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.

that's love

Courtney and I took some kids to a free movie today. I took my boys and she took her little kids.

After many rounds of musical chairs by my boys, who were attempting to sit next to the coolest six-year-old ever, Caleb and Lila (age 2) ended up sitting in the same seat.

Lila: Hi, Ca-web.
Caleb: Hi, Wi-wa.
Lila: I wub your hair, okay Ca-web?

And she proceeds to sit and rub Caleb's hair while watching the movie.

That lasted approximately twenty seconds before musical chairs began again. It was cute while it lasted.

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.

a what?

Yesterday, Keith came home from work with a 30-gallon aquarium that someone at work blessed him with.

We were talking to the boys about the kinds of things that you can put into an aquarium (I don't necessarily feel like dealing with fish). So, I made some suggestions: turtles, frogs, lizards...

Me: What would you boys like to put into your aquarium?
Micaiah: Ummmm, a shark.
Caleb: I want a dolphin!

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.

blessed

Home. That's where we are now after a trip to visit our extended family. We got back last evening.

The weekend was the stuff that families are made of: hugs, love, small gifts, trips to the zoo and aquarium and catching up. It was a wonderful weekend for all of us. The boys loved being doted on and played with. Keith and I really enjoyed catching up with everyone. The aunts, uncles, grandparents and great-grandparents were glad to love on two little boys who are growing up faster than they should. It was in all a great time.

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We went to the zoo over the weekend and it was a blast. My mom talked me into riding a camel with her and the boys. I was really nervous and would never have done it, but the boys wanted to. Micaiah was a little nervous, but Caleb was waving to the other camels. After we got off, Caleb wanted to go and ride something else. They also got to feed the giraffes, which was hysterical since the giraffe unrolls its huge tongue to get the leaves from you. Micaiah, once he saw that tongue, promptly dropped his leaf right on the ground. After another try, Micaiah successfully fed a giraffe.

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We also were blessed to go to the aquarium this weekend. That was really neat. I had not been there in several years. Caleb loved the stingrays and went from exhibit to exhibit shouting, "Ook, there's more fish!!" I do not think he ever really figured out what the aquarium was all about. There was also a 4-D theater there. I had hoped that the boys wouldn't be scared, but they were. Not only do you get 3-D glasses, but there is water spraying out of the seat in front of you and air blowing out of the floor among other things. Keith took the boys out of the theater and Caleb kept saying, "That shark splashed water on me!" He thought that the shark on the screen had made the water spray him. We also went to a dolphin show, which was really cute.

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Of course, no weekend would be exciting without a case of vomiting. We don't know what happened but Caleb was up all night one night, doing just that. It stopped as suddenly as it started and he was absolutely fine. I disinfected the room that we stayed in and just prayed that no one else would be sick. Thankfully, we were fine. I still have no idea what happened to the boy.

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And now we return to our well-laid routine called life: work, preschool, grocery store, the playground. We are blessed.

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.

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.)

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? ;)

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.

this means nothing

A dear friend emailed me to tell me that she had a dream about our family. It went something like this (and it does not carry any meaning other than it's funny):

"Anyway, I had a dream about you the other night... you had twin girls. For the record, they were very good babies. :) Actually, it was a very bizarre dream. I dreamed that you, Keith, my husband and I had gone on a 3-month long mission trip, and you hadn't told us that you'd had the babies, and so when we came home and your mom brought the kids to the airport, we were totally surprised, and you were just like "If I told you I had newborns you would have canceled the trip..." Plus, I'm pretty sure the mission trip was to Narnia or something like that."

For the record, they were very good babies?!?! That made me laugh so hard, since she knows that I am not keen on having more babies.

I just wanted to share a bit of randomness today.

Posts from one year ago today: Just like daddy and Cheerio

early

Micaiah has been telling me about a girl named Sophie in his class lately. They play together at school and he sat next to her. Preschool stuff.

Apparently, girls are a little more mature, which is obvious when you hear what Sophie said to her mom yesterday morning before school:

"Mom, if Micaiah wants to sit next to me today, well he's just going to have to marry me. And I think that's a good idea, but I'm going to wait until I'm 17."

boys

I am not really sure how it started, but my boys have a very silly bedtime ritual with their daddy. After both boys are in their beds, Keith gives each of them a hug and kiss and a reminder to be good boys tomorrow.

As he starts to walk out of the room, the boys start.

"Love-oo, daddy."
"I love you, Dad."
"Love-oo, doo-doo."
"I love you, Mr. Benner-bon."
"Love-oo, poo-poo."
Last night, Micaiah said, "I love you, old pop."

The sillier the better and the boys laugh at their own silliness. And then Keith joins in.

"I love you, boys."
"I love you, stink toes."
"I love you, stinker feet."

One night, Keith said, "I love you, girls." He said this in the highest falsetto I have ever heard come from him. Our sons laughed so hard. They were yelling that they were not girls, they were boys. All the while laughing with their daddy.

I love bedtime, not just for the obvious reasons, but because it's filled with hugs, kisses, love you's and tickles. And laughs.

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Potty training. It's not for the faint of heart, that's for sure.

Several months ago, Caleb was doing exceptionally well with it. He would even tell me when he had to go to the bathroom when we were out in public. I thought we were well on our way.

Until...oh yes, until. He started going in his pants again. Many times a day. I had experience on my side and remembered Micaiah going through the exact same phase. So I kept at it. I kept taking him to the bathroom every hour and amidst many wet (and dirty!) pants, I reminded myself that if I stay consistent, he'll get it again.

Three times this week, he has told me that he had to go potty. Before he went in his pants, mind you. I cheered, sang songs to him and did silly dances. He laughed all over himself of course.

It is a process. And I think we are on our way.

fun

Yesterday morning, I woke up with a plan. It was one to surprise my boys with a fun morning, which was to include packing a lunch and playing for hours at an indoor playground.

I didn't tell them where we were going, only that we were going to have a fun day. I faced a barrage of questions.

"Mom, but where is the fun place? Is it the mall?"

"Mom, why are we taking a lunch to the fun place?"

Once we arrived at our destination, the boys were thrilled. They ran...and ran...and ran. They played. Micaiah found a friend, who turned out to be a kindred spirit almost. As the boys were running back and forth, building castles and finding treasure chests, I spoke with the little boy's mom. She was so happy that our boys were playing so great together and explained that her little guy, Samuel, just started preschool in September. Samuel told his mom that he only plays with the girls in his class because the boys are mean and too rough. She also explained that he was very timid and shy around other kids until he started preschool.

Micaiah has told me that the boys in his class play mean and fight, so he likes the girls. It was so neat to me that these two boys paired up while playing and then I found out that they are very similar in personality.

Caleb took a liking to a boy there that he kept calling "Gabe", since my friend has a son named Gabe. This was not Gabe and I heard the boy's mother calling him Vince. In the course of playing, I heard the boys telling each other their names. Vince's mom took him to the bathroom where he proceeded to tell her that "those boys named me David." And he was fine with that. My sons were calling him David (Caleb was saying Gabe) and the little boy didn't care one bit.

Don't you love three-year-olds?

things that go bump in the night

At 2:20 a.m., I heard someone walking into our bedroom (yes, I am a light sleeper.)

I sat up and saw Micaiah approaching Keith's side of the bed.

"Dad, I want to sleep with you."

Keith, in his sleepy state, started to put Mic in our bed when I said, "He has his own bed. Micaiah, what's wrong? Are you okay?"

Micaiah said, "Nothing's wrong. I'm okay."

So back to bed he went.

This morning, I asked him, "Do you remember coming to our bed in the middle of the night, Micaiah?"

"Yes, Mom. I wanted to go into the living room because there was a dinosaur in my room."

"What color was the dinosaur, Micaiah?"

(Without hesitating) "It was green and black and gray."

"Micaiah, where was the dinosaur in your room?"

"Mom, it was everywhere."

Hmmm, it must have been big.

books and trampolines

On Sunday afternoon, I found myself at two stores and then I headed out to the library. You see, my husband and I made a deal that went like this: I would get up with the boys on Sunday morning and let him sleep in if he let me go out during naptime/quiet time. Good deal, huh?

I borrowed three biographies and have been reading steadily since Sunday. If anyone is looking for a very compelling book on taking a closer look at the vaccination/autism connection, I would suggest one of Jenny McCarthy's books. Yes, I just recommended a book by Jenny McCarthy and yes, I am probably the only person who borrows a book about autism from the library and does not have an autistic child. It just caught my eye and I am very glad that I read it. It gave much food for thought and if we were to have another child, I would give serious thought to delaying and refusing some vaccinations.

On a lighter note: Pulling out of the library parking lot, I looked down at the thermometer reading in my car. It was a whopping 28 degrees outside. As I looked at the house across the street, I realized that there were two kids, in full winter gear, jumping on the trampoline. I busted out laughing and said, "Oh, that poor mother." And then I thought, "What a great idea!"
*grin*

stuff

At 3:30 a.m., Caleb was yelling happily in his crib. Do you want to know what he was saying?

"Mommy, get up now, please!" Over and over again.

When he didn't stop, I went in and told him to be quiet and go back to sleep.

And he did.

Phew.

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Micaiah asked for a piece of candy while we were eating dinner. I told him no, but that he could choose a piece of candy for dessert later.

He said to me, in the most pleasant of voices, "No, I'll have mine now. You can have yours whenever you want to. Mmm-kay?"

Through my laughter, I said, "Sorry buddy, that's not how it works around here."

Nice try.

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I have started exercising again. Okay, I did it twice this week...but it's a start. I was a regular exerciser until two Novembers ago when I did something to my foot. Then I just got out of the habit.

Micaiah asked me this morning why I was exercising. I told him that exercising was just like eating healthy food. That it is important to keep our bodies healthy and strong. I gave him other examples of how we can exercise (ride bikes, walk, run and play), so he jumped up and rode his tricycle while I was exercising. Very cute.

He came back over to me and said, "Mom, is it exercise when you eat food?"

Oh darling, I sure do wish. Wouldn't that be nice?

on mice and raw meat

Do you want to hear a few random stories from our week?

First, the mouse. Mic was in the dining room first thing yesterday morning. He comes running into the kitchen, where I was. He said, "MOM, THERE IS A MOUSE IN OUR APARTMENT!" He was crying, made me hold him and asked if he could eat his breakfast on the kitchen counter. It looks like the child has inherited my fear of mice, which I inherited from my mom.

I found the mouse and decided that I would not be able to rest until it was gone. We do not have any sort of trapping devices, so I just opened the front door to our apartment and the big door to the outside. I grabbed the broom and swatted at the (teeny) mouse and it ran along the wall and straight out of the front door and the bigger outside door! If it had run anywhere but out, I would have been at the store buying something within ten minutes.

My plans are to get some sticky traps to line up along our apartment door, a kind of barricade against mice that want to sneak into this apartment. When I told that to my dad, he suggested that it wasn't necessary to carpet our apartment in mouse traps. *grin* Well, if that's what it takes...

So, I look outside a window over a half hour later and the mouse was right outside, trying to find a way in. I need a cat but I'm kind of afraid of them, too.

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Along with my fear of mice comes a disgust for raw meat. Really, I will not touch raw meat with my hands.

However, Keith's mom gave us a turkey when she came for a visit. It is very appreciated and I decided to prepare it for cooking today. Ahem. I unwrapped the package and looked at the turkey sitting in the pan. I gagged and thought, "You know, I can't do this. No way. I will not touch that."

I pulled out all of the reserves of my courage and prepared the turkey for cooking. I used dish towels when needed, such as when you pull that "bag" out of its...hole. Oh Lord, this is why I hate raw meat. Blech. It sounds gross just talking about it. Can you imagine any other occasion where this would be acceptable? "So, yeah...this morning I was just pulling bags of god-knows-what out of a turkey's hole?"

It's cooked and we are going to eat turkey for a week...which is fine with me. I like eating turkey, it's the raw-ness that bothers me. Have you ever seen the commercial where a man describes himself as a "meat-a-tarian"? Well, Keith thought that was so funny and told me that he is one, too. If it wasn't for Keith, I would only cook and eat vegetarian. Especially after today's episode.