Conversations

Ethan – On earrings

Mama, [D] has another earring. 

He does – he got another one? 

No, he dust has an earring.

Yes, he does.  His Mama & Daddy said it was ok so he has an earring.

I’m gonna get a earring, too.

(Alex) Me get earring when I get bigger me get earring, too.

No – the only people in our house who will have earrings is Mama unless they are over 18.  When you are 18, if you want an earring, you can get one.  Until then, only Mama will have one.

Well, but I want to have one when I’m 10.

No, when you are 18 if you want one, that’s fine.  If Mama & Daddy say it’s ok for you to have an earring you can but otherwise, you have to wait until you are 18.

But D has one.

Yes, that’s because D’s Mama & Daddy said he could.  For him, that is completely fine – there is nothing wrong with it.  But your Mama & Daddy said no so you can’t have one.  When you are 18, you can make your own decisions and if you want one then, you can get an earring but right now, you have to get permission from Mama & Daddy and we said no.

Ok, but when I’m 10, I can get one.

No, when you are 10, Mama & Daddy will still make your decisions and Mama will say no.  If you ask Daddy and he says yes, the answer is still no because Mama already said no and you can’t ask Daddy if Mama already said no.  When you are 18, you are old enough to make your own decisions so you can do it if you want to and if you pay for it yourself.  Until then, Mama & Daddy make your decisions so the answer is no.

(Alex) Only Mama can have an earring because boys can’t have earrings.

No, boys can have earrings if their Mama & Daddy say they can.  Your Mama said no so you have to wait until you are 18 and then, even though you are a boy, if you want an earring, you can have one when you are 18.

Ok then – I don’t want an earring anyway though.

Alex – On Spiderman (at church this past Sunday)
Mama, I’m Spiderman.

Ok, then.

I’m Spiderman, so I can do this [points his hand at the wall] and do this [some sort of funky somersault] and then do this [points his hand at the other wall] and make you dust fall down.

You think, so, huh?

Yep, cause I’m Spiderman.

pause in the Spiderman topic at which point I think that conversation is completely over

Can me push the button?

Yes, push “2” please. 

Ok – this one right here.  Me push it cause me can push the button. 

Are you going to be my helper this morning and help me sing & dance & push the button on “The Love Machine?”

Yep.  Me will help you.

Good, cause you are a good helper.

Elevator doors open [does some sort of spin kick move out of the elevator] Yeah, cause I’m Spiderman & Spiderman helps people [points at walls & people at random as if like Spiderman trying to shoot webs at people].

Cameron – on not being held
Uuuu, aaa, uuu

Just a minute Cameron, I have to finish fixing your brothers something to eat.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, uuuuuuuuuuuuu [silence while he plays a few minutes] uuuuuuuuuuu, aaaaaaaaaaaaa, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA, aaaaaaaaaa, uuuuuuuuuu [silence while he plays], UUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Boys!  Dinner is ready.  Hurry so I can get Cameron!  Cameron James – I’m coming, calm down, you are fine. [said while walking towards him]

Instant silence and big smile
[I pick up a sippy cup and go back to the kitchen to fill it for Alex] Instant AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cameron – I am coming.  I promise.  I will pick you up [said over his screaming from the kitchen]  I really am coming.  Here Alex [give Alex his drink, turn to leave kitchen]. 

(Ethan) Mama, where’s my drink?

Where’s your cup? [said with an exaggerated tone while I ignore the continual whining from the other room – total whining as there is not 1 tear on the boy’s face – it’s all just noise (and it’s not that he’s dehydrated as I changed him prior to this conversation which started because I put him in the pack-n-play after changing him rather than sitting down to hold him and he peed again during the conversation)]

(Ethan) I don’t know.

You get a drink when I get your cup that you had 2 minutes ago that I told you not to drink all of so you’d have it for dinner.  Find it immediately before I go to Cameron or you’ll wait till I’m done with him before you get it. [again, ignoring the constant AAAAAAAAAAA from the front room]

(Ethan) Oh, look, here it is. [full]

Good now sit down and eat.  Cameron, I’m coming.  I am coming right now [walking towards him].  See, here I am.

Instant silence and huge smile

You are completely rotten – all the way to your core – I just had to fix your brothers something to eat before I could get you.  You were fine.  [as I pick him up]

Giggle – duck head – lay on my shoulder – go immediately to sleep

*Note – this child is absolutely rotten beyond belief.  All that screaming just so he could snuggle & go to sleep*

Alex-time

I think I've mentioned before that we call it "Mama-time" or "Daddy-time" when the boys get special snuggle time with one or the other of us.  Ethan gets Mama-time these days getting ready for school in the mornings and driving to school.  He has my undivided attention (well, undivided by the other boys who are usually sleeping anyway).  Cameron gets Mama-time regularly as I have to focus on him to feed him or put him to sleep and then he gets Mama-time at night after his brothers go to sleep.  All this time with Mama leaves Alex out in the cold I think and I've noticed it lately.  Alex gets Daddy-time during naps during the day or when Cameron is asleep during the day but he doesn't get as much Mama-time - if any - during the week.

I found a way to change that.  I do a lot with the preschool ministry at our church but am often too focused on the lesson or skit to be able to give Alex my attention there either.  Until now - I led worship a few weeks during the preschool sessions and let Alex "lead" with me - singing the songs, etc.  Then this past week I did the skit that was part of the lesson and had Alex do it with me.  He "pretended" to be shy as he normally does but he loved it.  I can't take full credit for this as it was the preschool director's idea to have our kids do our parts of the service with us to get them more involved as well.  Alex really loved it though.

This past week, Alex & I were the only ones that went to church.  I was helping to cover the preschool area during both services & Sunday school in the directors absence so Steve had Ethan & Cameron while I had Alex so he could do the skit with me, etc.  Cameron was really congested so Steve ended up keeping him home and Ethan wasn't feeling great either - evidenced in part by the fact that he didn't want to go to church (normally he'd live there if we let him - he loves it).  Alex helped me with the skit and then helped me run the laptop during the rest of the lesson and stood with me singing and doing the movements to the songs.  He was running everywhere but still listening to me when I tried to reign him in.

Then as we left church, he was singing one of the songs from our worship "Jesus is a good good fwend.  He's a good good good fwiend to me.  He's a good good good good good good good fwend to me." (the song doesn't have that many "goods" but Alex did).  When we got in the car, he was smiling and singing and stopped long enough to say, "Mama, I wuv you."  Then I had Christian music on the radio and "God is Not Dead" came on the radio and he changed mid-sentence from "good good fwend" to "roaring wike a wion" (roaring like a lion) and proceeded to sing that at the top of his lungs all the way home.

When we got home, Steve, Ethan & Cameron were sleeping so I got in Alex's bed with him and took a nap with him.  Granted he woke Cameron up so Steve didn't get much nap, but I still got to finish out my Alex-time with a much needed nap.  Sunday mornings (at least through the end of February) are now my "Alex-time."  Love that curly-headed, dimple-faced little boy - rotten though he may be.

Sweet Manners

I will be the first to admit that my boys are wild.  They usually have only 2 speeds - asleep and superfast.  From the moment they wake up in the morning, they talk 90 mph and get into 1000 different things until they go to sleep....sometimes they even fall asleep WHILE playing with one of those 1000 different things.  It's truly exhausting just to watch them much less chase them around.  While the talking part doesn't apply yet to Cameron, the chasing around part does as he and his little army crawl are quite mobile these days.

They are little boys though and do tend to have a listening problem when told to stop, be quiet, etc.  This is extremely frustrating as you can imagine.  I have started sending them upstairs to their room to play when I really want them to sit down to eat so that I can have 5 minutes to breathe so as not to scream because they just aren't listening.  I give myself that 5 minute breather and then call them back downstairs - I'm not sure if it's the breathing time for me that makes things calmer or if they remember how to listen after going upstairs for a few minutes but either way, it works to get us back on track long enough to feed them or do whatever it was that they weren't listening to me about the first time.

Others tell me that they boys are so good or so sweet or whatever to which I often reply, "that's because you don't live with them."  I'm joking, of course, as I love them dearly.  But the nerves do take a beating.  Then they do something that makes me realize why people say they are good or sweet, etc.  I've noticed lately that 99% of the time that Alex asks for something he says, "Pwease I have some (fill in the blank here)?"  He really starts almost every request for whatever he wants by asking "please."  When you give it to him, he says "thank you" most of the time (though please is more frequent than the return thank you).  If you tell him no he can't have it (as is the case when the request is "pwease I have a cookie" 2 minutes before dinner), he'll just ask for something else most of the time and that will bring another "pwease."  It's really quite sweet.  Not to be outdone, I've noticed Ethan's good manners lately as well.  If you ask Ethan to do something or help with something, his normal response these days is, "yes, ma'am."  If you ask him a yes/no question, he'll answer yes or no "ma'am" or "sir."  I can't take full credit for that one as I think he probably picked that up at school somewhat but it sounds so very, very sweet to hear to a 5 year old little voice say "Yes, ma'am, I wilw" [will has a "w" sound at the end of it] when you ask him to hang up his coat or put his shoes away or to hear "no thank you ma'am" when you ask if he wants more applesauce.

Somewhere in all the chaos that is our lives with 3 young boys, we've managed to give them a head start on good manners and it sounds so very sweet.  I even heard Ethan tell Cameron thank you the other day when he took his folder away from Cameron who was chewing on it at the time:  "Thanks, Cam.  I need to put this in my bookbag now."    That one he did get from me as I always do that when taking something from Cameron or giving him something he wants - "thank you, Cameron, Mama will take that" or "Thanks, Mama" talking for him when giving him a bottle, etc.  I did that with the boys when they were younger also.  I do think that's where the please, thank you & you're welcome came from but I'll still credit his teachers for instilling the "sir" and "ma'am" protocol into Ethan.

As the weeks seems to fly by and I get muddled in the ... well... chaos of the daily grind, I will allow myself this moment to pat myself (& Steve) on the back for getting a good start to the manners that will guide these boys through their lives.  I am not a perfect mom by any stretch but I think I got this one right.

7 Months

Seven months ago today we met.  I'd known you and you'd known me for several months but you met your brothers and your daddy for the very first time that day.  Paga, aunts, uncles & cousins all saw your adorable little self right there with the rest of us that day.  You were the precious little bundle that completed our perfect family of five.  Cameron James Waters we named you and sang it all day.  We loved you that first day, that first moment, that beautiful June 7th day.

Now here we are seven months later and your Nana & Grandma have had a chance to meet you, snuggle with you and play with you and they have fallen for you, too.  More aunts, uncles & cousins have fallen for you as well.  Not only do we all still love you, we can't imagine not having you in our lives.  I can't imagine a time when I didn't have 3 beautiful babies, 3 wonderful sons to love.  Your brothers can't imagine a time when you weren't here to play with.  Your daddy can't imagine a time when the house wasn't full of your laughter or cries.  We can't imagine that we only just met you 7 months ago and love you so much more today.

We think you've grown pretty attached to us as well.  You love to laugh with Daddy and chase your brothers.  You love to sit or sleep with Mama.  You can't stand to be in your pack-n-play for long because that means you are all alone and you'd rather be playing with someone or chasing them as you quickly crawl around the floor.  You laugh, you giggle, you gurgle, you snore - all your little sounds make us love you that much more.

Cameron James we love you.  Happy 7 month birthday sweet, sweet baby, our dear one, our Cam.

   

 

  

 

 

    

 

A Good First Week

Most of us had a good start to the year.  I think Ethan had the best but I'll let you be the judge.

Cameron
Cam is getting better at sleeping by himself in the crib or pack and play.  He now spends at least half the night sleeping by himself.  He also has changed night eating habits (finally).  Up until this week, he'd have a bottle at 8, then about 11:30 or 12:00 and then 3:30-4:00 and then again at 6:30 or 7:00.  This week he finally decided to let me sleep longer.  He'll take a bottle about 10:30 or 11:00 and then sleep till 5:30.  Yep - 5:30...4 nights in a row (& yes, I know by putting that in writing, I've just ruined it and he'll wake up at 3 again).  That's about 6 full hours of sleep he's giving me.  The only downside is that when he finally wakes at 5:30, he's starving and while it takes only a few minutes to fix a bottle, that's way too long for him.  Thankfully, his brother's are sound sleepers so he hasn't awakened them yet.

Alexander
Alex had a so-so week.  He was in trouble every day but he also had moments each day where he was so cute, I just couldn't stand it.  Tonight, for example, when I picked them up from Steve, Alex looked like he had just awakened.  I was trying to unbuckle him to get him in my car and he started crying.  I asked him what he wanted and he said, "I dust want you, Mama."  He was really, really tired and he just wanted me - he just wanted to snuggle with me.  Made my heart melt.  Then he fell asleep in my car and did the same thing when we got home only here at home, he cried until I could sit down and snuggle with him for a few minutes till he fully awoke - then he was fine and rotten again.  It's those sweet moments when he just wants Mama or when he smiles with those dimples that make this a good week for him despite his bad behavior.

Ethan
As you've already read, Ethan lost his first tooth this week.  Then wonder of wonders, the Tooth Fairy brought him TWO whole dollars & took his tooth away.  He came running to show me this morning.  He had put his tooth in a baggie under his pillow last night and this morning, the tooth was gone and there were 2 dollars in there instead.  That wasn't all that happened with Ethan this week though.  Today he was evaluated again at school on his progress and he got all of his letters, letter sounds & sight words - he got them ALL!!!  He had been having problems with a few of them but today he nailed it!  His teacher was excited about it, too, and sent me an email at work to let me know.

Tara
I went back to work after 12 days off on Tuesday.  I have been pretty much on-time to work when not going there from the chiropractor's office and yet even when going to the chiropractor first, am still getting to work fairly quickly and getting caught up & able to leave work on time.  I'm always late - for everything (Ethan was early to school every day this week - not just on time but early) so for me to be punctual is progress.  Leaving work on time is a bonus as that means Steve can be on time to work since he can't go in till I pick up the boys from him.  I even beat him to work twice this week.  I've also started making progress at the chiropractor's office and am finally getting a little relief in my back.  It'll be a while before I'm "good" but at least I can tell a difference.

Steve
Steve made chili for dinner one night this week that was so good Ethan asked for seconds.  He made bean soup today - though it's not quite done yet.  It's only not done because he had to run a bunch of errands today so he had it on low all day.  It'll be yummy to eat all weekend though.  He's been on time to work all week (because I was able to leave work on time) and got to sleep in most days as Cameron goes back to sleep after that 5:30 bottle and sleeps till about 10:00.  He's gotten to take naps each day as well (except probably today as  I doubt he had time with the errands he was doing).  Special bonus for him - he got to laugh at me and my little freak out over trying to pull Ethan's tooth - he found that especially funny.

So all in all - the Waters clan here had a pretty good week.  I definitely think Ethan's was the best but as I said, I'll let you decide for yourself.