay in bed. Lay down and go back to sleep.

At least I know that the boy listens when I talk.

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Michelle over at the Not-So-Daily Chronicles asked her readers what a day in their life looked like. Since Michelle and I are twins separated at birth and I did not want to leave a novel in her comments, I decided to answer her questions here instead.

I am by no means pretending to be an expert in child-rearing. However, I am a student of my own children, constantly learning what works and what doesn't and adjusting accordingly. That said, I also thrive on structure and you know...a plan. I am more flexible than people realize, since they don't live in my home on a daily basis. Here is our basic day (the times are flexible so I just excluded them):

~Wake up
~Eat breakfast
~The boys play in their room while I get a shower and get dressed
~The boys watch a short video or t.v. show while I get online and start laundry
~Snack time.
~Play time. It varies, but we might go outside, ride bikes indoors, listen to music, do a small craft or whatever they want to do. We may go somewhere, if we have the car.
~Lunch.
~Play a little bit more, then read books.
~Caleb takes a nap.
~Mic naps several days a week, but on the days he doesn't, he must play quietly, read books and sometimes he watches a movie.

So that's what it looks like until nap time. After naps, it's a short video, dinner, play or go to the park if their daddy is home and then bedtime preparation.

As for me, I try to get up around 6 a.m. It doesn't always happen but I try. That way, I can drink coffee, eat breakfast and have some time with the Lord before the kids get up. I would love to be able to get ready before the kids wake up too, but it would wake them up, I think.

Playing with the kids is not a strong point of mine, but I'm trying. One thing that helps with the play/housework balance is something that I learned from Jo Frost, the Supernanny. She advises that a parent get a child set up with toys/crafts or whatever it is that they want to do. The parent participates for a few minutes and then quietly walks away. I do this quite a bit and walk away to do laundry or some other chore. They don't seem to notice for a little while. When they come to look for me, I'll go back and participate for a little while longer and then walk away quietly again. Micaiah does not play well alone and is always the child who comes looking for me. I have started to really work on him with that. The boys like to play with toys and random things, such as ribbon or tape. They like to color, paint, dance, ride bikes and go outside. I have a mental tally of the things that we have put away in the closet for those times when the kids get bored. Memory games, paint sets and toys that I have put away to pull out as a boredom buster.

I don't work outside of the home and we only have one car. This means that I usually go shopping by myself when Keith is home or I'll take Caleb with me while Micaiah is at preschool. I try to not take both kids with me if I don't have to...you know, for my sanity's sake.

Most of my cooking prep (such as chopping vegetables) is done during naptime. If not, I do it while the kids are watching a short video in the afternoon, after their naps. I do limit their t.v. time to approximately 1 to 1.5 hours per day, but I don't stress about it as much as I used to. I try to use that time wisely and get as much done as possible.

Bedtime is bath, dressed, books, teeth brushing and into bed. Our boys go to bed at the same time in the same room. It's taken some work but we rarely have a problem now.

This whole routine works now that the boys are older (3.5 and 2). Things were different when they were younger but this is how we roll now. We started as early as possible to get them eating and sleeping at the same time, because that simplifies things.

So there's us. Making messes one day at a time. :)

the food chain according to a 3-year-old

At the playground today, Mic was upset because he couldn't find a flower to pick.

We were blowing bubbles and he kept running around looking for a flower so that he could "feed the bubbles their breakfast." I'll bet you didn't know this but bubbles eat flowers for breakfast.

A little bit later, still at the playground, Mic was running and talking to someone. I asked what he was saying. He was talking to Little Foot (from The Land Before Time movies) and was telling Little Foot to chase the bubbles so he could eat them.

Apparently dinosaurs eat bubbles...and bubbles eat flowers.

So there you have it. The food chain according to Mic. You learn something new everyday, don't you?

dorothy times zero

You read that right, folks...we started out with two fish just three short weeks ago. Now we have none. About two weeks ago, I checked on the fish and noticed that the bigger Dorothy was no longer with us. How did that happen? I think I forgot to feed them. Yikes. Well, I guess I'd better be careful and not kill the other one, right? Haha, who would be that bad at keeping fish alive? This morning, I looked in the bowl and our smaller Dorothy had given up the ghost. I changed her water yesterday but I followed the directions carefully and I am certain that I did it right. Either way...we are now fish-less. The boys haven't even noticed.

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Mic was looking something yesterday and could not seem to find it. He said, "Where is that stupid thing anyway?" Oops, Mommy had better watch her mouth.

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Caleb and I took a trip to the library story time today. He kept saying, "Monkey song, Mommy. Memember?" All I could do was laugh. We did sing a song about monkeys last week but there were different songs today. He kept asking me if I 'memembered' a monkey song.

bookworm

I have not blogged since last Wednesday! It must be some sort of record. That's what happens when I borrow two novels from the library. Instead of blogging in my spare time, I read. Alot. Yes, I finished two novels this week.

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Mic is loving preschool. He goes happily and looks forward to Tuesdays and Thursdays. But when I pick him up, he runs to me and gives me the biggest hugs and kisses a mama could ask for. There's a relief in his affection, a kind of "I am so glad you came back for me" so I know that he is still adjusting to this. Next Tuesday, I am the parent helper. I'm going to take Caleb with me. Mic is looking forward to us staying in the classroom to see what he does during his time there.

I am amazed every time I pick him up from preschool at the details that he remembers from his time there. You see, I know what they do every week because the teacher gives us a newsletter. It tells the parents what the theme of the week is, what books they read, what crafts they do and what songs they sing. Yesterday, as we talked about his morning, he told me that his craft was a firetruck paper. He recalled the 2 circle shapes for wheels and the 3 square shapes for windows, with no coaching from me. He told me about his snack and about the songs that they sang at "Circle Time". I knew from the newsletter that he was right.

At lunch, he looked at me with a wide grin and exclaimed, "I got to be the snack leader, Mom!" I have not heard about this before, but I assumed what it meant. He described to me how he got to go with his teacher to get the snack ready for all of the kids and how his name card was on the snack crew list. We high-fived and shouted over how lucky he was to get to help and he was very proud.

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Caleb and I went to the library last Thursday for a toddler program, while Mic was in preschool. It was so much fun and Caleb spent the morning dancing, singing, making a craft and playing. Kind of like his own little preschool experience. He was so happy.

Caleb is looking forward to his birthday next week. Keith and I were talking about his birthday a few nights ago and he started demanding, "Birthday cake...table". When we said that he could have one on his birthday in two weeks, he cried for a bit. After he calmed down, he walked around saying, "Birthday cake...two weets." He reminds me many times a day that he is having a birthday cake in two weeks. I asked him what kind of cake he wanted and he said, "birthday cake, ice cream cone...ummm, cheeseburger".

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Have I mentioned what a fantastic church we attend here? I have to tell you, blogland, what a great church we have. We are some of the youngest people at the church and if you look around, you see many widows, people who are ill and people who are struggling. Yet, when we sing songs with lyrics like, "Oh no, You never let go, Lord You never let go of me", you can look around and see hands lifted to the Lord and eyes closed. People truly worshipping God despite their problems. It's amazing.

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Without going into detail, I want to thank God for a financial blessing that He has given us. What a good God we serve. He does take care of us and He is faithful. That was quite a novel I just wrote! See what happens when I don't blog for a week? As you can see, we are well and God is good. What else is there to know?

good imaginations...

Mic loves to play but not with toys.

Just as I'm typing this, he went and got some birthday candles out of the kitchen to put on his pretend birthday cake. I kept wondering what he was going to use as a pretend birthday cake! He went over to the couch and put the candles in the space between the cushions so that they were standing up. I would never have thought of that. He had to get more candles out, of course, so that there were two for each of us.

The other night, we cut a piece of ribbon that was about 10 feet long and Micaiah played with that for a long time. He ran around the house with it, so that the ribbon was trailing behind him. We pretended that the ribbon was a jump-rope and took turns jumping over it.

A superhero entered our midst several evenings ago. Mic was in his undies and asked me to tie a 'cape' on him. This was the first time I have seen him play this way. He was running around, cape flying behind him and asked me to call him "Supergirl". Ahem. Well, you see, Micaiah, you can pick your own superhero name, sure...but ummmm, since you are a boy, why don't I call you superboy? Apparently, Supergirl is a character on a television show that he has seen. I convinced him that he should be Superboy and he was running through the house as I was yelling, "Superboyyyyyyyyyy, with the power to run!"

What a fun age!

night and day

Have you ever heard the saying that "Every child is different"?

I knew that in my head but I am still amazed by how different our two boys are.

Micaiah has brown hair, Caleb has blondish.
Micaiah has brown eyes, Caleb's are greenish.
Micaiah preferred his pacifier as a baby, Caleb (still) prefers to suck his fingers.
Micaiah insists on sleeping with socks on, Caleb insists on sleeping with his socks off.
Micaiah is very high-energy, Caleb has an average energy level.
Micaiah is right-handed, Caleb is left-handed (as far as I can tell).

Micaiah also wakes up about 30 to 60 minutes earlier than Caleb every morning, even though they go to bed at the same time every night.

The biggest difference between them is in how they behave in new places. Micaiah was a runner. If we were in a new place, he took off exploring every nook and cranny. I didn't get to sit and have a conversation with someone for a very. long. time. He still is very curious and wants to see and touch everything around him.

Last week, I took Caleb to a get-together while Mic was at preschool. It was at a small cafe and it was for all of the moms whose children go to the same preschool as Micaiah. There were 12 moms, 2 little babies and...Caleb. I contemplated not going because I was worried that he would not behave. Boy, was I pleasantly surprised! He sat next to me and stood next to the table playing with toys the whole 1.5 hours that we were there. He never once ran away. Not even once. The other moms could not believe how well-behaved this almost 2-year-old was. Hey, I could not believe it either!

I would like to say that he is so well-behaved because of my awesome parenting skills, but history will not allow me to. I did not want to take credit for Micaiah's constant exploring and always running away from me, so I guess I can't take credit for this either. Oh well, maybe next time.

Both of their little personalities are enjoyable and it's funny to see which things they feel strongly about. They are unique individuals, created by God with a special personality. Let's just remember how special it is when I'm chasing Micaiah all over creation. **grin**

dorothy times two

We bought the boys two goldfish and a little fish bowl this weekend.

Me: Mic, what nice fish! What would you like to name them?
Mic: Name? No, Mom, they're just goldfish.
Me: But you can still name them.
Mic: Oh, okay. Dorothy.
Me: Okay, that one will be Dorothy. What about the other one?
Mic: Dorothy.
Me: You want to name them both Dorothy?
Mic: Yes, Dorothy and Dorothy.

(For those non-Elmo lovers, Dorothy is the name of Elmo's pet goldfish.)

Me: Caleb, look at the goldfish, Dorothy and Dorothy.
Cay: No, gold-hish.
Me: Yes, they are goldfish. They are named Dorothy.
Cay: No, gold-hish.
Me: Oh, forget it.

Is it any wonder why I need adult conversation every now and then?