He Shoots, He Scores!!!

Henry and Vivian have been talking to each other during all of "naptime". I finally went into the room. Henry kept yelling, "Vivian!!!", then she'd giggle happily. I discovered that he had shredded a tissue and thrown items across the room from his crib into her Pack-n-Play. This was no small accomplishment for the narrow end of her sleeping area faces Henry's bed. The following items were in baby's bed...a small orange turtle, Dory the fish, two of Henry's tennis shoes, his jeans, and one of his socks. T. Rex missed and landed in the chair near her bed. I gave him a stern talking to, and he suggested I go to naptime and snuggle him in my bed. Yea, right, Henry. He then asked for food and a drink...more stalling. I told him his behavior has been quite naughty today, and I expect him to lie down, be quiet, and go to sleep so Vivian can rest too. He said, "You so pretty, Mommy." I left the room, and he's still talking. God help me. This will be a long day for Robbie, and I don't expect backup anytime soon.

The Wild Wild Pee

Right before we left to pick up Ev from preschool I told Henry it was time for his potty break. "I want to pee standing up, LIKE DADDY!" he informed me. "Okay. We can try that, but I have to hold your penis to aim," I said. Now in hindsight, I clearly have no experience with such matters. He climbed onto a step stool, I tried to aim for him, and away he sprayed. It seriously shot out like water from a sprinkler head, only it was incorrectly aimed toward the lid of the potty, rather than into the water in the bowl. He stopped, then he started again with a forcefulness that resembled a squirt gun on a hot summer day. I even heard a loud whizzing sound. He slowly stopped, and dribbles went onto his undies, which were by his knees. I was laughing, and he said, "What are you laughing about, Mom? What's so funny?" He then peed some more, and it landed all over the back of the toilet's rim. I caught a whiff of something other than urine, and I said, "Oh, no!! Don't poop! Hurry. Turn around and sit down." He made it just in time, then he peed some more. Really? MORE pee pee? What in the world did I give the boy to drink this morning? Coffee? That was our first experience with stand up peeing, and it wasn't pretty. However, it was quite funny. That was my best laugh of the day. I prefer he continues to pee like a girl.

Henry has totally worn me out today. His tantrum count spread to my second hand by noon, and that's just plain ugly. I was up in the night giving my coughing Evelyn a breathing treatment. I then had to tend to crying Vivian who had four immunizations, a blood draw, and fluid in her eares yesterday. My patience was running thin by naptime when he threw a fit over a dinosaur book. He threw one over his desire to find and wear Olivia's ballet slippers while he and Evelyn danced to Wiggly Giggly music on a CD from Grandma Mary. He had a clothing meltdown in the 6 am hour about the need to remove CARS PJs to put on actual clothes for our drive to school. That led to a shoe issue with even bigger tears. My goodness. He flipped out over not getting to watch a movie this morning too. It is a good thing I always love him, no matter what. He's a mess, and I'm in no mood to clean.

On Valentine's Day Robbie brought each daughter a red rose. My own father often gave me a single rose on special occasions, and it always made me feel so very special. I have a few memories of my maternal grandfather taking me to buy flowers for my Grandma White, and the gift of flowers is so special. Robbie shocked me to no end with a pink roses delivery. He's too practical for such things very often. I was in the kitchen making dinner mid-afternoon, cleaning the kitchen, removing the art projects and Valentines from our table, and wiping food debris from the floor. I heard a knock and thought Anthony, who was expected in a few hours time, had surprised me with an early arrival. I just stood staring at the delivery guy. He finally offered me the vase and said, "There's a card right here." I guess I had a "who would send ME flowers?" look. The children got a ton of candy from school. We made some special XO and heart-shaped treats with them on Sunday. Robbie gave me a card with a personal note that made me feel extremely adored, and I felt most thankful for his presence in my life. We went to a great little restaurant that evening, and our meal was absolutely wonderful. It was a splurge with Christmas gift money pooled from all of our parents, so thanks, guys. We're not doing too much dining out these days. Best of all, when I asked the babysitter if the kids were okay, she said, "Oh, yes, of course. They're awesome! I love them." Then she left, and I felt very happy with that report.

I'm going to take a few minutes to finish The Boy in the Striped Pajamas before I kick into afternoon chores mode. Ev and Henry ran around the living room dancing their hearts out before naptime, so maybe they will rest well. One can hope, right?

Heart Head Stick Figures for Evelyn

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Okay, so I had to get up from my writing to check on why baby Vivian was missing from the living room. She had crawled into the hall bathroom and shut the door, since the kids left it open...AGAIN. I returned to a computer that was shutting down. Upon rebooting, the above entries were there, made by my son.
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Before I ever had kids I used to romanticize moments in the future when Robbie and I would lounge in our bed with a small child between us. This morning was a roller coaster of good and bad from just after 6 am until almost 8 am. At one point Henry and Evelyn were playing in her room, and I brought the baby into our bed. She pulled at my PJs to nurse, played peek-a-boo with us, offered her little blanket to Robbie, and rested her head on his chest. It was precious. We experienced one of those rare fleeting moments. Then Henry started screaming, and she knew that he was awake. She wanted her brother. He climbed up onto our bed and proceeded to thrash about like a young maniac. He threw his little blanket at Vivian's head over and over. She squealed with delight and handed it back to him again and again. Evelyn joined the mix, and she held the baby while Vivian snuggled into her big sister's lap and sucked her thumb. It was really special, but it was pretty wild.



Robbie is making biscuits and gravy. He turned on our iPod, and the baby was on her knees trying to dance. Evelyn is searching for ballet slippers for better dancing. Olivia isn't home at the moment. I have a nice hot cup of coffee and some time to reflect on the joy that is my life. I'm really happy.



Vivian's birthday was Tuesday. I made her a heart-shaped layered chocolate cake with pink frosting and my first icing flowers of any bithday cake I've made. We had a few neighbors over after dinner, and it was a nice celebration. The next night she pulled up on the side of the bathtub to try to get in with her brother. That was the first time she had ever stood on her own. Yesterday she pulled up in her bed while I sat nearby with all of the children and did Olivia's hair before school. We all clapped for her, and she let go and fell to her bottom. She has many cheerleaders in this house. Last night when Robbie got home from work she had pulled up to kneel at the windowsill of our front picture window, and her dad could see her little head and waving hand. She's been using her version of "I love you" sign language with us, and we adore the sentiment.

Last night while I rocked and nursed Vivian at bedtime her big brother asked if he could kiss her. He gently kissed her and sweetly patted her soft hair. "Vivian is a wonderful little baby girl," he whispered. I told Henry that he is the best little boy I've ever had. It's true, right? He said, "You're the best mommy I ever had." I told him that makes my heart sing, and his response was, "My heart sings lullabies to me." He can be so sweet.

My neighbor got some great bargains on dressy clothes for children at Macy's this week. She told me about the sale, and I checked it out when I only had two children with me. However, the temp was in the low single digits, and we about froze. I got three matching Christmas dresses, cords and Ralph Lauren jeans for Henry, a 3-piece sweater/pants set for Henry, three boy sweaters, and two pairs of PJs for $60. I bought one size, up. so he's now in good shape. I was pretty happy. One pair of PJs were spotted by the H man...black flannel Lightning McQueeen Cars themed. They were $3.50. Prior to that I have been unable to keep the similar blue ones that Santa gave him clean. He'd never get out of those Cars PJs if allowed. He's a happy guy with his new sleepwear.

This week on the drive home from preschool Evelyn pulled a paper out of her bag and asked me what it was. I told her I couldn't tell while I was driving. At home I saw that it was a drawing of two stick figures with heart-shaped heads. One had blonde hair and a bow, and the other wore a top hat. They were holding hands. I didn't know what it was until I saw through the back that there were two names written on the back. It became clear that one of the very nice boys in her class made a picture for Evelyn and put it into her school bag. I said, "Oh, Evelyn. ____ drew this for you." She put her little chin down and her face turned red. She was embarrassed. I showed Robbie as soon as he got home from work, and he said, "Are you kidding? It starts in preschool?"

Olivia has been so sweet lately. She checked out a race car book for Henry from her school library two weeks ago. This week she chose a dogs book because she thought Vivian would like it. She is only allowed to choose two, so I think that speaks volumes about her thoughtful nature.

Saturday morning is my favorite one of the week, so I'm going to enjoy it. Soon I'll have a full belly. I smell the sausage cooking, and I snatched some of Robbie's from scratch biscuit dough when he was turned toward the stove. He's protective of his dough, so I had to be quick.

Poisoned by Cupcakes - A Narrow Miss

Vivian turns one year on Tuesday, and she's been keeping us hopping lately. This Saturday she tried to reach Robbie's laptop keyboard with all of her might. She finally stretched out of my arms far enough to give it one good whack, and after the screen turned black everything reset oriented sideways. It took Robbie more than a few minutes to fix it, and upon rebooting the next day the same problem occurred.

Santa gave the big girls some small bottles of Bath and Body Works antibacterial hand sanitizer that attach to their school bags. Ev received one that smells like cupcakes, and I've caught Vivian messing with the bottle a few times. The scent is really quite incredible,and it is colored a pretty pink. She got to the bottle while the bag hung from its proper hook down low in the coat closet when that door was left ajar. However, after doing her Letter S homework, Evelyn made the mistake of leaving her bag on the floor by her chair. We were in the living room watching the Super Bowl, and Vivian crawled away to the dining room. I found her with the small, choking hazard-sized cap completely off the bottle, and she had hand gel running down her chin. I flipped. She smelled sweet like a cupcake, and there was a decent amount missing. I honestly couldn't recall visualizing how much was in the bottle recently. I guessed she'd ingested a teaspoon or more, so I called Poison Control. The man told me to observe her for drowsiness, slurred speech (she doesn't really speak...What does a slurred Mama sound like anyway?), clumsiness, or difficulty breathing. He told me to feed her a snack with some juice, and he'd call me back in an hour. Robbie checked online, and he found that she could become intoxicated from the alcohol in the product, but no additional harm would result. Terrible. Luckily, she seemed okay. When Robbie later changed her into her PJs, he found a light pink stain scented like cupcakes all over her tights. I felt better. The girls got a stern talk about putting their belongings where they belong in order to keep the little ones safe.

A bit later, I made tomorrow's lunches in the kitchen while Robbie watched football, and the kids played. Evelyn had been taking Vivian for rides around the house on the Lightning McQueen big wheel. Olivia does this too, and the baby really loves it. She pushes the buttons and makes all kinds of sounds fill the air. Well, when I went to the living room there was no Vivian. "Where's the baby?" I asked. Blank stares met me, and nobody knew. I took off down the hall, and I heard faint crying. She had crawled all the way into our master bedroom bathroom, and she'd closed herself inside in the dark. I scooped up my poor little baby, and she looked traumatized. Again, I felt terrible for her. I gave her extra snuggles when I nursed her at bedtime, and I hope tomorrow is a smooth day. Tomorrow is the last day she will ever be a true, baby baby. Tuesday I'll have a one-year-old. I'm very sad about it. I think I may understand how some youngest children end up spoiled. I want my baby to stay a baby.

Henry all of the sudden seems like such a big guy. He slept all night in undies all weekend without incident. He wore them to Children's Church and while we went places in the car. My dad said he'll be off to college next. Henry has been asking me to rock him before bed, and he nuzzles me and tells me how pretty I am. He's a wonderful guy. That's what he says about Vivian too. "Mommy, Vivian is a wonderful baby." My heart of course melts. Tonight I told him, "Jesus loves you," and before a split second passed he said, "and Santa too, Mom." I laughed. "What are you laughing about, Mom?" That too seems like such a big boy question.

The girls are in bed. We had a dance party during the Super Bowl Half Time Show. It was fun! I have always loved dancing with Robbie. That's how we spent our first evening together. We danced late into the night at a party in college, and that was the wonderful start of the life I have now.

Go Ahead, Confuse the Automated Telephone Voice

Last week I realized that Olivia's Girl Scout cookie money was due to my friend, Kate. She and I take turns driving our little girls home from preschool each Friday, and I knew she would be at my front door soon. I started counting money, and I went over the order form. My numbers were not jiving, so I decided to double check my math with a calculator. Well, there was no calculator to be found. I pulled out my cell phone, but I could not figure out how to make the calculator function work. That made me mad. I started looking for the calculator in the toy basket, and that's when I found the kids' toy cash register. Yes, that's what I used for my grown up addition. I laughed at myself, but it worked.

If you ever want to frustrate yourself to the final degree, then call your health insurance company while you are holding somebody's crying baby. The automated voice on the line will ask you to provide all sorts of information...your Group ID, your date of birth, the reason for your call. When you try to say what the phone computer requests, the baby will add background noise that will make it absolutely impossible for the system to operate correctly. I finally started yelling above Vivian's cry, "Customer Service!!" Why didn't I just wait until I had a quiet moment to make my business call? Well, once I finally get a quiet moment I lose all steam. That call had already been put off for over a week, so I decided...It is now or never. Computer voice be damned. I'm getting through!

Olivia has been given permission to carry Vivian around a bit, and she's very happy with this new privilege. She does it so much that baby Vivian now cries when Olivia puts her down. She wants her Mommy Yaya. I'm glad they love each other so much.

Henry has gone all day in undies. This means that I drove him to and from school (10 minutes each way plus carpool or parking lot time) twice this morning, and he napped in undies. I'm so proud of him. He's been by far the one to have the fewest accidents. He uses the potty whenever I put him on it, and he's even been telling me when he really needs to go. I'm going to put him in his crib tonight in undies and hope for the best. He's funny about this whole peeing thing. "Penis DOWN!!" is a common phrase uttered in our bathroom, and he's gotten better. He recently aimed it side to side and got quite a kick out of the way the pee stream moved. He's also been asking me about where dinosaurs pee, where frogs pee, and if they have penises. His brain tries to put all of this information together, and I just love having a little guy around. These are new questions after having two girls in the house.

Well, it is almost bedtime. I'm writing as Robbie rough houses with all the kids. The girls keep screaming with excitement, and Henry keeps tackling Robbie. Vivian just crawls around and does an amazing job of staying out of harm's way. When I tuck Henry into his crib tonight, I will tell him I love him. I will then say, "Jesus loves you." He will come back with something like, "Yes, Mom, and Santa loves me too." He says this every single night, and it always makes me smile. He and Vivian "talk" to each other from their beds. Last night he kept yelling, "VIVIAN!!!" I kept thinking about the Rocky movie when he yelled, "Adrian!!!"

Sweet Evelyn heard me talk about a service project at my Mothers of Preschoolers meeting where we collected empty toilet paper rolls for a lady to wrap on some toilet paper for homeless men. Evelyn became very interested, and she has been saving them for this cause ever since. Finally, my sweet son often says to me, "I want you to kiss me. That makes me feel better." If only that would help him forever.

Super Fast Cars and a Veil of White

Henry loves his sisters. He loves their things too. He loves some of his own things, and his current favorites are Cars (the movie) PJs and his Lightning McQueen blue sippy cup filled with warm milk. He has had some major meltdowns over his PJs. He never wants to take them off, and that won't always work. Sometimes we must dress for the day. Sometimes his cup is dirty, and this too evokes big tears and loud cries of distress. Life is hard for 2-year-olds. Today the girls dressed Henry in a long, white, dress-up, bride's gown complete with veil and my old pink satin pumps from Nada's wedding. He was a sight. I took a picture, so I'll get it on here someday soon. I only have the energy for a short blog tonight. He wore the veil most of the day, and on Snow Day #3, I let Henry enjoy his PJs for a while this morning. Picture it. The white veil, Henry's big blue eyes, some navy blue flannel PJs covered with race cars...he looked pretty cool.

My high point today came when Henry went to bed. No, not for the obvious reason - a quiet house. No, he wanted to kiss baby Vivian goodnight. I told him to kiss her through the side of her Pack-n-Play. The two of them pressed their chubby baby faces to the mesh wall, and kissed goodnight. Vivian even made the, "Mmmm," sound as she smooched brother. It was very, very sweet. I always tell my friends who are expecting a second child that the best part of having more children is watching the love they have and show for one another. It is wonderful. That said, tonight as I read bedtime prayers to my big girls, Henry kept calling for me. I had already been in there more than once, and I had little patience left. Robbie is gone, and flying solo past 8 pm isn't pretty for a mama with a sinus infection. My ENT thinks I'll need surgery, but that's another story. Anyway, Olivia said, "Mom, wouldn't you like to mute him?" I laughed and told her I would indeed.

The children are all in bed. The house is in Mute mode. Robbie is headed home, and I am ready for the couch, my warm blanket, and some Pride and Prejudice with my handsome hubby by my side.