Saturday, February 28th, 2009

As we are sitting here, right now, Jack and Mallie are watching Thomas the Train. Mallie doesn't really get why Jack is so excited about it, so she keeps turning to him and saying "JAAA?" right in his face. He has his arm around her and just kissed her a minute ago. Oooops, now he's getting annoyed with the distraction from his show and is pushing her. So much for the tender moment.

I came into the living room this morning to Mallie emptying the diaper basket (one of her favorite activities right now). She was playing with the baby nail clippers. I asked her what she was playing with and she looked at me and said "Wee Wee Wee?" (as in, This Little Pig Goes to Market).

Jack had a bowling party for one of his friends from school this afternoon. All the kids in his class were there. He and Nate seem to be good buddies. They were rolling the ball down the lane (the ball went extremely slowly due to how heavy it was and how little they were!)...Then they'd run to the steps and lay down facing the lanes on their tummies to see how their shot turned out. It was hilarious to think about the speed a professional bowler uses compared to all the time these two had to run and lay down to relax and watch their ball!!!

Jack woke up from his nap this afternoon and came out of his room. Mallie was in Annie's room reading books. He walked by her and grogily said, "Hey Mals" She replied, "Haaa! (hi!)" Then said, "Bah? (book)" He had already passed her, but went back and said, "What? Oh, you're reading book? That's really good!" Then went on his way.

Friday, February, 27th, 2009

This morning I was chaning Annie on her changing table in her room when I realized I didn't have any wipes. I called downstairs to Jack to bring some up for me. After the 3rd or 4th call, I realized he was completely engrossed in his TV show and not listening to me. But I heard someone coming up the stairs slowly. I turned to see Mallie in the hallway with the wipes in one hand, Desitin in the other hand and her pacifier in her mouth. She was holding the wipes out, as though she was very proud of herself. It was very cute.

I took the girls out to Copley to see Emily and the boys and their new house today. They were so excited to show us their new house! It was very cute. At one point, Mallie, joseph and Christopher were sitting on this little step into the family room next to each other. Joseph went to get Mallie's sippy cup for her and she leaned over to say 'Thank you!' to both Joseph and Christopher.

Jack was so excited to show me what he made at Auntie's playgroup this morning. He ran to get his craft, showed me and exclaimed, 'Look Mom! A frosnake!!!" (snowflake).

Mallie was in heaven this afternoon. I had Finn here and Jack was sleeping. She had 2 babies to 'babysit' all to herself. She talks so sweetly to them. At one point, she was gushing at Finn and said 'IIIIII Baaaa!' (which I know was 'Hi Bud!' because Jack had just said this to him!

Before going to bed tonight, Mallie ran up to Jack and said "Huuuu?" (Hug?). He gave her a big bear hug and she looked at him and said "Haaa Faa?" (high five?) So he gave her a high five. Then she said 'Hiii?) (up high?) and he gave her a high one. She isn't saying these things very clearly, but it is completely obvious what she means.

Annie slept soooo much today! She slept from 9-5 a.m., then took a nap on our way to Copley from 9:30-10:45 a.m. Then slept the whole way home and longer- from noon till almost 4. Then took yet another 1/2 hour nap this evening. I think she is feeling some of the effects of the shots she had yesterday.

Thursday, February 26th, 2009

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday and we went to pick Jack up from preschool. He was barely in the car when he started telling me: "Mom! The priest came in my class and wanted to give everyone dashes. But I told them I didn't want dashes." I asked him what Mrs. Pacetti said when he said 'no' to the 'dashes' and he told me, "She say that OK Jack." Today it came to light that he didn't want the 'dashes' because his forehead is too 'tickly'. (Really, Jack is very timid sometimes and a little hesitant to try new things. So I'm sure having something that looked like dirt smeared on his head by a stranger wasn't something that appealed to him- I don't blame him!)

Another story that illustrates how shy he can be in a new situation: Jack said he and his class we playing 'Buzz Buzz Sting' the other day (essentially Duck Duck Goose adapted to the bumble bee lesson that day). I asked him if anyone tapped his head and said 'Sting!'. He said someone did tap him, but he didn't run after them in a circle because he 'was too tired'. I know he was probably intimidated when everyone cheered for him. This is one of those things that I am glad that I am not there for because I always end up feeling bad for him in these situations and trying to make him feel better. Really, he needs to be exposed to these new and unfamiliar things and maybe next time, he'll be more comfortable to try them.

When Tommy got home today, Jack came upstairs from the basement with his legal pad to take our orders for 'Jack Jack'. He stated (in an almost Ukranian accent), "Hello. I Jack Jack and I wear my glasses on this day. So, want you want?" It was hilarious that he introduces himself and welcomes us, explaining about the glasses. This was followed by, "Coffee or beers? We have big beers for grown ups and little beers for kids." I was dying.

Tommy and I was having a heated discussion about the house we are bidding on tonight. We weren't upset, just animated. Jack looked at us and said "AAAHHHHH! Guys! STOP! I really tired of listening to you guys. I'm trying to write this order".

When he sat down to dinner, waiting for Tommy to pour his milk, he said, "AHHH!!! My dad's killing me tonight. I don't want milk!!" (we're trying to get away from his use of this phrase, but it's still hilarious when he does).

Annie had her 4 month check up this morning and I took everyone because I wanted Dr. Skoch to look at Jack's eyes and I wanted Mallie to have a doctor's office experience that didn't include her getting shots. As soon as I stripped Annie down to her diaper, Jack decided he really needed to go potty. Mallie still had her coat on.... So I sent Jack down the hallway to go and stayed with the girls in the examining room. Then I realized that I should never have sent my 3 year old roaming the doctor's halls, so I took the girls to follow him. Annie was naked and Mallie was in her coat yelling, "Jaaaa!!! Jaaaa!!!" searching for him. We were quite the sight.

Annie weighs 16.9 lbs now. She is rolling from her back to her tummy every day now and almost rolled the other way at the doctor's office. She's doing everything a 4 month old should be. She's perfect!!!!

Jack and Mallie were very busy today reading to each other. Jack is getting very interested in 'reading' books on his own and it never fails to amaze me about how well he remembers the actual words from these books! But he brought down a 'bathroom book' of Tommy's today about baseball. He and Mallie were paging through it on the coffee table, chanting 'Baseball Game! Baseball Game!!!" or in Mallie's case "Baaa Baaaa Ga!!!" The next time I walked into the room, they were on to another book (Dr. Suess) and Jack was cupping Mallie's chin in his hand, saying, "What you think Honey??" She was standing there still as a statue looking at him.

Mallie's latest thing is to lay on Annie....well not 'on' her, but between her legs with her huge, heavy head on Annie's little tummy. Jack thinks this is hilarious and Annie seems to find it slightly entertaining, if not interesting. Mallie is just happy being that close to her sister. I really never have to worry about Mallie hurting Annie. She may make her uncomfortable (as in this situation) but she knows when to stop.

Tuesday, February, 24th, 2009

Tonight Tommy was reading these little nursery rhyme books to the kids before bed. He read "Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear" to Jack, who insisted upon acting out the book. So, "Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear Say goodnight"...and he did it. "Teddy Bear shine your shoes", and he pretended to shine his shoes....then (a strange lyric), "Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear- ski doo". In Jack's mind, according to his interpretation, he did a 'Walk like an Egyptian" motion with his hand on each side. Not sure where that came from...but it got a laugh.


I was trying to explain Mardi Gras and Lent to Jack today. At dinner, I told him Mardi Gras is the day you get special treats. And Lent is after Mardi Gras and it's the time that we think about God and Jesus a lot and thank them for all the things they have done for us. He said, "Oh, like all my coats?" It's a start.

We dropped Jack at school today and Mallie was upset when we pulled away. She was yelling, "Jaaaa! Jaaaa!". I turned to her and tried to distract her by chatting. I asked her, "where did we take Jack? Where is he?" And she had this pathetic look onher face and whined, "CoooooO!!" (school).

This afternoon we were chatting at the kitchen table and I told Mallie to tell Jack where we went when he was at school. I told her, "Tell Jack we were at the store!" And she turned to him with raised eyebrows, like she was going to tell him th ebiggest secret, and said, "stahhhh!!!" He was such a nice sport about it and said, "You went to the store Mal? Did you buy these? (pointing at his nurtigrain bar he was eating.) She had lost interest in the conversation by then...but it was a very cute exchange while it lasted!

Annie rolled over yesterday!!! We went to RR Library for a music class. I put her on her back on a blanket on the floor. Immediately, she lifted her feet and tried to go to one side. It took a lot of huffing and puffing, but she finally made it to her tummy. And once she got there, she did not like it! I was so excited that I stopped Jack, who was totally involved in his song and dance in the class and told him. He got really excited and said, "Great Job Annie!!!"

Sunday, February, 22, 2009

Tonight, I am going to start off with kid stories before going into the latest drama going on.

Today we went house hunting and took Jack and Annie with us (they were bothscheduled for good naps at this time)..and left Mallie with my mom and dad. Jack woke up after us seeing the first house and couldn't figure out where Mallie was. He kept asking, "Where's Mallie?" and not understanding that we were picking her up in a little while. He wasn't upset that she was at PapaYaya's, but that she wasn't with him. It was almost like he was missing part of his own body. Once we got to her, he exclaimed, "Mals! We missed you. You were not with us!"

Today while Tommy did the open house, I took the kids to Applebee's and then to the library. Everyone, without exception, at Applebee's, looked at me as the single mom with 3 kids. It was actually comical- especially when the chatting manager came over and asked Jack if he went to church today and he responded, "Yeah, I went with my dad". Everyone was absolutely PERFECT for the entire outing. I was so proud of them, and of myself for handling the whole afternoon out with the 3 of them. It was a lot of fun.

Mallie entertained everyone at my parents' with her version of "B-i-n-g-o" tonight. It sounds more like "da, da, da, da, da, da"......to the tune of BINGO. But it was hilarious.

Mallie, usually, is extremely independant and does pay me much attention when we are out together. Tonight at my mom's, she pulled something down on herself out of the kitchen closet while I was talking to Claire in the bedroom. I heard the crash and told Claire, "that was one of my kids" at the time....not realizing how upset Mallie would be! She didn't get hurt, but for over an hour afterwards, was so upset! She would not let me out of her sight. She sat on my lap at dinner and afterwards. As much as I wanted a night to myself over at my parents'- it also felt good to be needed by the bird!!!

Jack just told me before going to bed- "Mom! Maybe when I get older and bigger, I could call Yaya, Kak!!! Is that a great idea?!???"




OK, and finally- I will write about the house we looked at tonight- just in case it works out and becomes our home- I'd like to know what I was thinking the first dayI saw it. First thing to say- it needs a lot of cosmetic help. But the floor plan and space is soooo great. I love Bay and Tommy loves this neighborhood, even though I don't know anything about it. I looked upstairs and could see us using the bathroom to give the kids a bath and let them run around. I love the kitchen (in my head).... and there is so much room for the kids. The 3 season room is absoutely AWESOME. There are so many things standing in our way here- but if it were to work out- I would be thrilled for kids to have this great home. All of our wish list items are there- except the fenced-in yard....and the price. But if we got it for what we wanted it--- we'd have the money to spend to fix it up perfectly!!! If it doesn't work out- I'm trying to not get too attached. We'll figure something out. I know for a fact that we will end up where we are meant to be. I am not freaking out!!! It's weird!!!

Saturday, February, 21st, 2009

I'll start this entry with our day yesterday. We started off at the Natural History Museum. I was kind of proud of myself for getting all 3 kids fed, dressed and out the door and to the east side by 9:45a.m. Jack went to his dinosaur program byhimself and sat and listen and learned some new things about dinosaurs- especially t-rex's!! And Mallie, Annie and I played in the discovery zone room. Then we all took a tour of the museum as a big group. Afterwards, I took the kids outside to see the animals (which is an AWSOME place to go- even in cold weather!), then back through the museum. We were all alone and the musuem had just opened to the public, so it was nearly empty. It was just the 4 of us in the galleries and it was really neat to get to go at our speed and for them to run around and investigate things without being worried about who they were running into! It was a fun morning. We had lunch in the cafeteria and went home for naps. Afterwards, we headed to Papa Yaya's to eat McDonalds's and drop Annie off so the rest of us could get to Sesame Street LIVE!!!

That show needs an entry in and of itself. As much as I prepared them, I don't think the kids knew what to expect. After sitting in our seats for 5 minutes, the lights dimmed, and BAM-O!!!! Spotlights started flashing and drums started rolling. It was a very upbrupt and frantic beginning to a children's show. Mallie was sitting in her seat at the start and leapt into Tommy's lap and was strangling his neck. Jack had his immediate knee-jerk reaction of clapping his hands on his ears. This was all followed by a very loud, and manic song and dance show for an hour and a half. I was completely over-stimulated by the end. The entire theater was in melt-down mode by 8:00 and we still had about 20 minutes of the show to go! My kids, somehow, got over the trauma by the end of the first number and ended up absolutely LOVING the whole thing. Mallie sat in her seat with her box of popcorn, bopping her head to the songs and clapping at the end of each number. She also was waving furiously at the characters up on stage. When it was over, Mallie bee-lined out of the row and down the aisle. As I chased her down, I realized that Jack was following me, running behind and sobbing. I sat down in an empty seat to figure out what was wrong. He was so swept up in the emotion of the show that I think he was crushed with the finale. (He is JUST like me- I get to emotional at any movie, or especially live theater- even one of this caliber!!) Overall- this was a huge success of a night and I guess we'd do it again to see how excited the kids get. (Maybe it would be better next time, knowing what to brace myself for!)

On the way home, Jack announced that he had to go potty, immediately after leaving the parking garage. That's a long haul home with a full bladder (that's the size of a peanut!!!) So I was offering suggestion, after suggestion of places we could stop to let him go downtown. Tommy was angry and frustrated and wanted to get home and kept telling Jack to 'hold it'- which was absolutely not going to happen. So we pulled over in the St. ignatius parking lot and I put a diaper on Jack and let hime go. As he was standing there, letting his bladder go in the car (it must've felt so strange to him to consciously go potty in his pants!!!)- Jack exclaimed, "IT's WORKING!!!" This diffused any tension that was there between Tommy and I!!!

Today was Brendan's 6th birthday party at Pump It Up. Jack ran right in and was playing in the lobby. I thought we should try to go to the bathroom before going in to the trampolines and when I suggested it, he said, "Hold on mom, I need to say 'hi' to Brendan". He walked right up to him (he was standing with all his buddies from school). Jack looked so little to me next to them- but he said, "Hi Brendan!" and started chatting with his friends. It was really cute.

Mallie was fearless on all the huge trampolines there. She went into one inflatable with Ryan and several of the 'big boys'. She just stood there, bouncing around with them. It was hilarious.

Mallie REFUSED to nap today. Once Jack finally fell asleep, she came downstairs and sat with Tommy and I at the kitchen table while we talked about stocks. Annie was sleeping, too. I think she loved being the only child for a little bit. She was so content going from my lap to Tommy's.

Tonight, Tommy was getting the older kids' jammies on when I came upstairs. Jack ran out of the room and I was standing next to Tommy and grabbed his hand and gave him a hug. Jack came running back in and saw us and said, "Oh no!!! Not THIS again!!!!" We laughed and looked at him and asked, "Not what again!?"- to which he replied by pointing at me, then Tommy and saying, "THIS! the kissing!!" This is the funniest thing I have heard out of Jack's mouth in a VERY long time.

Thursday, February 19th, 2009

Oh My Gosh!!!! I do not know how I went so long without this release of blogging. We have had a very, very long day here and each time something happened that made me feel like a vein in my neck was going to burst, I thought, "Well, at least this will make for a good story in the blog." We did a 'no nap' day so that they would go to bed early tonight. They are in bed now at it's before 8 pm, however, they almost did not make it alive. It is almost a form of child-abuse to not put them down for naps. They are miserable by about 4 pm, not to mention my state of mind. I become so short-tempered and irritable that I can barely speak by the time Tommy comes home. Naps are so, so, so, very important.

We started out great. Auntie came over and Jack was being funny, delivering all types of delicacies from Jack Jack. At one point, he was trying to ask me a question while I was talking to her. He was badgering and badgering until I snapped and said, "WHAT JACK!?" and he replied, "I think I need a new mommy".

Mallie could not get enough of her Auntie or her cousin Finn this morning. She was chatting with Finn and keeping him entertained for a very long time. He seemed to enjoy her!

Then Mallie got to have snuggle time with her cousin Emily. She sat and read books to her on the couch forever! Mallie was in heaven.

This afternoon, we began the meltdown. We made puppets, played a version of checkers that Jack made up as we played (he won both times, amazingly enough!), played Jack Jack, made a tent, made dinner. It wasn't enough. Everyone was screaming and fighting and crying. Including myself. I lost track of Jack for about 10 minutes and when I found him, he was upstairs, coming out of the bathroom. His pants were wet and so was his sweatshirt. He said, "There is too much toilet paper in the potty" and then started jumping around and laughing in hysterics because he was so anxious that I was going to freak out (note to self: I freak out too much and cause my 3 year old anxiety- huge problem.) Sure enough, there was, indeed, too much toilet paper in the potty. It hadn't overflowed, miraculously, but was teetering on the brim. I believe it did not, in fact, run over because Jack had taken it upon himself to fish whatever TP he could out of the bowl with his bare hands and deposit it in the trash can. A nice gesture, but completely disgusting and horrendous. I washed his hands, closed the door to the bathroom, stripped him down and waited until Tommy got home.

Jack and Tommy played their video games tonight. They were playing golf and Tommy had a near-miss on a hole to which Jack exclaimed, "Oh Man Dad! You were robbed!!!!". I haven't seen Tommy so proud in a long time.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Tonight, after baths, Jack was somewhat delirious from sleep deprivation. He'd had a long day without a nap. He was trying to ask me why he can't have a bubble bath anymore (because it makes his skin itchy), but wasn't paying attention to what he was saying. So he asked me, "Mom, why can't I have a boo-boo?". He asked this several times before realizing and laughing and asking what he really meant. Then I asked him, "Why don't you tell me why you can't have a bubble bath" to which he repied, "Where it is?" (again, being delirious). So I started making fun of him and we were both laughing so hard that our eyes were watering. After all of this, he went in to our room and looked in our mirror at himself with his glasses. He was just staring at himself with his mouth hanging open before he exclaimed, "Hey! I look like a different guy!"

For a special treat in the evenings, I've been giving Jack and Mallie hot chocolate. They love it and ask for it all the time. Mallie has been asking for a "teeeee?" when she knows it's time. Tommy has been getting them to call it 'hot cocoa' and tonight Mallie ran into the kitchen yelling, 'toe toe! toe toe!' As I am typing this, I am sitting outside their bedroom while they fall asleep and she is still calling for 'toe toe'.

I don't remember if I wrote this already or not, but Annie is almost rolling over. She lays on her playmat for a really long time now. She is soooo deliberately trying to reach for her parrot that hangs down. It is so sweet (although so frustrating!) to watch her try so hard to work her little arms and hands to grab things. She's getting good though. And then she'll pick up her little legs straight into the air and flop them to one side or the other. She hasn't gone the whole way yet, but it's getting close!!!

We looked at a house tonight. This was our first house in our house search. It isn't a story about the kids, but I want to write about it, because someday, when we're in the house we're meant to be in, it may be fun to look back on our path along the way! This one was on S. Melrose in Westlake. It was big and at a good prive with a huge front and back yard and in the perfect neighborhood. However, the lay-out was choppy and there were a couple of rooms that had to be accessed through other rooms (a bedroom that you had to walk through another bedroom to get to). I couldn't picture our family there. The only bathtub was downstairs and that seemed like it would be tricky for bathtime. I know our house is out there! I can't wait to find it!

Saturday, February 14, 2009

We had a GREAT Valentine's day today. Our plan was to take the kids bowling with the Fadel's...but at about 4 pm, we realized no one had made reservations and it was full. It was a HUGE relief because I was starting to get tired and really wanted a cozy night at home...which is EXACTLY what we had. I was able to pick up the house, so I won't have to do that tomorrow. Grandma and Grandpa Gilbride stopped to see Jack's new glasses and to chat. Yaya stopped to drop off Valentine's and so did Papa for a visit this afternoon. Jack was very happy to see them all. They are full of 'special treats' and tore through all their cards. It was a success. My sweet hubby bought me chocolates in a heart-shaped box and a sweet card. I was in my pj's at 4:30- we ordered pizza and have no dishes to do- what more could I possibly ask for!?

Annie is getting really close to rolling now. She's lifting her little legs and bringing them to the side. She was scooting around in circles on her playmat this afternoon with her legs movements. She seems to be entertaining herself with this because she lasts a lot longer on her playmat these days!!!

Mallie and I gave Annie a bath tonight. Annie loves splashing around in her tub and Mallie loves being a part of it. As I was getting Annie out, though, Mallie swung her foot over the wall of the tub and into Annie's baby tub. We had to change her pj's due to 'soggy foot'.

Mallie got in trouble today for hitting Jack. Tommy was in charge on this one, so I'm a little fuzzy on the details. But it reminded me of the time a few months ago when Mallie hit Jack in the face- hard (accidentally). It obviously hurt him, and his little eyes filled up with tears. To make a point, I scolded Mallie and told her 'We don't hit our brother. We have to be gentle". Scolding her just made Jack more upset. He looked at me with a quivering lip and shaky voice and said, "No Mom, I OK. Mallie did it on accident". It broke my heart that he was sticking up for her even though he was hurt!

I was cleaning my room this afternoon, knowing that Mallie was lurking around the upstairs playing and getting into things. When I poked my head into her room, she was sitting on the floor, looking at Jack's scrapbook from when he was a baby. She was pointing at people, saying 'Tantie (Auntie), bee bee (baby), Yiyi (Annie- thinking that the pictures of Jack were Annie). It was so cute.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Jack got new glasses today!!! He's been tilting his head to the left and leading with his right eye when he is reading and writing. So I took him to the eye doctor last week and she prescribed glasses for far-sightedness in both eyes- especially the left. He got them today and they look GREAT! He's really, really excited about them because Tommy recently got glasses, so he can be just like his dad. I'm really proud of how he's doing with them. He's keeping them on and when he does take them off, he puts them in a safe place.

He told me yesterday while I was giving him a bath that my hair is beautiful. After his bath, he said "Mom, I have a GREAT IDEA! Let's paint with my new paints!" When I told him he could paint, he replied, "Thanks mom, you're amazing." What an ego boost!!! :)

He's also been telling people "thanks, nice compliment" when someone says something nice to him.

Today when I went to get Annie up from her nap, she was in the process of rolling over to her side. I watched her for a few minutes and she didn't quite get there- but she will be soon!!!

Mallie had a great time at the music class we went to tonight. She ran around with the kids and sat in her chair when the class started. She even clapped for the musician and danced when the other kids did. She had a great time!!!

Mallie has become part of 'Jack Jack' the restaurant. She is Jack's official 'helper' and has her own sign in the restaurant that says "Mallie Mallie". When she wants to play restaurant, she runs up to Jack and shouts "Jack Jack????" And they run down in the basement to play.

I went to Dunkin Donuts for coffee today. While I was ordering, Mallie was shouting from the back of the van "DOH DOH!!! DOH DOH!!!". She knows what you get at Dunkin Donuts and she was NOT going to be left out. Mallie also yells "YO YO!!! YO YO!!!" in a really deep voice at lunchtime when she wants yogurt and "WAFFA! WAFFA!!!" in the morning to get her waffle.

We have a make-shift village growing along our woodwork in the kitchen right now. Jack has told me all the stores to draw and we've cut them out and taped them up. He and Mallie then drive their cars to the different places. He was at the table writing this afternoon and came to me with a sign for a store that had the letters 'GETL" on it. He had remembered these letters from the Giant Eagle sign and made his own grocery store. I was extremely impressed.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Is it really only Tuesday???? We had a very rough night last night and I am exhausted from being up so much. I kept the kids up without a nap today to try to prevent them from being so wakeful again tonight. We shall see if that strategery works! :)

Jack was up in the bathroom this afternoon for a rather lengthy period of time. I yelled up to him to see if he was OK. He replied "Yeah Mom! My socks are just in the potty!!!" I still have not heard a convincing reason for this.

Mallie was so sleep-deprived this evening that she was actually pleasent. Her screaming and shrieking were kept to a minimum. I was actually having dreams about her screaming last night, it happened so much yesterday. She screams when she is tired, mad, sad, excited, happy, laughing- it really doesn't matter. I am trying to figure out how to break it.

We were in Annie's room playing this morning. Jack got out this ladybug turntable that is supposed to be used for tummy time. Annie likes it, but doesn't last too long on it. So then it was the big kids' turn. Jack got on it on his tummy and did a couple spins. Then Mallie did a face plant into it and kind of shimmied back and forth. This got a huge laugh from both Jack and me, so she continued to do it!

Annie had a good day. All the child wants is attention and she doesn't realize that if she fussed more or cried she would get it. When I have a few minutes to play with her or chat with her, she literally turns inside-out. She is so happy. Today she was thrilled to have Jack chatting with her for a few minutes while she sat in her bouncy seat.

Monday, February 9, 2009

Claire and I were feeling adventurous today and took all 4 kids to the rainforest at the zoo. Everyone was really, really well-behaved and it was a very fun trip. Although a little wild at the end (getting everyone gathered up and in the van!) we felt very successful!

Two nights ago, Tommy gave Jack a large manilla envelope to play with. Within imnutes, Jack had started his own "bee-wivery' service and was 'bee-wivering' letters to all of us.

For the past couple of days, Jack has been telling me that he wants to 'get married with me'. I told him last night that I was already married, so we would have to find him another person to marry. He wasn't happy about that, but grudgingly agreed. Tonight, I saw him stop playing and stare into space for a minute before sitting down on the floor and telling me that he wanted to 'get married with me, PLEASE." I told him again that we were going to find another girl for him to marry in a few years. He got kind of upset and told me that he did not want to marry someone else and he only wanted to marry me. I tried to end the discussion by telling him that this isn't something that he needs to worry about right now because he's only 3. Hopefully, that worked.

Tonight, Jack and Mallie were playing 'house' in the coat closet. They were shut in there for a couple of minutes before Tommy went in to check on them. Then, of course, they wanted Tommy in there with them. I got a great picture of Tommy, squished inside of the coat closet with the two of them on his lap, 'playing' house.

I am cleaning out closets right now, trying to get ready for a possible move. I am giving away a Santa dress someone got for Annie that was WAY too big for her this year. It was sitting in a box in the kitchen this morning. When I got off the phone with Claire, I realized that Jack had his scissors out. He was trying to cut off the tag of the dress because it was 'itching' him. It was itching him because he had put the 'bloomers' from the dress on over his pj bottoms, and the actual dress 1/2 way over his torso. He looked ridiculous.

Before going to the zoo today, we were chatting about what we thought we were going to see. Jack had some good guesses and then asked if we would see a carrier? I asked what that was and he said, "A carrier, like the people who take care ofthe animals???"

I thought of another adventure that I have never documented!!! This summer (August 5th) my cousin Emily called to inform us that Barack Obama was coming to Baldwin-Wallace to speak. We did not have tickets, but decided to go (with the kids and Claire) on the off chance that we'd catch a glimpse of him and be a part of the excitement! It turned out that there were extra seats in the auditorium/ gym and we got in. It was one of the hottest days of the year and the gym was NOT air-conditioned. But Claire and I climbed our very pregnant selves up to the rafter seats and sat. We waited for over 45 minutes for him to come out to speak. During this time, Jack was freaking out because of the loud audience (he does not like loud noises). He sat, covering his ears emphatically for the entire time, flushed because he was so scared. Mallie, on the other hand, was TOTALLY into the experience. She was clapping when everyone else clapped for something Obama said. She sat on Em's lap the entire time, still as a stone. On the way home, Jack said he did not like Barack Obama. But Mallie did. Every since then, he has been telling people that he voted for John McCain and Mallie voted for Barack Obama.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/15516111@N07/2735722211/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/15516111@N07/2736353902/

Friday, February 6th, 2009

We went to Squeaky Sneaker this morning to run off a little energy and get out of the house. Most of the time we were there, Jack and his buddy, Charlie, shot hoops (that were WAY too high for them). I carried Annie around in the carrier on me and she fell asleep. Mallie probably had the roughest time of the kids. She had a hard time sharing toys with other kids today for some reason. At one point I looked across the gym to find her bright red and crying. I realized she had been yelling at another little girl for going down the slide in front of her. There were several incidents like this today. It wasn't all bad though- Mallie did the parachute time for the first time. She held onto it and walked in a circle with the rest of us while we sang songs (looking up at me often to make sure I was seeing how cool she was!). She also sat in the middle of the parachute while we dragged the kids around in a circle.


During dinner, Tommy and I were trying to talk over the babble going on at the table. Out of the corner of my ear, I heard Jack singing quietly to himself "All the single ladies, all the single ladies!" by none other than THE Miss Beyonce Knowles. I was floored, as he has not heard this song more than twice on my ipod playlist!!! :)

We took the kids to Malley's for ice cream after dinner. The older two ordered clown sundaes and LOVED them. Mallie especially enjoyed hers. It was EVERYWHERE...dripping down her chin, cheeks, sweater, tights, coat, my coat. At one point, Jack looked up at her and exclaimed, "Mals! Look what you did to yourself!" It was perfect.

We watched the moving Wall-E tonight. It was about an hour and a half long and Jack asked at least one question per minute that entire time. It was impressive!!

Thursday, February 28th, 2008

It's been a long day. We started off taking Jack to the eye doctor this morning. The visit confirmed my suspicions that he needs glasses. He's been turning his head to one side while reading and writing because he is far-sighted, especially in his left eye. It made me a little bit sad for him- even though he is over the moon about wearing glasses like his Daddy. We ordered them today and should get them in a week. He's already asked me when he's getting them about a thousand times.

Last night when I put the kids down for bed (an aside: Mallie has been in a big girl bed and sharing a room with Jack for over 2 months now because we put Annie in a crib when she was 6 weeks old and didn't want to have to buy another crib for only a couple of months). Jack had a VERY important and urgent question as I was trying to walk out of the room for the 50th time. I tried to blow it off and ignore him so that I could leave and go to bed myself. But he was persistant. Finally, I said "WHAT JACK!?" and he asked me his weighing question: "Mom, is Humpty Dumpty an egg?"

It takes me about 20 minutes to get the older kids to sleep now. It used to be that I could throw Mallie in her crib (she would reach for it before I was finished singing her Twinkle Twinkle!) Now, we have to read books, say prayers, sing Twinkle Twinkle to Mallie (she shouts at me if I try to rub her back) then sing Jack his Twinkle Twinkle (he shouts at me if I don't rub his back). Then I sit outside their bedroom door and do my own shouting when Mallie runs to the end of the bed to check things out or drops her pacifier on the floor on purpose, or Jack laughs at her singing along to the lullaby music. I snap, "do you want spanks?" and she runs (turning inside-out with laughter) to the head of her bed and dives onto her pillow. It is both infuriating and hysterical at the same time.

For dinner tonight, Mallie ate 2 portions of her ravioli and then ate what Jack didn't finish off of his plate.

Mallie has learned to really keep a melody. She sings "Ba Ba Bamba!" and can hum along to "Tops and Bottoms", "Peanut Butter Jelly Time", and does the 'Thumpety Thump Thump" from Frosty the Snowman by wiggling her tongue (blah blah blah).

Wednesday, February 4th, 2009

I am making a REAL goal of blogging more often. It is a crime that I am not recording the things that happen in this house on a daily, if not weekly basis in order to look back on when the kids grow up.

Things here have been busy, but good. I have all the kids on the same nap schedule... so I usually have at least an hour and a half to get things done around here. I need to use that time one day a week to write.

Let's start with Jack:

This morning, we were playing restaurant in the basement. Jack and Mallie were walking around with their chefs' hats on taking orders. Mallie strictly directed me to my seat by yelling 'MA MA!!!!' and pointing to the bench where I was so be seated. Then Jack told me the restaurant was called "Jack Jack" and asked if I would like a 'Haco", which is how he says 'Taco'.

Other Jackism's these days: he's been learning about 'Who-Hi-Hee" in school (Hawaii),

He and Tommy were talking the other day and Jack told him "You're my best guy Dad", to which Tommy replied, "Thanks, you're my best guy, too Buddy." And Jack came back with, "Thanks for the nice compliment Dad". He then explained that "a compliment is something you tell someone to make them happy.".

He's also been throwing 'interesting' into conversations a lot lately.

Today Mallie said something that sounded like "OK" to him and he was so excited. He yelled in the other room to tell me: "Mom! Mallie said OK!!!! She's a fabulous girl!!!"

Tommy went to 'Day with Dad's" yesterday at St. Angela's preschool. Jack told him that he was going to have to sit on the carpet and that he would teach Tommy how to learn. They had a camping theme the whole day and made smores by the pretend fire and sang Kumbaya..... God I wish I could have seen it.

Jack always thanks me for dinner right after his first bite by saying, "MMMM, this is pretty good. Thank you for making this dinner for me Mom." He also recently told me, "Mom, you're pretty coot. (cute)".

Uncel Drew was over this weeknd and Jack had a melt down when he was told to get off the computer. Finn was crying too at this point and to distract him, Drew asked Jack what he should do to make Finn stop crying. Through his tears and sobs, Jack said, "I don't know. Why don't you try a pac!?" And went on with his tantrum.

As far as Mallie Bird goes- she's becoming a big girl quickly!!! She is telling me when she went potty (by pointing to her diaper and saying 'poo!') I think she's going to potty train very easily. Maybe once the weather gets warmer!?

SHe knows all her body parts and animal sounds. She says her animals sounds instead of the names of the animals. I think my favorites are 'crab' (pinching her hands together), 'gorilla' (beating her chest) guinea pig (scrunching up her nose and eyes) and fish (making the fish face with her mouth).

Mallie LOVES to read. I cannot emphasize this enough. When she realizes someone is going to read to her, she gets so excited and brings her little arms up to her sides and smiles really big and does a little shimmy. Then she backs into their lap with her butt. I find her reading all the time when I've lost track of her and it's quiet!

Mallie adores her baby sister. She cannot get enough of her. She greets her about 1000 times a day with a very high-pitched 'HIIIIIIIIIIIIII Yi-Yi!!!!" (which is what she calls her). Also, I am finding it fascinating how Mallie is in to girl things and Jack boy things. I don't feel like I've raised the two of them any differently. Boys and girls, just truly gravitate toward different things. Mallie is obssessed with her babies. She reads to them, pushes them in their stroller, puts them to bed, feeds them, puts blankies on them, burps them, shushes them, bounces them. She is very maternal. She could sit on the couch and hold Annie for a half hour if we let her.
SHe also does an impression of Annie by pretending to eat her hands, as this is one of Annie's favorite things to do.


Mallie loves to dance. A favorite past time in our house is to play a CD (these days it's either the Wiggles or Justin Robert's Popfly). The kids go crazy. Mallie's favorite move is to crouch down and do a torso twist while holding her arms at a 90 degree angle. Then she falls on her butt and sayds in a very deep voice with a furled brow: "WHOOOOOAAAA!"

A typical play time for Mallie includes her walking around the house, with her metallic purple purse on her arm (sometimes with sunglasses on), with her pretend cell phone to her ear, babbling away and waving 'bah!' to me.

Mallie's main words right now are: mama, dada, yi-yi (annie), JA! (jack), yaya, papa, ti-ti (auntie), baby, shoe, sah (sock), moh (more), peeeees (please), de-de (thank you and dede), bah! (bye), duh (duck), baaa (bath), daw-duh (all done), na-na (banana).

Mallie LOVES to eat. She will sit for a half hour after Jack gets up to finish whatever is in front of her. We were at a SUper Bowl part last weekend at the Lange's and it became a joke every time Mallie went up to the appetizer table to 'refill'. She thought it was funny that everyone was laughing at her, too.

Jack and Mallie play very well together 95% of the time. They make each other laugh while they eat breakfast and lunch together at the kitchen table by taking turns shaking their heads violently back and forth. I don't get it, but it's really funny to them.

Annie started smiling the week before Thanksgiving. She was about 3 1/2 weeks old. She is the happiest baby I've ever met. SHe loves to watch the action and she will sit in her swing or bouncy for a really long time just watching. She is doing well with her tummy time because she is so motivated to look up at what's going on. SHe took her first dip in a swimming pool last week. We took the kids swimming at the rec center and they had life vests for the older 2, so I felt comfortable holding Annie and dipping her little toes in the pool. She loved it. Annie is on Pepcid for acid reflux and it's pretty pathetic when her tummy is hurting her because she tries so hard to smile through it. It doesn't seem to be as bad with her as it was with poor Mallie when she was this age though.

Annie is pulling her legs up and trying to roll over from her back this week. She's also pulling herself up from a reclined position to alsmot sitting by herself! We need to be careful because she could easily roll out of her swing, etc.

She has fuzzy little fluff for hair that is so cute. It looks like she has a buzz cut. And it's going to be red!

She started sleeping through the night about a month ago. Some nights she'll get up to eat one time, but mostly she gets through until about 6 a.m.

We baptized Annie January 20th. It was freezing that weekend and our pipes froze, so we had to stay at a hotel the night before the baptism. The kids had a blast running around the hotel suite. They played a game of running from one wall to a door and slamming into it at top speed. They were laughing so hard they were crying!