Everyone knows that Ethan is the spitting image of Steve. Strangers have stopped us (most recently at a local fair we went to) to tell Steve he'd never be able to deny Ethan is his (not that he would anyway) cause there is no doubt - he looks just like his daddy. However, he has several of my mannerisms - not all of them good. He's the worrier - the thinker - the one who wants to make sure everyone is ok with what he's doing. He'll ask his daddy if he can do something and when Steve answers him, he'll then ask me. Poor kid this tends to bite him in the butt; half the time I say no to what Steve thought was ok to do so by asking twice, he doesn't get to do it - but he continues to ask anyway to make sure everyone is ok with what he's going to do. If he's in trouble, he is more worried about apologizing and you not being mad at him anymore than about what his punishment is and how long he'll have to sit there. He'll sit there as long as necessary as soon as he confirms you won't be mad at him anymore. Yeah, I have several of those traits and they aren't really "bad" - but the one that I hate that he got from me is the stubborn attitude and lack of patience. I always used to say, "I don't need patients, I'm not going to be a doctor"....yeah, that's biting me in the butt today as apparently Ethan has no plans to be a doctor either.
Now let's discuss Alex. I've been told Alex looks like me and Steve says it frequently and I've even seen it sometimes sort of. This past Sunday on the way home from Eastern KY, Alex's ears started hurting going through the mountains so I ended up getting in the back of the van with him. In trying to distract him from crying, I started to play keep-away with his ball keeping it just out of his reach. He then stopped crying and just looked at me - almost a "you're so not funny Mama" look. I stopped in my tracks - for the first time ever I got it - he looked exactly like me. See, Alex is almost always smiling - he has huge dimples and I don't so I don't see it. He was deadpan and I could immediately picture some of the photos of me when I was little and he looked JUST like me. I was amazed and in being so shocked and telling Steve about it, I managed to get Alex tickled and the dimples came out and blew the image, but having seen it once, I could still see it. I now understand why people say he looks like me. But just as Ethan looks like Steve & acts like me; Alex acts just like his daddy. Alex thinks EVERYTHING is funny. Nothing in life is serious (ok, except severe diaper rash brought on by Augmentin but who can blame him). Steve even admits it himself - we are going to be called to the school often for Alex cause he's going to be totally rotten stirring stuff up just to make his classmates laugh. Steve follows this by saying that I am going to be going to the office, he can't cause he'd just laugh and make it worse.
So there's no denying either of these boys belong to either of us. Ethan acts like me, Alex looks like me; Ethan looks like Steve; Alex acts like Steve. Life is definitely interesting in the Waters house.
I'll close with a glimpse of tonight's dinner. I finished eating and rather than sit at the table and get extremely irritated with both boys not eating, I let Steve stay with them and I went to clean up the chaos that was the living room. I heard from the kitchen Steve telling Ethan not to do something. This was immediately followed by Alex saying "No No" and pointing at Ethan repeatedly. Steve is laughing telling Alex to eat, too. Alex (because Steve is laughing) continues the "no no" - obviously, this is getting nowhere. I took some glasses from the front room into the kitchen and when I did, I hear Alex saying again "NO NO" and turn to see him pointing at Ethan who at this moment was actually taking a bite. Since Steve had told Alex to stop 3 times now, I said in my very firm "do what I say" voice "Alexander David" - that is quite frequently the only way to get his attention. He whipped his head around to look at me saying "huh?" I said "stop it right now and eat." He looked back Ethan and started to do it again (the boys are sitting across from each other and Steve is sitting at the end of the table and I'm now standing at the corner sort of between Alex & Steve). I said sternly, "don't you do it." And he said again, "huh?" I said, "you heard me. Eat your dinner and leave Ethan alone. ... Ethan [who was now just staring] you eat, too." Alex looked at his brother again and raised his finger half way up. I said "ALEX" ... he just stopped. At this point Steve was sitting there trying not to laugh and starting to shake because he could see Alex looking at Ethan and then turning just his eyes to look at me to see if I was looking and then back to his brother thinking about doing it again and raising that finger little by little and then backing down each time I said "don't do it" or said his name. Alex was totally testing me here and was looking from me to Ethan without moving his head just his eyes and Steve was so not helping. I then lightly flicked the back of his head when he pushed a little bit further towards the "no" statement to his brother and said "eat" and he looked at Steve saying "huh?" - Steve busted out laughing. He was looking at Steve like "do I really have to eat, Daddy" and Steve's response was to laugh. You guessed it, that had Alex cackling and totally negated my stern directions. Ethan started to laugh too but when I looked at him he stopped and said "I'm full Mom." I gave up - everyone was done with dinner. For those keeping score, that's 1 for the boys and 0 for the parents or possibly a -1 since it wasn't really a united front given the sheer laughter from Steve which created my downfall. Oh well, we'll try again next time.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
So far behind...let's catch up a little
I’ve been very neglectful in my blogging obviously.
You didn’t get to hear about Easter when I asked Ethan what he thought the Easter bunny would bring him and reminded him last year, he got “Baby Pete” his pet bunny rabbit as a gift. His response was that he thought the Easter Bunny would bring him a gorilla. Thinking he meant a REAL gorilla (since we were in fact talking about a REAL bunny from last year), I told him I thought a gorilla may be too big to bring. Ethan replied in a “well duh” tone – “not a REAL gorilla, dust a toy one.” Oh ok – that the Easter Bunny could probably do and a race car, too, Ethan thought. But what about Alex? “He’s going to bwing Owix a race car, too.” Smart bunny – bringing them the same thing. The Easter Bunny did in fact bring Ethan a gorilla & a race car and a race car for Alex as well and a stuffed animal for Alex as well though I can’t quite remember which one. The Easter Bunny also came INSIDE our house and took the eggs that Ethan & I had colored (and sadly, Ethan’s were all way better than mine) and hid them in the YARD where Ethan & Alex were surprised to find a new tire swing from the Easter Bunny as well.
You also missed hearing about our visit with Nana in Cincinnati. Nana came on the train – super cool. She came in at like 1 in the morning or later and Ethan & I went to pick her up. That was super exciting for Ethan – especially the part where Mama missed the exit and so we went to the next exit, ran into a very sketchy looking gas station so Ethan could pee and then made it back to the train station in plenty of time to wait for Nana – the train whistle had him giddy. He pretended to be shy at first with Nana at the train station but soon perked right up to start talking her ear off. Alex wasn't shy at all - went right to Nana when we got back to the "ho-ta-el" (3 syllables as spoken by Ethan) and woke him up. Nana was then shocked when we put him back in the pack & play and told him "lay down and go to sleep" and he did it. She continued to be shocked when we did this for naps, etc and he really did it. I agree, that's not normal behavior for a child but what can I say, he likes sleep and as long as you don't make him sleep WITH someone, he'll go down when you tell him, too. We had a great time with Nana & the cousins, going to the “Quah-wee-um” (you know, where they have fish and stuff), bowling & to the park. Nana read stories in our room and we went swimming with the cousins. The one downside was Alex's nightterror as that had to be what it was. I thought he'd wake everyone in the hotel - couldn't get him to calm down and go back to sleep which freaked Nana a little just because I said I didn't know what to do. But honestly, anyone who has had a child with a nighttterror will tell you, there's nothing you CAN do. I ended up walking with him and singing softly to him and took him in the hall where it was well lit and did this for about 30 minutes or so and he finally calmed down enough that I could lay him down without starting it back up again. Other than that, a good time was had by all the kiddos, that’s for sure - especially swinging & kite flying at the park and drawing with sidewalk chalk. Fun times but not long enough with Nana.
You missed hearing about Mother’s Day and how we spent a good 30 minutes recording 10 seconds of “Happy Mother’s Day, Nana! I wuv you and Owix does, too” and then “Happy Mother’s Day, Amma! We wuv you”…..in cards with sound to send for the grand occasion. You’ve never REALLY tried your patience until you’ve attempted this process. Mama got more wonder charms for my Pandora bracelet from the munchkins and we went to Red Lobster for dinner. THAT was a really yummy present right there. You also missed how Mother's Day weekend started with Ethan & Mama going on another date to see the Musical "Beauty & the Beast" Friday night - we had a GREAT time there as well. To make sure we didn't forget, we got up Saturday morning and watched the Disney movie of Beauty & the Beast as well. I swear I love that kid - especially when he says "sing it wiff me, Mom" or "kill da beast, right Mom?" ... good times.
You’ve missed hearing about how much Alex is progressing on talking. Most words are just 1 syllabel or the first letter or 2 of a word – Horse comes out more like “ha” and bat as in baseball bat is “ball”….if he has a ball already and is still asking for “ball”, he’s really asking for the bat. If he wants something and you don’t know what it is from the grunt or syllable he murmurs, just give him a second, he’ll either bring it to you or gesture to you to come to it.
You’ve missed hearing about the new pet(s) Ethan & Alex have. A fish tank with originally 6 fish, 3 died, we bought 1 more and now still have the 4. The tank is on Ethan’s dresser and they both love to talk to and feed the fish. Alex doesn’t feel right going to bed at night if he doesn’t say goodnight to the fish. One night I put him to bed shortly after we got the tank and was unaware of this requirement. Alex immediately screamed his head off – not something he usually does – and Daddy yelled from downstairs “he wants to see the fish first.” He was totally right. I got Alex out of the crib, took him over to the tank, he dropped 1 flake of food in, took his paci out and said “ni-ni” (night night) and then happily got back in his bed. Seriously, if that’s all it takes, we can totally do that. Ethan wants to feed them all the time but the rule we’ve quickly established is twice a day and Mama & Daddy say how much food. Ethan pinches some out, shows us and we tell him if it’s ok or too much – he’s good to put some back if it’s too much – and then after getting approval will drop it in. I usually pinch out 1 or 2 flakes for Alex and he’ll take them from me to drop them in as I’d hate to see how many fish flakes “one small pinch” would be from Alex.
You’ve also missed hearing how accident prone Alex is – just like his Mama. The night before we left to see Nana in Cinci, Alex tripped in the backyard and landed face first on the concrete patio so Nana got to see him all bloodied with a big scratched up forehead and nose. Then the same night we got the fish tank, Ethan had the “tall stool” by his dresser so they could both check out the fish. Alex had on jeans in which he can’t really bend his knees anyway. I was moving a toy away from the crib so I could turn around to get Alex and put him in the crib. As I turned around, I saw Alex fall – not sure if he was getting on the stool and missed or if he was getting off the stool but either way, he hit his forehead on the bottom corner of Ethan’s dresser. I immediately yelled for Steve to get ice not yet knowing the extend of the damage as I picked up Alex to run to our room with him where we have better lighting. Mid-run, I realized Alex was bleeding profusely and yelled for Steve just to “come now” as I couldn’t leave Alex but couldn’t see where he was bleeding yet either and he was SCREAMING bloody murder. Steve finally got there and got me a wet cloth and a dry one so I could staunch the flow and clean him up at the same time. Turns out he gashed his forehead pretty good and covered both of us in blood. Steve got the first aid kit and I put a guaze pressure bandage on his head. The proceeded to check on him every couple of hours through the night. The next morning it appeared to have clotted off as the bandage wasn’t soaked through at all so we replaced it with a bandaid and went to church – bad idea. We stayed in the cry room so I could watch Alex – the first time he & Ethan accidentally bumped heads while playing, the gusher started gushing again. Immediately replaced the bandaid and staunched the flow again and texted Katie for instructions which included not going to the ER (by then it was too late for that anyway) but getting liquid band aid and keep a pressure bandage on for a few days. That did work and the gash that I thought was right between his eyes is actually a little higher up so may 1 day be more in his hair line than in the middle of his forehead. No sooner did that one heal than he bashed his head on the AC intake in the living room and scraped up the side of his head. That one has healed now so I’m sure he’s plotting his next “accident” as I type.
You’ve missed hearing about our new “big car” – the minivan. We had 2 cars – a Camry that was finally paid for 2 years ago and a Corolla that my dad had graciously given us when we needed another car. The camry when packed with stroller was pretty limited on other luggage space when traveling and the Corolla had no space inside for anything other than the 4 of us so putting the stroller in that trunk meant not having anything else (even groceries) in the car unless it was on someone’s lap. So the Corolla was great for driving me or Steve to work or for taking the family around town if the Camry was being worked on but not good for travel and with the limit on luggage in the Camry we always rented cars for long trips. We decided it was time to have a reliable vehicle of our own (both Toyota’s have 200K+ miles) and went in search of a “Soccer Mom” vehicle. We test drove a few vans and then someone loaned us 1 for the weekend to see if we liked it because it was too late on a Saturday to try for financing. The van was a total lemon – several warning lights came on each time you turned it on; the “automatically” sliding door was malfunctioning and would close 3 times before it stayed shut; the built in DVD player starting clicking and making noise after 90 minutes of use; the smoke smell was REALLY bad from a previous owner; the passenger side mirror was broken in half – it was awful. Then the guy KEPT trying to sell it to me – they’d drop the price and fix the problems, etc. Sorry not interested…end of story. We then went to Car Town Kia and test drove a Sedona – we loved it. I knew what we could pay, what the vehicle was worth and what my trade in (Steve’s Harley) was worth before we went in. Steve left all financial discussions to me. The sales guy, Robert Harris (who really was pretty good), came with a number and I told him no deal – this is all I can do. He went back and forth with the finance guys and never pressured me really but definitely worked with me and we walked out that day with the keys & signed papers in hand. It was awesome. Anyone in this area looking for a car – after 1 month, Steve and I really like our Sedona so I’d recommend a Kia for that reason. Car Town Kia does have several non-Kia used cars as well and Robert really was great so give him a call if you are in the market – make sure you tell him I sent you of course. Funny Ethan story related to the Van: We had the “test” van for roughly 24 hours and then took it back Sunday evening. Monday evening we bought the Sedona. Tuesday morning, I took the Sedona to work. Ethan came down stairs and quickly asked Steve, almost in a panic “Daddy, where’s our big car?” S: “The van.” E: “Yeah, the van.” S: “Mommy took it to work today.” E: “Well she wasn’t posed to. That’s our car.” …. 2 days later I was again planning to take the van to work but this time Ethan & Alex woke up so I was taking them downstairs with me and Ethan looks up the stairs at me (having seen the van behind the Camry in the driveway – yes, he’s that bright) and said, “don’t take the big car today, Mama.” I told him I was going to take the van. He said “No. Don’t. I don’t want you to. I dust need it.” I told him we could take a ride when I got home from work. He was still worried about it when Steve got downstairs so Steve laid his worries to rest telling him this van was ours and no one was going to take it from us. We were going to keep it and some days they’d have it and some days I’d have it but it would still be ours. Turns out he likes being in the van so much cause he can see out better and he was afraid we’d take it back like we had with the “test” van. He’s been fine ever since the reassurance from Daddy.
You missed stories about our visit to Illinois and Amma’s return to Kentucky with us. A couple bits that are prevalent in my mind are when we arrived around midnight our time, 11:00pm Illinois time at Amma’s house and Ethan’s first question when seeing her was “where’s Richard & Jewel.” Sorry kid, they don’t live WITH Amma, we’ll have to see them tomorrow. At the Bethel family picnic on Memorial Day there was a swing in a sandy area and the boys were covered in sand which was unacceptable for our van so Steve did what any normal parent would do (ok, maybe not normal but it’s what I would have done as well)….he took the boys over to the water pump and proceeded to strip and rinse them off thoroughly.
Not realizing how much fun they’d have in the water, he got their discarded clothes soaked as well so I had to dig out clean stuff from the packed van while I dug out the camera to get a couple of good pictures. Then when Amma came to the house Ethan was going to sleep on his air mattress downstairs with her but somehow decided it would be better to sleep in his room on the air mattress and have Amma sleep in his bed…sorry Amma, it’s hotter upstairs but that’s what he wants and she caved (honestly, it doesn’t take much prodding from him for her to say yes to something). The first night she went downstairs in the morning before Ethan woke up and he came down and asked why she didn’t sleep with him. She had to explain that she did, she’d just come down. The last morning, she got up after I took a shower and so that the boys could have additional time with her, I got them up….oops, she was planning to go back to sleep. I kind of messed that up but hey, they got more quality time that way . The best was when Amma finally got it – she told Steve she now understands why we constantly say how rotten Alex is…because he IS. He is SUCH an imp – if you tell him not to do something and then turn away from him, he’ll wait till you turn back towards him so you can see him and THEN he’ll do it and then grin at you like – see, did you see? I did it anyway. Rotten I tell you, just rotten.
I’ve fallen WAY behind on blogging as you can see and this is only a smidgen of what you’ve missed as I can’t possibly remember it all (that’s the point of the blog and then I got behind, an endless cycle). Anyway, I promise I will try to get back to reporting at least every couple of days. I definitely have plenty of material from the constant antics of our house. I hope you’ve enjoyed this flash of a catch up and I’ll see you again soon.
You didn’t get to hear about Easter when I asked Ethan what he thought the Easter bunny would bring him and reminded him last year, he got “Baby Pete” his pet bunny rabbit as a gift. His response was that he thought the Easter Bunny would bring him a gorilla. Thinking he meant a REAL gorilla (since we were in fact talking about a REAL bunny from last year), I told him I thought a gorilla may be too big to bring. Ethan replied in a “well duh” tone – “not a REAL gorilla, dust a toy one.” Oh ok – that the Easter Bunny could probably do and a race car, too, Ethan thought. But what about Alex? “He’s going to bwing Owix a race car, too.” Smart bunny – bringing them the same thing. The Easter Bunny did in fact bring Ethan a gorilla & a race car and a race car for Alex as well and a stuffed animal for Alex as well though I can’t quite remember which one. The Easter Bunny also came INSIDE our house and took the eggs that Ethan & I had colored (and sadly, Ethan’s were all way better than mine) and hid them in the YARD where Ethan & Alex were surprised to find a new tire swing from the Easter Bunny as well.
You missed hearing about Mother’s Day and how we spent a good 30 minutes recording 10 seconds of “Happy Mother’s Day, Nana! I wuv you and Owix does, too” and then “Happy Mother’s Day, Amma! We wuv you”…..in cards with sound to send for the grand occasion. You’ve never REALLY tried your patience until you’ve attempted this process. Mama got more wonder charms for my Pandora bracelet from the munchkins and we went to Red Lobster for dinner. THAT was a really yummy present right there. You also missed how Mother's Day weekend started with Ethan & Mama going on another date to see the Musical "Beauty & the Beast" Friday night - we had a GREAT time there as well. To make sure we didn't forget, we got up Saturday morning and watched the Disney movie of Beauty & the Beast as well. I swear I love that kid - especially when he says "sing it wiff me, Mom" or "kill da beast, right Mom?" ... good times.
You’ve missed hearing about how much Alex is progressing on talking. Most words are just 1 syllabel or the first letter or 2 of a word – Horse comes out more like “ha” and bat as in baseball bat is “ball”….if he has a ball already and is still asking for “ball”, he’s really asking for the bat. If he wants something and you don’t know what it is from the grunt or syllable he murmurs, just give him a second, he’ll either bring it to you or gesture to you to come to it.
You’ve missed hearing about the new pet(s) Ethan & Alex have. A fish tank with originally 6 fish, 3 died, we bought 1 more and now still have the 4. The tank is on Ethan’s dresser and they both love to talk to and feed the fish. Alex doesn’t feel right going to bed at night if he doesn’t say goodnight to the fish. One night I put him to bed shortly after we got the tank and was unaware of this requirement. Alex immediately screamed his head off – not something he usually does – and Daddy yelled from downstairs “he wants to see the fish first.” He was totally right. I got Alex out of the crib, took him over to the tank, he dropped 1 flake of food in, took his paci out and said “ni-ni” (night night) and then happily got back in his bed. Seriously, if that’s all it takes, we can totally do that. Ethan wants to feed them all the time but the rule we’ve quickly established is twice a day and Mama & Daddy say how much food. Ethan pinches some out, shows us and we tell him if it’s ok or too much – he’s good to put some back if it’s too much – and then after getting approval will drop it in. I usually pinch out 1 or 2 flakes for Alex and he’ll take them from me to drop them in as I’d hate to see how many fish flakes “one small pinch” would be from Alex.
You’ve also missed hearing how accident prone Alex is – just like his Mama. The night before we left to see Nana in Cinci, Alex tripped in the backyard and landed face first on the concrete patio so Nana got to see him all bloodied with a big scratched up forehead and nose. Then the same night we got the fish tank, Ethan had the “tall stool” by his dresser so they could both check out the fish. Alex had on jeans in which he can’t really bend his knees anyway. I was moving a toy away from the crib so I could turn around to get Alex and put him in the crib. As I turned around, I saw Alex fall – not sure if he was getting on the stool and missed or if he was getting off the stool but either way, he hit his forehead on the bottom corner of Ethan’s dresser. I immediately yelled for Steve to get ice not yet knowing the extend of the damage as I picked up Alex to run to our room with him where we have better lighting. Mid-run, I realized Alex was bleeding profusely and yelled for Steve just to “come now” as I couldn’t leave Alex but couldn’t see where he was bleeding yet either and he was SCREAMING bloody murder. Steve finally got there and got me a wet cloth and a dry one so I could staunch the flow and clean him up at the same time. Turns out he gashed his forehead pretty good and covered both of us in blood. Steve got the first aid kit and I put a guaze pressure bandage on his head. The proceeded to check on him every couple of hours through the night. The next morning it appeared to have clotted off as the bandage wasn’t soaked through at all so we replaced it with a bandaid and went to church – bad idea. We stayed in the cry room so I could watch Alex – the first time he & Ethan accidentally bumped heads while playing, the gusher started gushing again. Immediately replaced the bandaid and staunched the flow again and texted Katie for instructions which included not going to the ER (by then it was too late for that anyway) but getting liquid band aid and keep a pressure bandage on for a few days. That did work and the gash that I thought was right between his eyes is actually a little higher up so may 1 day be more in his hair line than in the middle of his forehead. No sooner did that one heal than he bashed his head on the AC intake in the living room and scraped up the side of his head. That one has healed now so I’m sure he’s plotting his next “accident” as I type.
You’ve missed hearing about our new “big car” – the minivan. We had 2 cars – a Camry that was finally paid for 2 years ago and a Corolla that my dad had graciously given us when we needed another car. The camry when packed with stroller was pretty limited on other luggage space when traveling and the Corolla had no space inside for anything other than the 4 of us so putting the stroller in that trunk meant not having anything else (even groceries) in the car unless it was on someone’s lap. So the Corolla was great for driving me or Steve to work or for taking the family around town if the Camry was being worked on but not good for travel and with the limit on luggage in the Camry we always rented cars for long trips. We decided it was time to have a reliable vehicle of our own (both Toyota’s have 200K+ miles) and went in search of a “Soccer Mom” vehicle. We test drove a few vans and then someone loaned us 1 for the weekend to see if we liked it because it was too late on a Saturday to try for financing. The van was a total lemon – several warning lights came on each time you turned it on; the “automatically” sliding door was malfunctioning and would close 3 times before it stayed shut; the built in DVD player starting clicking and making noise after 90 minutes of use; the smoke smell was REALLY bad from a previous owner; the passenger side mirror was broken in half – it was awful. Then the guy KEPT trying to sell it to me – they’d drop the price and fix the problems, etc. Sorry not interested…end of story. We then went to Car Town Kia and test drove a Sedona – we loved it. I knew what we could pay, what the vehicle was worth and what my trade in (Steve’s Harley) was worth before we went in. Steve left all financial discussions to me. The sales guy, Robert Harris (who really was pretty good), came with a number and I told him no deal – this is all I can do. He went back and forth with the finance guys and never pressured me really but definitely worked with me and we walked out that day with the keys & signed papers in hand. It was awesome. Anyone in this area looking for a car – after 1 month, Steve and I really like our Sedona so I’d recommend a Kia for that reason. Car Town Kia does have several non-Kia used cars as well and Robert really was great so give him a call if you are in the market – make sure you tell him I sent you of course. Funny Ethan story related to the Van: We had the “test” van for roughly 24 hours and then took it back Sunday evening. Monday evening we bought the Sedona. Tuesday morning, I took the Sedona to work. Ethan came down stairs and quickly asked Steve, almost in a panic “Daddy, where’s our big car?” S: “The van.” E: “Yeah, the van.” S: “Mommy took it to work today.” E: “Well she wasn’t posed to. That’s our car.” …. 2 days later I was again planning to take the van to work but this time Ethan & Alex woke up so I was taking them downstairs with me and Ethan looks up the stairs at me (having seen the van behind the Camry in the driveway – yes, he’s that bright) and said, “don’t take the big car today, Mama.” I told him I was going to take the van. He said “No. Don’t. I don’t want you to. I dust need it.” I told him we could take a ride when I got home from work. He was still worried about it when Steve got downstairs so Steve laid his worries to rest telling him this van was ours and no one was going to take it from us. We were going to keep it and some days they’d have it and some days I’d have it but it would still be ours. Turns out he likes being in the van so much cause he can see out better and he was afraid we’d take it back like we had with the “test” van. He’s been fine ever since the reassurance from Daddy.
You missed stories about our visit to Illinois and Amma’s return to Kentucky with us. A couple bits that are prevalent in my mind are when we arrived around midnight our time, 11:00pm Illinois time at Amma’s house and Ethan’s first question when seeing her was “where’s Richard & Jewel.” Sorry kid, they don’t live WITH Amma, we’ll have to see them tomorrow. At the Bethel family picnic on Memorial Day there was a swing in a sandy area and the boys were covered in sand which was unacceptable for our van so Steve did what any normal parent would do (ok, maybe not normal but it’s what I would have done as well)….he took the boys over to the water pump and proceeded to strip and rinse them off thoroughly.
I’ve fallen WAY behind on blogging as you can see and this is only a smidgen of what you’ve missed as I can’t possibly remember it all (that’s the point of the blog and then I got behind, an endless cycle). Anyway, I promise I will try to get back to reporting at least every couple of days. I definitely have plenty of material from the constant antics of our house. I hope you’ve enjoyed this flash of a catch up and I’ll see you again soon.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Spring has sprung in Kentucky
I got home from work today and promptly had Ethan open the window while I opened the backdoor and proceeded to get both boys dressed and shod (I think that's the word) to go enjoy the beautiful weather. Ethan went out back and immediately said, "MAMA! The fwowers growed!" (he totally had to repeat that 3 times for me to get 'the flowers growed' out of what he was saying). Alex's shoes were not totally on yet when Ethan went outside with a ball in his hands which made that process take longer. Alex freaked totally thinking 1) his brother was leaving him & 2) he was going out to play without him. Ethan actually had to come back in and sit with Alex so I could finish getting his shoes on.
The boys had so much fun. Alex was just wandering around checking out the different balls that had spent the winter in Ethan's play house which were now spread out since Ethan's first order of business was to clean out his house. Ethan proceeded to ride his "mococycle" (big wheel) and showed me that he is now big enough and strong enough with enough coordination to actually pedal - such a good boy. Then he remember the important thing - there's sidewalk chalk inside the seat of the bike. YEAH! Both boys proceeded to write all over the patio. To be honest, Alex kept coming inside to try to write on the table and kitchen floor as well. Ethan & I finally convinced him the chalk was better OUTside. We have 2 old sponge mops outside the backdoor - mostly because we forgot we had one when we bought another and put the first outside and forgot to throw it away and then noticed a nasty odor in the laundry room and discovered it was the 2nd mop - then forgot to throw it away as well. Not to worry, the boys put them to good use as erasers for the chalk.
They continued to play while I started dinner. All of a sudden I heard from the backyard [no they weren't unsupervised; I could see them out the window, the door was still open and the backyard is fenced and locked with a padlock - they were trapped], "MAMA! HELP!" It wasn't a panicky "help" but empathic none the less. I went to see what he needed as he seemed fine in the window - turns out he was trying to get in the swing and it kept moving on him. OK - no biggie. I helped him get in and tried to push him but only got 1 small push in for him before Alex planted himself in front of the swing and refused to move while he tried to either pull Ethan out or climb in with him. Since this is definitely a one person swing, Ethan agreed that he would let Alex swing for a bit and Ethan would swing later.
He had alterior motives - he wanted to push his brother. They both enjoyed this immensely as you can see in the pictures below. In the video, Alex has just stopped laughing and Ethan was going to push again but was trying to pose also (a habit of his when cameras come out) so I had to tell him to go ahead and then he needed to make sure his brother understood what was going on so said "laugh Alex" at the end. It would be a longer video but I had to delete pictures off the camera which I've now done so won't have this problem if the situation presents itself again tomorrow.
Ethan, as you an see, proceeded to slide when he wasn't pushing his brother on the swing. They both played until dinner was ready and apparently worked up an appetite as they then both ate their dinners without much coaxing. Popsicles for dessert in the backyard and Ethan's turn swinging rounded out our relaxing evening. It was really wonderful. So glad for Spring and a backyard in which to enjoy it!
The boys had so much fun. Alex was just wandering around checking out the different balls that had spent the winter in Ethan's play house which were now spread out since Ethan's first order of business was to clean out his house. Ethan proceeded to ride his "mococycle" (big wheel) and showed me that he is now big enough and strong enough with enough coordination to actually pedal - such a good boy. Then he remember the important thing - there's sidewalk chalk inside the seat of the bike. YEAH! Both boys proceeded to write all over the patio. To be honest, Alex kept coming inside to try to write on the table and kitchen floor as well. Ethan & I finally convinced him the chalk was better OUTside. We have 2 old sponge mops outside the backdoor - mostly because we forgot we had one when we bought another and put the first outside and forgot to throw it away and then noticed a nasty odor in the laundry room and discovered it was the 2nd mop - then forgot to throw it away as well. Not to worry, the boys put them to good use as erasers for the chalk.
They continued to play while I started dinner. All of a sudden I heard from the backyard [no they weren't unsupervised; I could see them out the window, the door was still open and the backyard is fenced and locked with a padlock - they were trapped], "MAMA! HELP!" It wasn't a panicky "help" but empathic none the less. I went to see what he needed as he seemed fine in the window - turns out he was trying to get in the swing and it kept moving on him. OK - no biggie. I helped him get in and tried to push him but only got 1 small push in for him before Alex planted himself in front of the swing and refused to move while he tried to either pull Ethan out or climb in with him. Since this is definitely a one person swing, Ethan agreed that he would let Alex swing for a bit and Ethan would swing later.
He had alterior motives - he wanted to push his brother. They both enjoyed this immensely as you can see in the pictures below. In the video, Alex has just stopped laughing and Ethan was going to push again but was trying to pose also (a habit of his when cameras come out) so I had to tell him to go ahead and then he needed to make sure his brother understood what was going on so said "laugh Alex" at the end. It would be a longer video but I had to delete pictures off the camera which I've now done so won't have this problem if the situation presents itself again tomorrow.
Ethan, as you an see, proceeded to slide when he wasn't pushing his brother on the swing. They both played until dinner was ready and apparently worked up an appetite as they then both ate their dinners without much coaxing. Popsicles for dessert in the backyard and Ethan's turn swinging rounded out our relaxing evening. It was really wonderful. So glad for Spring and a backyard in which to enjoy it!
Sunday, March 28, 2010
The Green-Eyed Monster
So Ethan was always a Daddy's boy unless he was sick, then he wanted me. This made sense since Steve was home all day with him until he was 18 months old - lots of quality time. This didn't really bother me because I still got lots of loves and kisses and snuggle time. Then Alex came along and was pretty much a Mama's boy. He didn't want to snuggle with Daddy - he wanted Mama. From the moment I would walk into his line of sight, he'd be all over me. This started tapering off a bit lately and the dynamic began to change.
Alex no longer wanted to be with me so much when I was home. He's totally mobile now and can play so was completely content to do that with any of us - me, Steve or Ethan. If he hurts himself, Daddy can kiss it just as well as Mama can - he isn't biased either way anymore. So all of sudden Ethan has started asking me to cuddle with him or even rock him to sleep (which he'll even request right after waking up - he really means for me just to rock with him but since usually when I'm rocking, I'm rocking Alex to sleep, Ethan asks me to rock him to sleep). This is really the sweetest thing but poor kid - he doesn't get much quality time because the second he climbs into my lap, Alex is ALL over me. I could have just asked Alex to come to me and snuggle and he'd have told me no and run the other direction, but if his brother climbs up, he is like a little boy to candy - all over me. He will even try to push his brother out of the way to get "his" spot. I usually end up with one on my left and one on the right rocking in the chair - not very comfortable as one of them is plenty heavy by himself but I can't very well pick one over the other at that point.
I've realized though that Ethan wanting this time now is partly due to his own jealousy and insecurity. His brother is now taking more of his time from his Daddy and he used to be able to just climb up on my lap if his Daddy was busy with something else but then Alex came along and was taking that spot, too. He was not jealous of Alex earlier on - he was too busy being completely infatuated with his brother. Now, however, it's starting to sink in that he has to share his toys AND his Mama & Daddy with this other kid. Couple that with everyone telling him what a "big boy" he is now and it's a bit much for him. I thought I had a problem with him growing out of the "baby" stage but he's having a hard time with it a little bit himself. Don't get me wrong, there are several things he wants to do when he "gets bigga" but he still wants to be the little boy who gets cuddled and loved on, too.
Alex is a bit outrageous though with his jealousy. At this point I almost have to get Ethan to come cuddle with me in order to get any of Alex's time at all. He's too busy to cuddle; even when he's so tired he can't stand up straight, there's still too many other cooler things he could do than snuggle with his Mama. Unless Ethan wants to cuddle. That is absolutely not ok with Alex as I've said. But it's starting to get really bad - he doesn't just shove his brother to the side; he'll smack at him or pull his hair, too. That is not ok and we need to break that habit quickly. Steve says when Ethan is on his lap, Alex comes over as well to join them. But unlike with how he refuses to leave my lap until after Ethan does; Steve says with him, Alex just climbs up, sits a sec and hops back down to play again.
OK - I admit it's nice that my boys fight over me but when it comes to hitting and pulling hair, I draw the line. The green-eyed monster is here in the Waters house and now that Daddy is home all the time, it's showing up more often. My first baby is feeling the pull of Mama & Daddy away from him by his brother and not happy about it and my second baby is just rotten and wants to be the center of everyone's attention at all times. The latter doesn't deserve to be catered to but the former does warrant a little bit of reassurance so we'll have to find a way to work this out. Green-eyed monster - I'm on to you so watch out, your days at my house are short lived.
Alex no longer wanted to be with me so much when I was home. He's totally mobile now and can play so was completely content to do that with any of us - me, Steve or Ethan. If he hurts himself, Daddy can kiss it just as well as Mama can - he isn't biased either way anymore. So all of sudden Ethan has started asking me to cuddle with him or even rock him to sleep (which he'll even request right after waking up - he really means for me just to rock with him but since usually when I'm rocking, I'm rocking Alex to sleep, Ethan asks me to rock him to sleep). This is really the sweetest thing but poor kid - he doesn't get much quality time because the second he climbs into my lap, Alex is ALL over me. I could have just asked Alex to come to me and snuggle and he'd have told me no and run the other direction, but if his brother climbs up, he is like a little boy to candy - all over me. He will even try to push his brother out of the way to get "his" spot. I usually end up with one on my left and one on the right rocking in the chair - not very comfortable as one of them is plenty heavy by himself but I can't very well pick one over the other at that point.
I've realized though that Ethan wanting this time now is partly due to his own jealousy and insecurity. His brother is now taking more of his time from his Daddy and he used to be able to just climb up on my lap if his Daddy was busy with something else but then Alex came along and was taking that spot, too. He was not jealous of Alex earlier on - he was too busy being completely infatuated with his brother. Now, however, it's starting to sink in that he has to share his toys AND his Mama & Daddy with this other kid. Couple that with everyone telling him what a "big boy" he is now and it's a bit much for him. I thought I had a problem with him growing out of the "baby" stage but he's having a hard time with it a little bit himself. Don't get me wrong, there are several things he wants to do when he "gets bigga" but he still wants to be the little boy who gets cuddled and loved on, too.
Alex is a bit outrageous though with his jealousy. At this point I almost have to get Ethan to come cuddle with me in order to get any of Alex's time at all. He's too busy to cuddle; even when he's so tired he can't stand up straight, there's still too many other cooler things he could do than snuggle with his Mama. Unless Ethan wants to cuddle. That is absolutely not ok with Alex as I've said. But it's starting to get really bad - he doesn't just shove his brother to the side; he'll smack at him or pull his hair, too. That is not ok and we need to break that habit quickly. Steve says when Ethan is on his lap, Alex comes over as well to join them. But unlike with how he refuses to leave my lap until after Ethan does; Steve says with him, Alex just climbs up, sits a sec and hops back down to play again.
OK - I admit it's nice that my boys fight over me but when it comes to hitting and pulling hair, I draw the line. The green-eyed monster is here in the Waters house and now that Daddy is home all the time, it's showing up more often. My first baby is feeling the pull of Mama & Daddy away from him by his brother and not happy about it and my second baby is just rotten and wants to be the center of everyone's attention at all times. The latter doesn't deserve to be catered to but the former does warrant a little bit of reassurance so we'll have to find a way to work this out. Green-eyed monster - I'm on to you so watch out, your days at my house are short lived.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
First Day of Spring!
Spring is here! Spring is here! The Waters family is READY! Yes, we begged for snow and fully enjoyed it; however, we love all seasons and are ready for this change. We had some really good snow but we're ready to fly kites, swing & play outside without freezing.
Saturday, the first official day of Spring, we had our chance. We decided to go out for a leisurely drive & just do what looked fun. The boys promptly fell asleep in the car but Ethan woke up just as we passed the Scott Co. Fairgrounds in Georgetown. They had a great looking park which he had noticed as well. We told him we'd come back because Alex was sleeping and we needed to wait for him to wake up. About 15 minutes later, on a country road, Ethan said, "OH! I have to pee!" Once again thankful that he's a boy & can pee anywhere, we found a spot to pull over. But, he didn't want to pee by the car - he wanted to pee in that creek...sure, why not? He missed the creek (my fault - I didn't want to go swimming so didn't let him get close enough) but did a fine job of peeing in a gopher hole. Life was good.
Back in the car, Alex was awake. Ethan's first thought: "Now can we go to the park, Mama?" Absolutely. This park was fantastic. They had lots of different sizes & shapes of slides, swings & jungle gyms. They also had two concrete things that looked like sand castles made for kids to play with their cars with little paths perfect for hot wheels type cars. We didn't have any with us but two other little boys were very into sharing. The boys played well for a bit but when more kids came over who were more into grabbing than sharing, it was time to go. We didn't go far - just to get our kites. We had great fun with Ethan's Batman, Alex's frog & Steve's dinosaur. The frog & dinosaur were heavier nylon so harder to keep in the air than Ethan's plastic Batman. He definitely proved to be the best flier that day. When Alex got restless and told us it was time to go, we packed it in. Ethan wasn't thrilled to say the least but we promised to go back another time so he relented.
Saturday, the first official day of Spring, we had our chance. We decided to go out for a leisurely drive & just do what looked fun. The boys promptly fell asleep in the car but Ethan woke up just as we passed the Scott Co. Fairgrounds in Georgetown. They had a great looking park which he had noticed as well. We told him we'd come back because Alex was sleeping and we needed to wait for him to wake up. About 15 minutes later, on a country road, Ethan said, "OH! I have to pee!" Once again thankful that he's a boy & can pee anywhere, we found a spot to pull over. But, he didn't want to pee by the car - he wanted to pee in that creek...sure, why not? He missed the creek (my fault - I didn't want to go swimming so didn't let him get close enough) but did a fine job of peeing in a gopher hole. Life was good.
Back in the car, Alex was awake. Ethan's first thought: "Now can we go to the park, Mama?" Absolutely. This park was fantastic. They had lots of different sizes & shapes of slides, swings & jungle gyms. They also had two concrete things that looked like sand castles made for kids to play with their cars with little paths perfect for hot wheels type cars. We didn't have any with us but two other little boys were very into sharing. The boys played well for a bit but when more kids came over who were more into grabbing than sharing, it was time to go. We didn't go far - just to get our kites. We had great fun with Ethan's Batman, Alex's frog & Steve's dinosaur. The frog & dinosaur were heavier nylon so harder to keep in the air than Ethan's plastic Batman. He definitely proved to be the best flier that day. When Alex got restless and told us it was time to go, we packed it in. Ethan wasn't thrilled to say the least but we promised to go back another time so he relented.
Though we were out all day with only about 30 minutes of sleep in the car, the boys were really very good. Alex went to bed a little early but Ethan got to stay up to watch Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs with me on Disney. Poor kid though, he wanted to see it but was tired and kept asking if it was bedtime yet. I kept telling him he could go to bed but when he realized we didn't have the movie to watch later, he opted to stay up. If I'd checked the guide, I'd have known it was coming on again Sunday. Then again, by staying up later, he slept till 9:30 which meant he didn't disturb his brother so we all to sleep in. An absolutely wonderful 1st day of Spring!
Picture is not from this weekend - from the boys first "fight kying" adventure last week.
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