A ridiculously long post about what my kids are like lately.
Peter is so, so sweet. Honestly. He is the sweetest thing. Don't get me wrong, he's pretty stubborn in his own way, but he's very pleasant.
A few weeks ago we moved him into his big boy bed, which I thought would be a drawn-out transition for him, but he loved it from the second he saw it. Now that he's not in the crib anymore, he comes into my room in the morning for cuddles, snuggles up to me, puts his arm around my neck and whispers "I wuv you Mom." He makes my heart melt, even at 4:30 in the morning.
He's inquisitive these days. Everything is "what are you doing, Mom?" or "what does that MEANNNNN?" I told him no, he could not have a grape, and he said why not, and I said because grapes are one of the top three choking hazards for children his age, and he gave me this sort of shrug and hands spread wide and asked "what does that MEAN???"
Or my favorite, "What does vagina MEAN, Mom??" One of the mysteries of the universe, kid. Go ask your father.
He loves to sing. He is completely tone-deaf. We sing Snuggle Puppy of Mine together, and I hear him singing himself to sleep at night. He also likes to sing the Bob the Builder theme song and the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse hot dog song.
He loves to wear superhero costumes, especially Super Why.
Whenever I put up something new around the house, he will admire it and say "oh, how bew-tee-ful, Mommy! I really like that." Oh, to hear him talk. I love his voice, with its intonation and tone. He's a great cheering section. He is really nice to the Princess, even though she is not so nice to him. (She's a biter lately. And a pusher. And a yeller. And a toy-taker. But he's still nice to her.)
He tells me whatever he thinks I want to hear. Ok Mom, I will clean up! Ok Mom, I will eat my soup! Ok Mom, I will use the potty! And then he does whatever he wants to do. Which is generally not what I was asking, but he's very polite about it.
He is wearing diapers only at night now. No, that does not mean he is potty trained. It means he's refusing to wear diapers, because they are for babies, and he wants to wear Buzz Lightyear or Mickey Mouse or Lightning McQueen underwear. The laundry generated by this refusal has multiplied exponentially. But! Today for the very first time, he stopped what he was doing, said "Mom I have to use the potty", and peed in the potty!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!
One great leap forward for mankind.
Princess is teething with molars. I can't tell if its the top or bottom molars. I am hoping it is all four, because to go through this again with another set is not something I look forward to. She has been in A Very Bad Mood since before Christmas. Teething toys have no interest to her, she prefers human flesh. Look at her funny and she will bite your leg. Try and put her down for a nap she will grab both your ears and attempt to gnaw on your face.
Teething always give my kids terrible diaper rash. The diaper rash Princess has is trying to take over the world. Its horrendous. I have been letting her run around without a diaper or pants for the past two days, so now I have two children crapping on my carpet. I will probably have to replace the playroom carpet when we leave. We just got a prescription for Vusion, hopefully this will clear it up.
Princess loves to wear Greg and Peter's shoes. She clomps around all day in giant shoes.
She is talking SO MUCH. Usually at the top of her lungs. She screams "No Balmex! No Balmex!" whenever I try to change her diaper. I can tell her to go tell the boys they have one minute till bedtime, and she will toddle off into the playroom and scream "GUYS!! GUYS!!! MINNIT!! MINNIT!!!" She knows my turn, get off, get down, not your turn, share with me, MINE MINE MINE, cheese, milk, come on!, where's Grandma, whatcha doing? and nightnight.
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| I swear her hair is growing in like this and I have not purposely given her a mullet. |
She is more skilled than I at using my cell phone, plays Angry Birds and calls her father at work. She loves the Pigeon series by Mo Willems and can recite every single page along with you. Especially the "Hmph" noise.
Most exciting of all, she has stopped sleeping. At all! Ever! No naps, no sleep at night. Currently she (is supposed to) sleep in a crib in our bedroom, but I am ready to move her in with the boys. Of course she figured out my plan and countered with new molars. Generally, sleep at our house looks like this for the last few weeks:
Option 1) Put child to sleep around 8 in crib. Child wakes up around 11, bring her into our bed, cuddle and nurse till she goes back to sleep. Put her back in her crib. Repeat every forty minutes until 5 am, when she is awake for the day.
Option 2) Put child to sleep at 8 in crib. Let her come into our bed at 11, and stay there asleep until 4 am, when she wakes up and starts kicking all adults in the head, liver and kidneys. Put her back in crib. Listen to her howl with rage for an hour, or until she wakes up the other two.
With Option 1 I am awake all night. Option 2 at least gives me about 4, sometimes 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep.
I have long cherished the thought of having four children. That dream is slowly but surely being ground into dust.
Greg is getting so big. He still hates school. Specifically, he hates lunch. As far as I can tell, its because of the noise and the amount of kids, not because he's picked on or doesn't have friends to sit with. He will complain vociferously about social problems, but his complaint about lunch is always "its too loud." I have talked to the teacher, but I can't do much about the cafeteria being loud when 300 kids are in it. I usually send him to school in a hoodie and tell him to put the hoodie up when he thinks its too loud.
Greg had his first alone playdate this week. His friend T asked if he could come over as we were walking home, but I hadn't made arrangements for someone to watch the two younger kids, and I've always been present whenever he has a playdate. T's mom said it was fine for him to come without me, and Greg pushed me off and said "You go home now! Come back tomorrow!" Uh...I'll come back at five, not tomorrow. He gave me a kiss and ran off.
Greg has started baseball clinic and actually seems to like it, which is a big step up from the karate fiasco. There are 3 girls signed up in his age group, but the rest of the 30 or so kids are boys, and the coaches are big, beefy, manly men who look like athletes. Actually--remember the
strict coach from soccer? He's one of the coaches.
It struck me, as I sat in the bleachers watching the mostly male interaction at the baseball clinic, that I am raising a son. Who will one day be a man. It was a weird moment--I've been in baby mode for five years, my babies have always been babies, and while obviously I know they will grow up, this was one of the few times I've gotten a glimpse of my baby interacting with others on his own. It was...bittersweet. And so different---it was a little society of men, doing manly things. I don't know how to explain it very well, other than the group just had a really male energy to it.
I have a bit of hard time writing about Greg. I feel like potty training and sleep deprivation are common experiences everyone can commiserate with, but Greg is a bit more grown up and the experiences are a bit more singular. I don't want to broadcast his life or problems on the internets. I tend to put stories about him on my private blog. He also refuses to pose for pictures. The one above I called his name and he turned and smiled until he saw me with the camera and said "UGH I hate how you are always taking pictures of me!!!"
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