The Week in Review

I already told you about the fun game of “rotten boy” Ethan & Alex enjoyed Monday evening. Here are a few things from the rest of our week.

I got a very sweet voicemail this week from my guys. Steve was on his way to drop the boys off at day care and as usual, they called me on their way. I hear Steve saying “tell her, Alex. What did you want to tell Mama?” Then there’s Ethan saying “he wants to say Ma-ma-ma.” This action repeated twice and then as Ethan said “ma-ma-ma,” I hear Alex chime in “Ma-ma Ma-Ma-Ma.” The cutest thing – I love hearing his little voice through the phone. As I did when Ethan was that age and started to talk, I saved the message so I can replay it at my leisure.

The boys got a package from Grandma on Wednesday. The UPS guy is kind enough to hide them for us and leave us notes as to the location. Ethan was expecting this particular package cause “Ammaw” had told him a few weeks ago she had a Diego book she was going to send him. So when I saw the note from UPS, I put Alex down and before Ethan could get his shoes off, told him to come help me find it. I took him over to the side of the house (it was behind the big blue recycling can) and asked him to look for it. He looked around at all the items right in front of him…he hasn’t yet learned to look behind or under things without prompting, something I’m hoping he grasps soon as it’s about to kill me. “I don’t see it, Mama. It’s not here.” “Yes, it is honey. Just look, you’ll see it.” “No, Mama. I dust don’t see it. It’s dust not here. It didn’t come yet.” I’m standing right beside him and looking at the package in the clear plastic bag which is right behind the can that is RIGHT in front of us. I said, “stand right here with Mama and look…I bet you’ll see it.” As he moves, he says, “Mama, I dust don’t think it came yet. It’s dust….OH!” He found it. Such excitement in that little “oh.” “I dust didn’t see it but it did come, it is here. Look Mama it’s my package from Ammaw. Let’s open it.” (said while walking with said package to the front door).

We get inside where Alex was still patiently waiting for us and I’m barely in the door when he’s begging me to open it. I asked him to wait just a minute so we could take our jackets off yet and I could get Alex a bottle. He’d been patient while we found the package but usually when we get home if I’ve picked them up from day care after work, he’s more than ready for a bottle and if he can get it in before dinner, a 30 minute cat nap to get him through till bedtime. Tonight the nap wasn’t going to happen but he did need the bottle. Ethan not so patiently waited while excitedly showing Alex the package and then as Alex took his bottle and started guzzling, I started on the package. I had Ethan throw away the wrapping as I cut into the tape on the box and he comes running back, “is it my book? Is it my Diego book? Ammaw sent me my book.” I, by the way, had completely forgotten we were going to get a package much less what it was supposed to contain (other than something for Halloween) but Ethan has a mind like a steal trap. If you want to surprise him with something, don’t say it to him ever or even whisper it in his presence cause he’ll hear you and he’ll remind you, repeatedly. Package open, sure enough it’s his Diego book – Diego’s Halloween Party. And a book for Alex about his first Halloween and a couple of other things which I can’t remember right now but I’m certain if I woke Ethan up, he’d tell me what they were and exactly where they are right now.

So now that Ethan has his book and other items and Alex is trying to eat his book because the bottle is gone, I head to the kitchen. Ethan and Alex play well in the front room while I cut up hot dogs for beanie weenies (which both boys love). Steve should be home shortly as he is only working 4 hours this day because a very nice co-worker traded 4 hours Wed for 4 hours Saturday so that Steve could be home for Trick-or-Treat. Dinner is ready when I hear Steve come in but I need to cool Alex’s and get it on the table so need about 5 more minutes so I told Steve to read the book that Ethan was excitedly telling him about. I now know why I read to the boys more than Steve does. He doesn’t seem to have the patience for it and I put more animation into it. Then again, he had just gotten home and wasn’t even fully in the door when both boys ran to him (and then as he walked past Alex to put his badge & phone on the shelf, Alex cried cause he didn’t stop to pick him up first) … so I guess that could have played a part in his lack of enthusiasm for the book.

Thursday I was scheduled to work a half day as a co-worker from our Cebu, Philippines, office was visiting not just the Lexington office for the first time but also the United States for the first time and so we planned to go to Keeneland for the afternoon to give her a taste of Kentucky Horse Racing. She’s the Admin Assistant my group works with in Cebu so the other AA that works with her a lot and I had planned this afternoon out. Steve & I had an errand to run before I headed to Keeneland so he was on his way to meet me and called to tell me Ethan had asked if he was going to get to go to the horse races again and Steve had explained he’s have to wait till the Spring season. But I thought about it and realized I could take the boys if the other two AA’s didn’t mind. I asked and they didn’t mind and thought it would be fun so I let Steve know the plans were changing and called daycare to let them know we wouldn’t be bringing the boys that day. This time I told Ethan all the possible colors for the horses and then asked which one he liked since he does get to pick the color from now on….he still said green for him and purple for me and there was no budging off that. The first race we won $4.80 on one horse; the second we won $15.80 on one horse … all in all, we bet a total of $44 for the day and won most it back as we were only down $27.50 for the day and that includes admission and food (I did the math – we lost $21.50 to food and admission which left only $6.00 we lost on bets). Alex ended up spending most of his time in the stroller because he wanted to walk EVERYWHERE and as we were on a bit of an incline, he couldn’t do that very well and I didn’t particularly want him to crawl. I think the other girls enjoyed Ethan & Alex’s company – they were fairly well behaved considering neither had a nap. Ethan was especially excited when he got to pet some of the Keeneland work horses a few times between races when they’d come to the rail. Alex seemed to enjoy most playing with his brother’s sippy cup. Another good Keeneland day and both boys passed out in the car on the way home.

Friday’s entertainment is compliments of Steve’s status updates on Facebook. The first one he posted said something to the effect of don’t leave big brother’s old sippy cup lying around – Alex had picked it up and from the look on his face it was sour milk in it and that was enough to make Steve dry heave (he has a very bad gag reflex). Apparently, it was one of the sippy cups we hadn’t found in a day or two and it was nice and curdled. I think Steve may have had a worse reaction to it than Alex. The funny thing is though that Alex has his own sippy cup but will have nothing at all to do with it. He takes great pleasure in picking up his brother’s cups to enjoy them but if we give it to him, like with something he should drink in it, he doesn’t want it at all. This doesn’t bode well for the years to come – I can see him now doing exactly what we tell him not to do and if we do give permission for something he wants to do, not doing it just to spite us. A later status update from Steve said that Ethan & Alex were entertaining themselves at the coffee table my dad made for me. Ethan was filling cups (not sure if they were real or pretend cups) with pretend stuff to drink and both boys were drinking it. Alex, not even a year old, will pretend like this with his brother simply because Ethan tells him to. One day a while back, Steve & I were in the kitchen making breakfast or dinner (don’t remember which) and Ethan and Alex were at the gate. Ethan had a wooden spoon and was pretending to feed Alex who was happily eating whatever Ethan had on the spoon…happily that is until he realized he really was hungry and that pretend food wasn’t very filling.

Boys are such fun and they have so much fun together. Stay tuned for our trick-or-treating fun next.