what I can't figure out

What I can't figure out is when my babies turned into big kids.

Let's start with Micaiah, my first baby.

He goes to preschool, writes letters of the alphabet and is so independent. He takes care of getting dressed, brushing teeth, putting on shoes and most personal hygiene things all by himself. He has definite opinions about what he likes and doesn't like and requests hot sauce to eat with chicken. He talks very well and is a great helper to me and to his little brother.

Don't get me started on my 3-year old boy, my second baby, Caleb.

He wears underwear most of the time, knows the names of many animals (including random ones, like gazelle and cheetah), knows all his letters by sight and can get himself partially dressed. He sleeps in a bed and takes naps in Micaiah's twin bed. He talks in paragraphs and loves to eat, though he too knows what he likes and doesn't like. And he just turned 3!

I must admit though, that I really, really adore these stages.

boys, boys

The boys were playing together in their room. All was well, until I heard Micaiah crying his "I'm really hurt" cry. Caleb had hit Micaiah with a toy.

Me: Caleb, you need to tell Micaiah you are sorry. Do not hit.
Caleb: Sorry, Micaiah.
Micaiah: Well, I don't forgive you. (makes fists)
Me: Micaiah, I know that you are mad at Caleb. If you hit him back, you are going to be in trouble too.

Situation handled, apology given. I walk out of the room.

Then I hear Micaiah say in a very menacing voice, "Caleb, I am going to hit you tomorrow."

Way to plan ahead, Micaiah.

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Caleb has been waking up afraid. It's only after naptime, but he wakes up screaming and shaking. He is apparently afraid of the shadows on the wall that are made by light coming in the curtains.

The other day, it happened again and I was trying to get Caleb calm. My dad was here and I was explaining to him that this had been happening lately. When I had walked into Caleb's bedroom to get him, he was screaming for me to not open the curtains.

Micaiah was listening to my dad and I talk about the curtains and Caleb being afraid. He decided to throw his own two cents into the mix.

Micaiah said, "Don't worry, Caleb, it was probably just a ghost climbing into your window."
Me: Thanks alot, Micaiah.

no thanks!

I have a favorite grocery store.

I could write and tell you about how I love and adore the store, the sale prices and the fabulous selection. But mostly, I go to that store because of the secure drop-off play area for kids.

When I arrived at the store today, the play area was closed. "Sorry for the inconvenience", the sign said. I was a little annoyed, only because it's not fun to shop with both kids, but no problem.

A manager came over and said that the play area was closed, but that the girl on duty would be willing to 'stick it out' and reopen it so that Micaiah could play. The cashier came over and I said, "Are you sick?" She said, "Yeah, I feel awful." When I asked what was wrong, she advised me that she was very nauseated and her stomach was hurting.

Thanks but no thanks was my gracious response. Seriously... I would much rather take both kids shopping with me than have to deal with a possible stomach virus tomorrow.

a farmer

Micaiah has become very interested in growing things, especially food.

Several weeks ago, we were in our backyard and Micaiah announced that he was going to plant some apple seeds from the apple that he had just eaten. He dug some dirt, planted the seeds and then checked two minutes later to see if apples had grown. No such luck.

Unbeknownst to me, he then planted some (cooked!) green bean seeds from dinner. Keith forgot to tell me about it, so I was a little confused when Micaiah pointed to a patch of our backyard and said that it was his 'field'. I could not keep from laughing as he explained what he had done while I was at work.

He has planted several other things, none of which grew, needless to say.

This week, we were outside playing when Micaiah asked, "Mom, where is my field?" A pout formed on his lip and tears sprang to his eyes as he said, "Mom, I have been planting so many things in my field and nothing is growing. There is no food and I was going to sell it to people who needed it." With that, he collapsed onto my lap in a heap of tears.

Whoa.

I guess I'd better learn something about growing food really quick so that we can plant a vegetable garden.

oh boy

The other morning, we were eating strawberries when Micaiah decided to save his last piece. He wanted to find his magnifying glass so that he could look at the strawberry seeds first, he told me.

As he got up from the table, he said, "Mom, make sure Caleb doesn't get my strawberry." And he walked away. Quick as a flash, Caleb, who was sitting next to Micaiah, snatched that piece of strawberry and tried to shove it in his mouth. I had known it was coming, so somehow I managed to grab the strawberry away from Caleb before it went in. He was so shocked that I got it away from him that he started screaming. What a close one.

Micaiah walked back in a few minutes later with his magnifying glass, inspected his strawberry and popped the piece into his mouth. All was well.

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The other day, Caleb was really upset and he laid on my bed while he was calming himself down. I laid next to him and he said, "Mom, I want to read a book." I told him that sounded like a great idea. He said, "Mom, I'm going to lay here, you go and get me a book."

Oh boy.

He said the same thing when we went to the circus the other week. He saw that the other children had those little spinning lights and said that he wanted one. Caleb looked at Keith and I and said, with his finger pointing at us, "Dad and Mom, you stay here. I'm going to get a light." He was serious!

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Here is the link to a post that I wrote when we were packing last year. It has some pictures and all, so I thought I'd share.

Weekend Update

It's hard to imagine that we've been here for one year and it's unbelievable to see how much the boys have grown!

Our move date is June 27 and I have already begun the packing process, so I'm ahead of the game this time. But I'm still doing the 'social butterfly' thing, of course.

time flies...

Time flies when you are busy with the stuff of life.

We are moving in three weeks. Our lease is up here and we needed to find another apartment in this same area. Our new place is a duplex, large yard, laundry room, one-and-a-half bathrooms, big eat-in kitchen (with room for our dining room table that some friends blessed us with). It is more than we could have asked for and significantly cheaper than our current apartment.

The landlord is the nicest man that we have ever met. He has been so willing to work with us on the specifics and is a real blessing. I look forward to him being our landlord. I don't look forward to packing, but we'll get it done.

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I have been working quite a bit. When you pray for a part-time job that provides some extra cash flow, you should be specific. As in, God might answer your prayer and then you'll be really tired trying to get accustomed to working quite a bit again. The hours are ideal, since they coincide with when Keith is home and I enjoy the job. I'm still tired, but I'm very thankful.

Since it's summer, people take off on the weekends and that's when the bulk of my shifts are.

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It's amazing to see two very specific prayers answered: a cheaper apartment and a part-time job. God did both of those things for our family in the month of May. I would say that May was a great month for us.

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The boys are doing great. They are looking forward to moving to the new place. They really loved the cats that were in the apartment when we visited (the current tenant was in the process of moving) and they thought that the cats came with the apartment. No thanks! She can take her cats with her.

We have been playing outside like mad and Caleb has discovered the joy of the sliding board. His favorite type of slide is the big, twisty tunnel slide and he has been known to spend the whole time at the playground going up the steps, down the slide, up the steps, down the slide.

Micaiah has discovered the joy of the older girl. He can be found making friends with any older girl on the playground and then getting them to run around the structure with him. Yesterday, he gave his new friend a hug before we left. So did Caleb, since he likes to do whatever Micaiah does.

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Micaiah's preschool ends for the summer on June 11. When he found out that preschool was ending, he kept wiping at his eyes. I asked him what was wrong and he said, "Water keeps coming into my eyes, Mom." He told me that he was a little sad. He will be going back next year, so he's happy about that.

This coming from the kid that we honestly didn't know was going to respond to preschool so well. If you know Micaiah, you know that he was painfully shy around other kids and awkward to boot. He had never been in any sort of childcare situation. But, he has flourished there. He has had a great year and his teacher assured me that he is a delight to have in the class.

Micaiah did want to know if two months (the summer break) is a long time. I'd say he loves school.

still blessed

It seems that I have become quite a germ-o-phobe these days. Especially when it comes to vomit.

When Caleb was sick last weekend, I broke out the Lysol. I washed my hands more times that anyone could count. I washed in hot water anything that was near the bed. Any linens that were near the bed for 24 hours after went into the wash, in hot water of course.

Imagine my relief when no one else got sick. Phew.

Now imagine my dread then at the following situation yesterday. I went to a playdate at a friend's house. We've only been there one time before. About five minutes after arriving, Micaiah starts acting really strange, sitting on my lap and not wanting to play. "Micaiah, what's wrong?", I asked.

And then it came. The vomit. In this lady's back yard. Inside I was shouting, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!", while saying out loud to my sickie, "It's okay, baby. I didn't know you weren't feeling good!" He had been fine. Thank God we had been outside and not inside my friend's house!

So, we get home and four hours later, he's better. Only I'm not better...mentally, that is. I imagine all of the germs around the house and picture everything he has touched for the past month. I make him strip down to his underwear and I wash as many things as I can in hot water, but you can't wash everything. I do my best, wash my hands a million times and pray. It went something like this: "Dear God, please, please, please do not let me get sick. I have so many things to do this weekend. Oh, Goooooddddddd please have mercy on me!"

Would you believe that I ran out of Lysol yesterday? Of all the times. So, the boy is better and I'm picturing myself hanging over the toilet all day, still begging God to spare me. Can you understand why my mom calls me a drama queen?

the great unknown

With warm weather comes the inevitable melody of the ice cream truck making its rounds.

The first time it came around the other night, Micaiah looked out the window.

Micaiah: Oh look, Mom. That truck is making music.
Caleb: The truck makes nice music.

And it occurred to me that they have no idea what is actually on the truck. I know it won't last, but it makes us laugh anyway. When the truck came around tonight, Micaiah said, "Oh mom, there's that music-playing truck again." Keith and I just looked at each other and laughed.

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A very weird thing happened to me yesterday in the parking lot of Target. I was driving with the boys and...a man whistled at me from his Hummer.

Wait, wait. Let's back up. A man whistled at me?!

My first reaction was to laugh. You see, I am in full-on mom mode 100% of the time. In public, my mind is on high alert. I am making sure two little boys are safe and behaving, all the while trying to get my errands done. The boys are talking, laughing, whining, touching...they're busy. Meanwhile, I look harried and tired, wearing fashions from way too many years ago.

That's why I had to laugh when someone whistled at me.

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The other day I was at Walmart with just Caleb. For some unknown reason, I let him out of the cart. He was going from rack to rack.

"Ook, Mom. This is my fav-it."

"Firty dollars, Mom. Only firty dollars."

they say

It all started a few days ago. Caleb woke up and said, "I don't want someone lookin' at me in my bed."

Now, every time he wakes up in the morning and at nap, he says the same thing, "Someone is lookin' at me in my bed."

Micaiah finally said, "Caleb, I think it was a dream."

So now Caleb has been saying, "Mom, a dream was lookin' at me in my bed."

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I was driving the other night with the boys in the car, when I happened to look back to see Micaiah picking his nose.

Me: "Micaiah, please stop picking your nose."
Mic: "Mom, you don't know what you are doing."
Me: "What?"
Mic: "Mom, you can't see the road and the stop signs if you are looking back here!"

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We met the sweetest girl (Myah, age 2) at the playground today. She was so cute and apparently a certain 2-year-old boy thought so too. He kept hugging her and explaining that he was holding her so she didn't fall down. When it was time to leave Caleb said, "May I give you a kiss?" She obliged.

Sitting down to lunch, Caleb said, "Mom, I so happy." When I asked why, he said (no joke), "'Cause Myah smiled at me."

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A piece of information I wanted to share: Micaiah does qualify for speech therapy. They want to provide him with 2 sessions a week and they want me to take him for a full hearing test to be done by an audiologist.

I am very excited for him, as I would like to correct this as early as possible.

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That's all for now. I realized the other day how out of shape I feel. Taking the kids to the playground twice a day and just general life stuff wears me out by the end of the day! The kids are in bed, so if anyone is looking for me, I'll be in my pajamas vegging on the couch.

busy bees

In case you did not know, Micaiah is in the process of being evaluated for his speech. This comes at the recommendation of his pediatrician, since some of the sounds that are deficient are basic sounds. Think 'c' as in 'cat' and 'g' as in 'gate', though there are several more.

Micaiah finished up the second part of his evaluation yesterday. The school district requires a total evaluation for way more than just speech. He did a phenomenal job and the speech therapist told me that she is not sure that his speech issues are severe enough to warrant speech therapy. Either way is fine by me, I just want to know that I did everything I am supposed to do as a mom so that he can get help if he needs it. We should know more later this week.

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Micaiah has been asking lots of questions about dying and heaven. I think it scares him and fascinates him all at once. I have talked with him about believing in Jesus and how we can become a follower of Jesus. I have talked to him about sin and forgiveness and heaven and being together with Jesus forever. He had a good understanding of the basic concepts, appropriate for a 4-year-old.

But he did not want to pray and ask Jesus to live in his heart. Fine by me, whenever he was ready, I told him that we could pray together.

Come to find out, he did not want to make that step because he thought he would die immediately and go right to heaven. It's heartbreaking to hear your child say, "I don't want to go live with Jesus, I want to live with you. I don't want to die." With tears choking my words, I assured him that he is going to live for a very long time and that he was not going to die just because he asked Jesus to live in his heart.

He has been pondering these things for a few weeks and last night at bedtime, he brought it up again. I told him that there was nothing to be scared of, that heaven is going to be wonderful when we go in a very long time and that we'll be together. He said, "Oh okay, Mom. I want to go to heaven." I invited him to pray and he said yes!!!

So, last night our little boy prayed to ask Jesus to come into his heart!! Keith was right there and it was just beautiful. Micaiah was very happy and I finally have a sense that he understood it better than ever.

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The other afternoon, Caleb was a little grumpy after his nap. I said, "Okay, let's go to the bathroom, man." He made his voice really deep and mean and said, "Don't. call. me. man."

He is too much.

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Last week, my dad came for a visit. It was a wonderful time and the boys wore my dad out. We had great weather, so we were at the playground a lot. Apparently, dad had no trouble sleeping while he was here.

The boys were so happy. They were thrilled with the toys and books that my stepmom picked out and we played non-stop for three days, I think. Wouldn't you say, Dad?

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That's us for now. We're supposed to have a beautiful weekend and I am very much looking forward to it. My husband is hoping to get some fishing in. Last weekend, he went fishing and took Micaiah with him both times. I wonder if he could fish and take both boys with him? Just kidding. Sort of.

my bunny

My mind works like a camera. Every now and then, I stop and focus on what is in front of me and my mind takes a snapshot.

Sometimes, it makes my heart ache. Looking at my children and really focusing on them, I can't help but remember how small they once were and how fast they are growing. Today, as Micaiah sat and ate lunch, my heart was ready to burst with his cuteness. His 4-year-old pride at his own creation and his insistence on wearing it all afternoon made me smile. He told me that he was a delivery bunny and asked me to call him "Micaiah bunny". I must have hugged him a thousand times. I mean, really...does it get any cuter than this?



Here is a picture of Micaiah at the Easter egg hunt at school. He was very excited. Only my child would try to take a peek in the eggs before he would commit to picking them up. He wanted to make sure that there was something good inside!

The other evening, after a no-nap day, Caleb climbed up on the couch next to me and his eyelids started to get really heavy. He has been a grump lately. Throwing tantrums, telling us 'no', screaming when he doesn't get his way...the whole nine yards. He has been getting random fevers and I have been wondering what was going on. Yesterday, I took a peek in his mouth and, lo and behold, a 2-year molar is coming through.

I checked my blog archives and found this post: Easter and the debut of something new. How funny!

where?

Where have we been?

We've been here.

Enjoying some decent weather. Getting over ear infections and strep throat. Visiting with friends. Keeping busy with church. Working (the daddy of this house is anyway). Jumping. Playing. Driving. Learning. Tantruming.

Oh wait, did I say tantruming? Not in this family.

Ha.

Caleb has a lot of opinions these days. So do I. When opinion Caleb clashes with opinion Mommy, watch out. There's crying, yelling and whining. And lots and lots of ignoring on my part.

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Two nights ago, Caleb woke up at 3:30 a.m. and said, "The rain is coming down. I don't like it when the rain comes down."

When he woke up the next morning, he would not walk into our living room and begged me to hold him. He kept saying that "I don't like it when the rain comes down. The rain is coming down out there."

Later on, in his bedroom, Caleb informed me that rain was coming down in his bed and on his floor when he was sleeping.

Apparently the boy had a dream the night before. You can figure it out.

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At Micaiah's preschool, the kids can bring home their snack if they do not finish it.

On Thursday, they served teddy bear crackers. When he got home, Micaiah informed me that he had brought a snack home to share. Out of his backpack came a little bag with four crackers in it.

"Look, Mommy. This is for us to eat with our lunch. Here's one for you, one for Caleb and one for me. The other one is for daddy. We'll save it for when he gets home from work."

That's what he did. He didn't try to eat it or anything. He just put it on the counter and gave it to Keith when he got home.

sweet

Caleb woke up on the wrong side of the crib this morning. He whined and cried over everything before breakfast.

As I was making breakfast, the boys were sitting at the table and Caleb was still whining...still crying. I heard the following conversation:

Micaiah: Caleb, can I ask you a question?
Caleb: NO!
Micaiah: Caleb, can I ask you a question please?
Caleb: NO!

Me: Micaiah, ask him anyway, honey.

Micaiah: Caleb, can I sing you your favorite song?
Caleb: Okay.
Micaiah: {singing his heart out} Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world...
Caleb: Thank you, Micaiah.

(He stopped whining after that.)

mother's intuition

There is a lot to be said for a mother's intuition.

Two weeks ago, I took Micaiah to the pediatrician because he had a sore throat and his tonsils were very swollen. When we arrived, I asked the receptionist if there was room for Caleb to be seen too. Caleb was not acting sick but had been really cranky and I wanted them to double check his ears and throat as well. It was no problem.

As it turns out, both of the boys had ear infections and they were swabbed for strep throat. It was negative. They were put on a round of antibiotics and all was well.

Or so I thought.

This morning, I had to take Micaiah to the doctor to get two more immunizations, left over from his 4-year checkup. I looked in the back of his mouth and realized that his tonsils were not back to normal yet and the antibiotics were finished a week ago. I called the doctor to see if we could do a follow-up on his ears and tonsils. Again, not a problem.

They swabbed him again and this time the strep test was positive. His ears are fine now, though, which is good. Here is where mother's intuition kicked in. I asked the doctor if it would be too much for her to swab Caleb for strep, too. She was nice but acted like she was humoring me a bit. She said, "Well, he hasn't been having any symptoms." I replied that Micaiah wasn't having any either and that two weeks ago, I was shocked that they had ear infections. I had no idea.

So she agreed and swabbed Caleb, too. The doctor told me to go to the receptionist and let them know that she had swabbed Caleb, so that they could bill our insurance. While I was doing that, get this: a nurse came out and said, "The Dr. is with another patient right now but wanted me to come out and let you know that Caleb is positive for strep, too." Hah.

A few years ago, I would not have been persistent. Live and learn. I just wanted to encourage my fellow mamas out there to be persistent. Don't be afraid of annoying your doctors...they work for you.

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Since I'm on a medical kick today, I wanted to share this little trick I learned.

When I found out that Micaiah had strep, I had a choice to make. He was scheduled to get two immunizations today and the doctor indicated that it was fine for him to get them if I wanted him to, since he had no symptoms.

I questioned her a bit. Finally I pulled out my big guns. I said, "If it was your child, what would you do?" She stopped and said, "I would not get them today."

So I had my answer and told her that I would wait until one day next week.

Doctors will tell you all kind of medical information and say, "Oh it will be fine to give your child two shots while they have strep throat." But ask them what they would do in the same situation and you'll get their real opinion.

I hope that helps someone in dealing with their doctors.

more artwork

We had our first parent-teacher conference yesterday at Micaiah's preschool. All of the children have one scheduled this time of year.

Micaiah's teacher said that he is "such a joy" to have in her class. He listens, is cooperative and can do just about all of the things that are expected at this age.

However, when she asked Micaiah to draw a picture of a person with three parts, he decided to pull a fast one. He absolutely can draw a person with more than three parts, but he decided to be silly and draw this picture of his daddy:

While she was telling us this, she couldn't stop laughing. She said, "I tried to find three parts on this person, but I couldn't." Keith and I laughed, too and assured her that this is a skill that he has mastered.

What do you think? Can you find three parts on this person? ;)

a hard lesson

About a week ago, I posted in this post that Micaiah's friend, Emma, at school will not sit next to him anymore.

He talks about it every day and says things like, "Emma doesn't like me." or "Emma doesn't want to be my friend."

I asked him if he had done anything to make her not want to play with him. He said no.

In casual conversation with Emma's mom yesterday, she mentioned that Emma told her that Micaiah had growled at her and was mean to her.

I told Micaiah about it and he wanted to apologize to Emma, so he did.

After school, he told me that he sat next to Emma and he was very happy.

Micaiah likes to be mean when he plays at home. He likes to growl and make mean faces. I have told him repeatedly that children do not like to play with the mean kid.

And now he learned it the hard way. Not an easy thing to watch for this mama, but it was necessary.

brag

Micaiah has shown no interest in learning how to write letters until this week.

This morning, he did these all by himself (the letters that are circled were my examples for him):

not bad

After a week of ear infections and sore throats, antibiotics and ibuprofen, it seems like maybe the boys are getting better.

They are pretty much back to normal, with a little coughing.

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Caleb did this with no help from me:



Do I need to point out the feet, the long torso, the hair or the face to you? Probably not. He said he was drawing a girl. Not bad for a two-year-old.

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Micaiah still thinks that he is going to be my husband when he grows up. We were reading a story about Naomi in the bible, whose husband died. Micaiah said, "Mom, when your husband dies, then I'll be your husband."

Ummm...thanks for the offer? What do you say to that?!

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A while back, Micaiah was talking to my mom and I about going to heaven and dying (it's a scary topic for him but he likes to ask questions). He turned to me and said, "Mom, if you die then I'm going to die too."

And...I'm a puddle.

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Warning: I'm sharing a potty training story. If you don't like Mom poop stories, then come back tomorrow.

Caleb is doing great on the potty with going pee. He is dry alot of the time and will tell me when he has to go. I am very proud of his improvement.

However, he still does not want to go #2 on the potty. He does like to run behind his crib and go in his underwear. Then, he runs out to me and wants clean underwear on immediately.

While eating a snack today, Caleb jumped down from the table mid-bite and went running for his room. I knew what he was up to and followed him. I took him to the bathroom instead and he was not happy. He cried and cried so much that I let him up. He would not go on the toilet.

We went into his room to play and the phone rang. As soon as I answered it and was distracted, Caleb ran behind his crib and yelled, "Mom, go out of my room!" I guess he wanted privacy.

All I could do was laugh. And provide the clean underwear, of course.

life

Boy, can a two-year-old be funny.

Caleb has kept us in stitches lately and kept us thinking, "Where does he come up with this stuff?"

Caleb loves to pretend. Throughout the day, we go on adventures through our apartment, looking for different animals. Sometimes it's a lion, sometimes an elephant. No matter what animal we are looking for, it always ends up the same way.

"Mommy, kiss the (lion, elephant, whatever).
or
"Mommy, bad (lion, elephant, whatever). Give him a spank."

Please don't call PETA on me. I did not teach him this.

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Caleb: "Daddy, do you love Pastor Dave?"
Keith: "Well, sure buddy. I love Pastor Dave."
Caleb: "'Cause he's so cute?!?!"

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While we were driving to the store on Saturday, Caleb asked to go to the mall. (Our kids love the mall because of the play area there.) We said no, that we were not going to the mall that day.

My two-year-old sat in his carseat crying, "I neeeeeed to go to the mall."

Two going on thirteen, I tell ya.

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On a heartbreaking note, Micaiah told me that his very good friend, Emma, will not sit next to him at preschool anymore.

He told me that she just won't let him.

My heart broke a little and I asked him who he does sit next to at school. He perked up and assured me that Rachel and Jenna let him sit next to them.

I need my mom here so she can do a little leg squeezing on Emma. (I'll tell you more about that later.)

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Winter is taking its good ol' time around here and I'm getting cabin fever. The same thing happened last year and when spring finally gets sprung, you are guaranteed to hear my shouts of joy all over the East Coast. Guaranteed.

four

Yesterday this little boy turned four.



He is a joy to us and full of laughter, funny sayings and affection. Sensitive and with feelings that hurt easily, he is our boy who is most like his mommy. He searches me out all day long to play, read and do crafts. His energy wears us out, as do his endless questions.

We celebrated by having my mom come to visit. She treated the boys to Sesame Street Live at a theater, which they absolutely loved. We went to an indoor play area and the library. We even had friends over for a small birthday party with cake and party favors. The kids had a blast and Micaiah was so happy to have a party. He even sang along to himself when it was time to sing "Happy birthday". He received a balloon delivery from Pop Pop and a box in the mail from Aunt Penny and his great-grandmother. He was so happy.

He's smart, sweet and he is a gift to us.

And he's four.