That's right folks, we've got talkers! Jabber-jaws, chatter boxes, etc. And oh, I love how my boys sweet talk me!
Ethan is very good at always saying "Thank you" and "Love you, Mama." Owen thinks it's funny to look up at me and say, "What's up?!" And today I was on the phone and had it on speaker phone so the boys could say hi to out of town relatives, someone on the other end said "Hi babies!" And Owen said, Hi bay bees!" And Marcus just talks. Sometimes we can understand what he's saying, sometimes not. He's pretty good at saying things like "thank you" "milk" "juice" and various other things. The one thing I have so much trouble getting them to even try to say is "please." I try and I try. I try to make them say please before giving them snacks they're begging for, and they just won't say it. After trying so hard the other night, I was surprised the next morning when Ethan was playing with his toy helicopter, he showed me what he was playing with and said, plain as day, "Helicopter." He's a smart kid, they all are. I KNOW they can say please, they just won't.
I play a lot of music around here, and let them watch shows with a lot of music, so I shouldn't be surprised that they are trying to sing now too! Today I had my Pandora playing and the song "Single Ladies" came on, and then after listening to that we switched to the Disney station, and after a lot of dancing and grooving, it was nap time. A few minutes after I put them down to nap, I hear the "oh, oh, oh" part of the Beyonce song coming from their room in the sweetest little toddler boy voices! Such funny guys!
Every day I look at my kids, who are nearing the 2 year mark, and I am amazed at how big they are, how funny they are, how much personality they have, and how clever they are. But these are my BABIES! They shouldn't be so big yet, I mean, it was just a couple weeks ago I was bringing them home from the hospital, right?
Last week we had two freak out moments... on the same day! Within 3 hours of each other! The first was that Owen was running and trying to drink from his sippy at the same time... he fell, of course. With the sippy in his mouth. He wouldn't open his mouth to let me see the damage, and there a lot of blood seeping out of his tightly pursed lips, so I'm thinking that he's toothless again, I'm thinking, "Am I going to have to take him to the ER? Why is the bleeding not stopping." But the bleeding did stop, Ben got home from work and we discovered that after all of that, it was a very minor little cut. Then bed time rolls around, and of course Marcus and Owen want to keep playing. So once we get them tucked in and Ben and I turn the light out and leave the room, they get up to play. Well, Owen gets up to play, Marcus gets up, trips and falls face first into the wall/corner of Owen's bed. I hear the "I'm going to die" scream, so I run in the room and Marcus ALREADY has a black eye! That poor boy, his face got all swollen around the eye, and it is still pretty black almost a week later. But it's healing up. We were going to take the boys to a pumpkin patch this weekend, but Ben was afraid people would report us to CPS if they saw Marky's eye, so we're planning on going this coming weekend instead.
That's all the fun stuff I can think of for now.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
"What the heck am I doing?!"
As parents, do you ever ask yourself what the heck you are doing? I seem to have a lot of those moments lately. Then I feel some added stress because I don't have a "test" baby. It's not like if I screw up, I'm just screwing up one kid, I'm dealing with 3 at once!
WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS TALK OF POTTY TRAINING AND KIND OF YUCKY STUFF!!
The boys are in big boy beds, the cribs are gone, so no going back to that. I wonder if it was wrong to move them to beds so soon. I actually just got an email from baby center or one of those websites saying that most children aren't ready for beds until they are around 3. In this regard, I really feel like we did the right thing in moving them to the beds, because they were getting out of their cribs, and that was dangerous. But now they don't ever want to stay in their beds to nap, they like to get up and run around after we tuck them in and night. I have to wonder if by really not being able to enforce when it is bed time by having them confined to their cribs, am I undermining myself as far as bed time goes? Will I be fighting this issue for years to come now? ugh! I just don't know.
I've read and heard differing things about when is a good time to potty train. Some "experts" say it's easier for kids to learn really young, between 1 and 2 years, and others say that parents should wait to start until after the child is 2. Most parents I know say to wait until they show signs of readiness. Well, the boys like to take off their pants and diapers and run around naked, and I'm really so sick of diapers, that I want to get the potty training done and over with. I've attempted once with Marcus, and then everyone got sick. He had been doing ok with it, but we didn't even get much of a basis set. I decided I'd start up again with potty training today. The method I think I like best is the let your child go diaperless and when you notice them show signs or start to potty, get them on the toilet or potty chair. Well, when I tried before, I decided to train one boy at a time, which was Marcus, and then I had to deal with jealousy from Ethan and Owen. Plus I was cleaning a lot of puddles up from the floor. Well, today I decided since right now we're having such wonderful fall weather, to let them be little nudists in the backyard. I had a potty area set up with their potty chair, and they were having a great time (this time around I decided to try and train all three at once). Well, Owen was showing signs that he was going to poo, so I put him on the potty, and I smelled a foul smell and assumed he did what he was suppose to do. Needless to say, I was a surprised to not see anything when he got off the potty. I look over and see something on Ethan's bum, and then I notice his feet are covered in poo. He went poo, and then walked through his pile. EW! I really didn't want to give up trying for the day, but I'm in the backyard with three naked little boys, trying to keep them away from their brother's poop, which is very interesting to them, and get Ethan cleaned up. So yeah, I quit for the day. I guess him pooping in the backyard is better than him doing it in the front room. Diapers are so expensive, and they are so gross, I'm really ready to be done with this stage, and the boys are getting rashy a lot more, they don't seem to like to keep their diapers on, but they don't seem interested in learning to use the potty either. Am I getting discouraged too soon? Am I approaching this the wrong way? DOES ANYBODY KNOW HOW TO POTTY TRAIN 3 BOYS AT ONCE??? Am I doing damage to my kids by, let's face it, not knowing what the heck I am doing half the time?
WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS TALK OF POTTY TRAINING AND KIND OF YUCKY STUFF!!
The boys are in big boy beds, the cribs are gone, so no going back to that. I wonder if it was wrong to move them to beds so soon. I actually just got an email from baby center or one of those websites saying that most children aren't ready for beds until they are around 3. In this regard, I really feel like we did the right thing in moving them to the beds, because they were getting out of their cribs, and that was dangerous. But now they don't ever want to stay in their beds to nap, they like to get up and run around after we tuck them in and night. I have to wonder if by really not being able to enforce when it is bed time by having them confined to their cribs, am I undermining myself as far as bed time goes? Will I be fighting this issue for years to come now? ugh! I just don't know.
I've read and heard differing things about when is a good time to potty train. Some "experts" say it's easier for kids to learn really young, between 1 and 2 years, and others say that parents should wait to start until after the child is 2. Most parents I know say to wait until they show signs of readiness. Well, the boys like to take off their pants and diapers and run around naked, and I'm really so sick of diapers, that I want to get the potty training done and over with. I've attempted once with Marcus, and then everyone got sick. He had been doing ok with it, but we didn't even get much of a basis set. I decided I'd start up again with potty training today. The method I think I like best is the let your child go diaperless and when you notice them show signs or start to potty, get them on the toilet or potty chair. Well, when I tried before, I decided to train one boy at a time, which was Marcus, and then I had to deal with jealousy from Ethan and Owen. Plus I was cleaning a lot of puddles up from the floor. Well, today I decided since right now we're having such wonderful fall weather, to let them be little nudists in the backyard. I had a potty area set up with their potty chair, and they were having a great time (this time around I decided to try and train all three at once). Well, Owen was showing signs that he was going to poo, so I put him on the potty, and I smelled a foul smell and assumed he did what he was suppose to do. Needless to say, I was a surprised to not see anything when he got off the potty. I look over and see something on Ethan's bum, and then I notice his feet are covered in poo. He went poo, and then walked through his pile. EW! I really didn't want to give up trying for the day, but I'm in the backyard with three naked little boys, trying to keep them away from their brother's poop, which is very interesting to them, and get Ethan cleaned up. So yeah, I quit for the day. I guess him pooping in the backyard is better than him doing it in the front room. Diapers are so expensive, and they are so gross, I'm really ready to be done with this stage, and the boys are getting rashy a lot more, they don't seem to like to keep their diapers on, but they don't seem interested in learning to use the potty either. Am I getting discouraged too soon? Am I approaching this the wrong way? DOES ANYBODY KNOW HOW TO POTTY TRAIN 3 BOYS AT ONCE??? Am I doing damage to my kids by, let's face it, not knowing what the heck I am doing half the time?
Monday, September 13, 2010
The joys of traveling with kids.
Every "vacation" from the kids comes with a price. Yesterday was Ben and I's second anniversary, so the boys went to Guernsey to stay with G-ma and Boppy for the weekend. From what I hear, the boys had a grand time. While the boys were playing outside, roughing up the dogs and watching football, Ben and I managed to get some relaxing in between catching up on dishes, grocery shopping, and other chores. We went out to dinner, and today Ben went back to work, and I went to pick up the boys. The drive up was nice. I got to listen to any music I wanted, as loud as I wanted. I visited with my parents for awhile, the boys and I had lunch up there, and then I headed back. I knew I probably could make it home without stopping for gas, and wasn't too worried... until I was about halfway home, then decided I needed to stop and put a bit of gas in the car, just to be on the safe side. So I stop, get gas, no problem. We get back on the road, turn the AC on, getting closer to home, and I hear "Bleh!" I look back just in time to see Owen vomit purple puke all over himself (the boys were drinking grape juice). I'm starting to think that maybe Owen suffers from car sickness. So in the next town, I stop at a gas station and am digging clean clothes out of the trunk and get Owen cleaned up. I'm one of those people who don't do well when others are sick, so I pretty much held my breath the rest of the way home to avoid smelling anything unpleasant. I would take breaths when I needed them, and we got home. I hoped the boys would nap so I could get Owen's car seat out of the car and unload the rest of their stuff. No such luck. Although, they did manage to completely disassemble their dresser.
The two night break from the kiddos was great, and it's nice to have the boys back, although, I sometimes with our car rides weren't so eventful.
The two night break from the kiddos was great, and it's nice to have the boys back, although, I sometimes with our car rides weren't so eventful.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Movin' on up!
We picked up the boys' beds Friday, had a busy Labor Day weekend, and got the cribs down and the beds up Monday!
The first night the boys had big boy beds only Owen and Marcus slept in their beds all night, but I figured, "Hey! Two out of three's not bad... not bad at all!" Ethan chose to sleep in the satellite chair in their room that is typically used to hold all their stuffed animals. It was cute!
It's not the third night they've had their beds, last night and tonight, Ethan has been sleeping in his bed. They really don't nap during the day now, but that's ok, because by bed time, they are ready to crash! Once their room is dark, they fall asleep pretty instantly. And what's more... with three identical beds, we just ended up putting them in beds the first night in their birth order, and they sleep in the same bed every night! I think that's pretty interesting!
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
"How'd I get in here...?"
I think it's time for toddler beds. A couple weeks ago, Ben and I were sitting on the couch watching tv while the boys were napping. It was about time for them to get up, and we hear a loud thud, we both go running to the boys room to see Owen crawling around on the floor... clearly not in his crib...
To help protect him if he decided to do that again, our quick solution was to pile pillows around the outside of his crib so that if he did it again, at least he'd have a softer landing. He hasn't done it since, but....
Yesterday I hear the boys in their cribs laughing and laughing and having a great time, then *thud.* followed by screaming and crying. I go in expecting to see Owen on the floor and was surprised to find that Marcus had flipped out of his crib. And right into Owen's crib!!! I felt bad for both Owen and Marcus, they were looking at each other like, "What just happened?" but I couldn't help laughing. So I get Marcus and Owen calmed down, and put Marcus back in his crib. Then from the kitchen I hear Marcus crying, he didn't want to nap, then I hear a thud and then all the boys laughing. Sure enough, Marcus had done it again!
I told Natalie about all the crib excitement, and she and Isaac were so kind as to buy the boys toddler beds! I'm looking forward to getting them up in the room. At least with beds they can go visit each other by walking instead of flipping/jumping around their room!
To help protect him if he decided to do that again, our quick solution was to pile pillows around the outside of his crib so that if he did it again, at least he'd have a softer landing. He hasn't done it since, but....
Yesterday I hear the boys in their cribs laughing and laughing and having a great time, then *thud.* followed by screaming and crying. I go in expecting to see Owen on the floor and was surprised to find that Marcus had flipped out of his crib. And right into Owen's crib!!! I felt bad for both Owen and Marcus, they were looking at each other like, "What just happened?" but I couldn't help laughing. So I get Marcus and Owen calmed down, and put Marcus back in his crib. Then from the kitchen I hear Marcus crying, he didn't want to nap, then I hear a thud and then all the boys laughing. Sure enough, Marcus had done it again!
I told Natalie about all the crib excitement, and she and Isaac were so kind as to buy the boys toddler beds! I'm looking forward to getting them up in the room. At least with beds they can go visit each other by walking instead of flipping/jumping around their room!
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
A much needed break!
Recently the boys have been acting very jealous of each other. The fights are really getting unnerving. From a young age we've been teaching them about sharing and taking turns, but they want what they want when they want it. Whether they want a toy a brother has or want attention. And in true toddler fashion, they don't know they want something until a brother has it!
However, last week Ben and I got a break from the bickering! My sister Natalie got married to a great guy, Isaac! My grandparents offered to take the boys so Ben and I could go to Oregon for a few days for the wedding! It was AMAZING! We got in late Thursday night, my sister, Isaac and his sister Madeline picked us up from the airport and we went straight to the hotel. The next morning Ben and I got up, caught up with other family at breakfast, then went for a walk and picked wild blackberries! Then we went to the farm where Isaac's family lives and where the wedding was. We got a tour of the farm which was beautiful! Ben and I then went with my dad to pick up a family friend from the airport and then had lunch at Edgefield... which I believe is a micro-brewery. Yummy! From there we went back to the farm and helped in getting things ready for the big day. I met so many more members of Isaac's family. They were all such warm, welcoming people! Then we had the rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner. You haven't eaten until you've tried Karl Schaefer's food. I know he was a highly acclaimed chef. We ate the best steaks I've ever eaten, even the salad seemed like it had to be the best salad on earth! Ben and I sat with the lovely Sarah Tunstall, the wedding photographer and a fellow NCCS graduate, and her fiancé Travis! It was good times catching up with her, and Ben and Travis had so much to talk about! It was great! After the dinner, we eventually found ourselves back at the hotel. The next morning we woke up at 5AM!! We wanted to make the two hour trip to the coast! It was so worth the early rising and two hour drive! And it was worth missing manicures with Natalie (Sorry, Nats!. Ben had never seen the ocean before, so it was pretty special. We went to Cannon Beach, which I later found out was where they filmed The Goonies! How freakin' cool! It was cold, but it was beautiful. We even got fresh seafood! At 9:30 in the morning... yeah.. I know, weird! But it was the only time we had on our trip to get fresh seafood right by the beach. After the beach, I met up with Natalie, Alica and Madeline to get the hair and make-up going. And then, it was time for my sister to get tie the knot! It was a beautiful ceremony, and every emotional, of course Natalie and Isaac's dog, Dax, provided the comic relief! Then, I thought the food for the rehearsal dinner was good.... the smoked salmon, wild rice, salad and ratatoullie was so great. I don't know how many times I proclaimed my love for food. And the wine at the reception was made only two miles from the farm! So Good! The reception was great, the toasts were emotional, but lovely, and while I missed my babies the whole time, I'd call and they were having fun on their own vacation. And the break from my little guys was much needed. We came home the morning after the wedding, and I couldn't wait to get lots of kisses from my guys. We've been enjoying being back home, but we miss Oregon, and definitely want to get back there, hopefully next time, with the boys! I know the boys would love it! The weather there is so wonderfully mild! I don't think I was really pestered by any bugs! But nothing beats being Mommy again.
The first two days back, the boys were just as sweet and wonderful as can be, and today the jealously has been back in full swing!
However, last week Ben and I got a break from the bickering! My sister Natalie got married to a great guy, Isaac! My grandparents offered to take the boys so Ben and I could go to Oregon for a few days for the wedding! It was AMAZING! We got in late Thursday night, my sister, Isaac and his sister Madeline picked us up from the airport and we went straight to the hotel. The next morning Ben and I got up, caught up with other family at breakfast, then went for a walk and picked wild blackberries! Then we went to the farm where Isaac's family lives and where the wedding was. We got a tour of the farm which was beautiful! Ben and I then went with my dad to pick up a family friend from the airport and then had lunch at Edgefield... which I believe is a micro-brewery. Yummy! From there we went back to the farm and helped in getting things ready for the big day. I met so many more members of Isaac's family. They were all such warm, welcoming people! Then we had the rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner. You haven't eaten until you've tried Karl Schaefer's food. I know he was a highly acclaimed chef. We ate the best steaks I've ever eaten, even the salad seemed like it had to be the best salad on earth! Ben and I sat with the lovely Sarah Tunstall, the wedding photographer and a fellow NCCS graduate, and her fiancé Travis! It was good times catching up with her, and Ben and Travis had so much to talk about! It was great! After the dinner, we eventually found ourselves back at the hotel. The next morning we woke up at 5AM!! We wanted to make the two hour trip to the coast! It was so worth the early rising and two hour drive! And it was worth missing manicures with Natalie (Sorry, Nats!. Ben had never seen the ocean before, so it was pretty special. We went to Cannon Beach, which I later found out was where they filmed The Goonies! How freakin' cool! It was cold, but it was beautiful. We even got fresh seafood! At 9:30 in the morning... yeah.. I know, weird! But it was the only time we had on our trip to get fresh seafood right by the beach. After the beach, I met up with Natalie, Alica and Madeline to get the hair and make-up going. And then, it was time for my sister to get tie the knot! It was a beautiful ceremony, and every emotional, of course Natalie and Isaac's dog, Dax, provided the comic relief! Then, I thought the food for the rehearsal dinner was good.... the smoked salmon, wild rice, salad and ratatoullie was so great. I don't know how many times I proclaimed my love for food. And the wine at the reception was made only two miles from the farm! So Good! The reception was great, the toasts were emotional, but lovely, and while I missed my babies the whole time, I'd call and they were having fun on their own vacation. And the break from my little guys was much needed. We came home the morning after the wedding, and I couldn't wait to get lots of kisses from my guys. We've been enjoying being back home, but we miss Oregon, and definitely want to get back there, hopefully next time, with the boys! I know the boys would love it! The weather there is so wonderfully mild! I don't think I was really pestered by any bugs! But nothing beats being Mommy again.
The first two days back, the boys were just as sweet and wonderful as can be, and today the jealously has been back in full swing!
Monday, July 12, 2010
Did a tornado just go through my house...
Nope! Just my kids playing!
Keeping a tidy house is a losing battle. If I'm not catching up on getting dishes done, I'm trying to catch up on laundry or trying to keep the floors clean. The boys seem to love throwing food on the floor, trying to spill any type of liquid on the floor so they can play in the puddle, or they are spitting food and drink all over the place. If they aren't feeding the ants, they like to "help" me. When they think it's time for everyone to get clean diapers, they go to the box of diapers, bring me three and go back to the box and pull out three more and continue this pattern until the box is empty. They also like to play with wipes. They wipe the floor, table, chairs, and each other. It's cute, but then I'm left picking up a trail of wipes. But at least the intention is good.
Now that they can climb just about anything, its getting so much harder to keep things out of reach. The things that interest them the most are the things we try to keep out of their reach.. they like phones, iPods, coffee cups, my purse, soda cans, etc. However, the one thing that can keep their attention for hours is if I let them play with crayons and coloring books. Not that they color in the coloring books, but it keeps them out of everything else. They do like to chew on crayons, and they like to color, they like to color speakers, the coffee table, blankets, the couch, and basically anything that isn't paper. Which is why I'm glad we don't have any "nice" furniture. Our things are nice enough, but not so nice that it's a big deal when the boys try to destroy them. Not to say I let my kids "get away" with coloring the house, however, I know they are just starting to explore crayons and I'm working with them on keeping colors on the paper.
We're also working with letters. I write out their names for them and tell them the names of their letters and explain that the letters in a certain order make their names. Although I'm pretty sure they don't get the concept of spelling or reading, they are beginning to recognize their written names.
Ethan is my dare-devil. Lately his most favorite thing ever is to stand at one end of the couch and let himself fall back on the couch. I wish there was a way to discourage him from doing that, but nothing seems to discourage him from wanting to make his tummy tickle. I have a feeling that when he's older he'll be the one to try to fly after watching something like Peter Pan.
Owen is such a little climber, he climbs on tables, chairs, tries to climb the gate to the kitchen, he stacks boxes and toys so he can climb them, and he even tries to climb the walls.
Marcus is a little cuddle bug, he loves to just snuggle up with mommy and daddy on the couch. And when he's not cuddling, he's seeking out small objects to put in his mouth. Whether that be things that are tracked in on shoes, crumbs that got missed in cleaning up after meals. Actually, big or small, he almost always is chewing or sucking on something. My favorite fact about Marcus is that he is terrified of house flies. It's just so silly. A fly found it's way into our house, flew by Marcus and he jumped, his sippy went flying through the air and he was off, trying to get as far away from the fly as he could. He would not calm down until I finally got the little bug with the fly swatter. Now he's fascinated with the fly swatter.
Keeping a tidy house is a losing battle. If I'm not catching up on getting dishes done, I'm trying to catch up on laundry or trying to keep the floors clean. The boys seem to love throwing food on the floor, trying to spill any type of liquid on the floor so they can play in the puddle, or they are spitting food and drink all over the place. If they aren't feeding the ants, they like to "help" me. When they think it's time for everyone to get clean diapers, they go to the box of diapers, bring me three and go back to the box and pull out three more and continue this pattern until the box is empty. They also like to play with wipes. They wipe the floor, table, chairs, and each other. It's cute, but then I'm left picking up a trail of wipes. But at least the intention is good.
Now that they can climb just about anything, its getting so much harder to keep things out of reach. The things that interest them the most are the things we try to keep out of their reach.. they like phones, iPods, coffee cups, my purse, soda cans, etc. However, the one thing that can keep their attention for hours is if I let them play with crayons and coloring books. Not that they color in the coloring books, but it keeps them out of everything else. They do like to chew on crayons, and they like to color, they like to color speakers, the coffee table, blankets, the couch, and basically anything that isn't paper. Which is why I'm glad we don't have any "nice" furniture. Our things are nice enough, but not so nice that it's a big deal when the boys try to destroy them. Not to say I let my kids "get away" with coloring the house, however, I know they are just starting to explore crayons and I'm working with them on keeping colors on the paper.
We're also working with letters. I write out their names for them and tell them the names of their letters and explain that the letters in a certain order make their names. Although I'm pretty sure they don't get the concept of spelling or reading, they are beginning to recognize their written names.
Ethan is my dare-devil. Lately his most favorite thing ever is to stand at one end of the couch and let himself fall back on the couch. I wish there was a way to discourage him from doing that, but nothing seems to discourage him from wanting to make his tummy tickle. I have a feeling that when he's older he'll be the one to try to fly after watching something like Peter Pan.
Owen is such a little climber, he climbs on tables, chairs, tries to climb the gate to the kitchen, he stacks boxes and toys so he can climb them, and he even tries to climb the walls.
Marcus is a little cuddle bug, he loves to just snuggle up with mommy and daddy on the couch. And when he's not cuddling, he's seeking out small objects to put in his mouth. Whether that be things that are tracked in on shoes, crumbs that got missed in cleaning up after meals. Actually, big or small, he almost always is chewing or sucking on something. My favorite fact about Marcus is that he is terrified of house flies. It's just so silly. A fly found it's way into our house, flew by Marcus and he jumped, his sippy went flying through the air and he was off, trying to get as far away from the fly as he could. He would not calm down until I finally got the little bug with the fly swatter. Now he's fascinated with the fly swatter.
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