When Ben finally started sleeping through the night most of the time, about 6 months ago, he still had some nights when he would wake up and cry briefly when the air conditioning turned on. So I started telling him every night when I put him in his crib, "If the air conditioning wakes you up, just go back to sleep! If you hear a loud truck and it wakes you up, what should you do? Go back to sleep! If an airplane or a dog barking or anything else wakes you up, go back to sleep! What should you do if you hear the toilet flushing and it wakes you up? Go back to sleep!" Then a few months ago, I said, "What should you do if a barking dog wakes you up?" And Ben said, "Pat, pat," and giggled.
Ben's other favorite thing is to call me "Brigitte Mama." For a long time I thought he was saying, "Big Duck Mama."
Ben loves Donald Duck, and he calls him "Hat Duck." He loves his "Hat Duck" socks.
Sam is convinced that Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is going to go down in "mystery," not "history."
In the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse cartoons, Donald Duck says, "What's the big idea?" Sam has started calling me, and sometimes other people, Big Idea.
I asked Sam what he wants for Christmas: "I want milk! In my stocking! But closed. And donuts in my present! You can have coffee in your stocking. But closed! Dad can have juice in his stocking. But closed! Not open. Then it would make your stocking all wet!"
Matt has been randomly telling me, "You're a good horse!" So I've been telling him the same back. Who knows what we are even talking about.
Sunday, December 11, 2016
Wednesday, August 31, 2016
Toddler Ben
When someone is crying, Ben says, "Awww, pat pat," and makes a sad face and a hand gesture like he's going to pat the crying person to make him feel better. Sam appreciates this most of the time, but Matt does not like to be consoled.
Ben rubs his eyes when he hears the word "sleepy." He enjoys flopping down on my head anytime I'm lying on the floor. He is very excited when Jeff gets home from work, and he's eager to head out the door to take Matt to school or go pick him up. He likes to sit in the big chairs instead of his high chair at every opportunity.
Monday, May 2, 2016
Silly kid things
Here's what the kids have been doing, just some funny things from December through now. These are the types of things I'll miss and otherwise never remember. Kids are so funny.
Matt and Sam sometimes drive trucks around in the basement. When they drive from the couch to behind the wet bar, they say they're driving on "Poopways." When Jeff is around, they call it "Rumble Rumble Rumble" because they know he doesn't like the P word.
Sam plays the banjo. This consists entirely of him holding a baby teething ring and saying "Banjo, banjo, banjo!" a lot and occasionally banging the ring against things. He's never seen a banjo and probably never heard one.
Baseball parties: This is the term Matt and Sam use for dumping out all the toy bins into a huge pile. In fact, baseball parties are what prompted me to sell our toy-bin storage shelf. It was the worst. They were very enthusiastic about it, though.
"Shoes on hooks, shoes on hooks!" This is something that Sam sometimes shouts for no apparent reason. I think it's funny and sometimes say it myself. Matt doesn't know what it means.
A few months ago, Sam had been asking what different things were for. Many times, the answer was "for decoration." He started answering a lot of questions that way. For example, "Sam, why did you dump all that stuff out on the floor?" "For decoration." "Sam, did you spill that milk on purpose? Why did you?" "For decoration." "Sam, what do you think that truck is doing over there?" "It's for decoration."
Sam sometimes go up to Matt or Ben, grabs their ears, and says, "Ear diamond! Ear diamond!" We don't know what that means, but it's funny. He's also been saying "lugo" about everything. Who knows what that means, either.
Matt likes to tell me his dreams. One day, he was laughing so hard about this dream, like it was the silliest thing he'd ever imagined, that it was cracking me up. He explained that he dreamt of a flatbed pulling a trailer with a snowplow. It didn't have a delimber. But - and this was the hilarious part to him - the trees were gone! They were just gone! He kept saying, "They can't work that fast!" *giggle giggle* "There was no delimber, but even if there had been, they can't work that fast! They can't work THAT fast!" *giggle giggle*
One day, Ben was chewing on the trampoline. Sam said to him, "That's your food now," in a tone that was so fatalistic and matter-of-fact that it makes me laugh every time I think about it. I like to say, "That's your [whatever] now" in the same tone whenever the chance arises.
General notes:
Matt has been able to read for a couple of months now. He's very interested in nonfiction in general and animals in particular. He loves the National Geographic Little Kids' First Big Book of... series a lot.
Sam has started stuttering quite a bit. I asked him today if he was having trouble getting his words out. Matt interrupted and said, "Sam is NOT having any trouble getting his words out. He just needs to think about what he's going to say and then say the first letter of the word a bunch of times." He has been clingier than usual lately and wants to hold hands a lot. He is BFFs with both Matt and Ben.
Ben is a toddler now, not a baby. He's almost weaned - one night feeding remains but will be gone soon I'm sure. He loves to turn light switches off and on. He likes to walk around holding remotes or markers. He likes to scribble with crayons. He helps unload the dishwasher and can follow simple commands, like "get your shoes." He loves to hug everyone.
Matt and Sam sometimes drive trucks around in the basement. When they drive from the couch to behind the wet bar, they say they're driving on "Poopways." When Jeff is around, they call it "Rumble Rumble Rumble" because they know he doesn't like the P word.
Sam plays the banjo. This consists entirely of him holding a baby teething ring and saying "Banjo, banjo, banjo!" a lot and occasionally banging the ring against things. He's never seen a banjo and probably never heard one.
Baseball parties: This is the term Matt and Sam use for dumping out all the toy bins into a huge pile. In fact, baseball parties are what prompted me to sell our toy-bin storage shelf. It was the worst. They were very enthusiastic about it, though.
"Shoes on hooks, shoes on hooks!" This is something that Sam sometimes shouts for no apparent reason. I think it's funny and sometimes say it myself. Matt doesn't know what it means.
A few months ago, Sam had been asking what different things were for. Many times, the answer was "for decoration." He started answering a lot of questions that way. For example, "Sam, why did you dump all that stuff out on the floor?" "For decoration." "Sam, did you spill that milk on purpose? Why did you?" "For decoration." "Sam, what do you think that truck is doing over there?" "It's for decoration."
Sam sometimes go up to Matt or Ben, grabs their ears, and says, "Ear diamond! Ear diamond!" We don't know what that means, but it's funny. He's also been saying "lugo" about everything. Who knows what that means, either.
Matt likes to tell me his dreams. One day, he was laughing so hard about this dream, like it was the silliest thing he'd ever imagined, that it was cracking me up. He explained that he dreamt of a flatbed pulling a trailer with a snowplow. It didn't have a delimber. But - and this was the hilarious part to him - the trees were gone! They were just gone! He kept saying, "They can't work that fast!" *giggle giggle* "There was no delimber, but even if there had been, they can't work that fast! They can't work THAT fast!" *giggle giggle*
One day, Ben was chewing on the trampoline. Sam said to him, "That's your food now," in a tone that was so fatalistic and matter-of-fact that it makes me laugh every time I think about it. I like to say, "That's your [whatever] now" in the same tone whenever the chance arises.
General notes:
Matt has been able to read for a couple of months now. He's very interested in nonfiction in general and animals in particular. He loves the National Geographic Little Kids' First Big Book of... series a lot.
Sam has started stuttering quite a bit. I asked him today if he was having trouble getting his words out. Matt interrupted and said, "Sam is NOT having any trouble getting his words out. He just needs to think about what he's going to say and then say the first letter of the word a bunch of times." He has been clingier than usual lately and wants to hold hands a lot. He is BFFs with both Matt and Ben.
Ben is a toddler now, not a baby. He's almost weaned - one night feeding remains but will be gone soon I'm sure. He loves to turn light switches off and on. He likes to walk around holding remotes or markers. He likes to scribble with crayons. He helps unload the dishwasher and can follow simple commands, like "get your shoes." He loves to hug everyone.
Friday, February 5, 2016
Questions for kids
Here are the answers Matt and Sam came up with for some questions floating around Facebook.
Without any answer-prompting, ask your child these questions. Post with age and name of child.
Sam, 2.5 years
About Brigitte
1. What is something I always say to you? "Go out for exercise."
2. What makes me happy? "I. Coffee."
3. What makes me sad? "Yourself."
4. How do I make you laugh? "Playing. When you say Ben is staying home and Sam is going to preschool and Matt is going to kindergarten."
5. What is my favorite color? "Something on your shirt."
6. How old am I? "Too much."
7. How tall am I? "Too much." (Lots of giggles.)
8. What is my favorite thing to do? "Something at Matt's school."
9. What do I do when you're not around? "Play. Play garbage truck."
10. What am I really good at? "Puzzles."
11. What is something I'm not good at? "That. That's on wall." (He was pointing to the calendar. ??)
12. What do I do for a job? "Chores and stuff."
13. What is my favorite food? "Not peanut butter crackers. You like soup."
14. What do you enjoy doing with me? "Playing. Have fun 'Mom & Sam & Ben time.'" (Aka, when Matt's at preschool.)
About Jeff
1. What is something I always say to you? "Mom."
2. What makes me happy? "I."
3. What makes me sad? "I."
4. How do I make you laugh? "Like Dad. Everybody go poop."
5. What is my favorite color? "Red."
6. How old am I? "Two and much."
7. How tall am I? "Too much."
8. What is my favorite thing to do? "Chores."
9. What do I do when you're not around? "Sleep."
10. What am I really good at? "Chores."
11. What is something I'm not good at? "I? My?"
12. What do I do for a job? "I'll move these things at church."
13. What is my favorite food? "Total and raisins."
14. What do you enjoy doing with me? "Chores."
Matt, age 4.5
About Brigitte
1. What is something I always say to you? "I can't think of anything for that. Matt."
2. What makes me happy? "Hugs and cuddles."
3. What makes me sad? "Dad."
4. How do I make you laugh? "Fuzzy puzzles."
5. What is my favorite color? "What? I don't know."
6. How old am I? "I think thirty or twentysomething."
7. How tall am I? "I don't know. I think if you're standing next to the couch and I'm standing on the edge, that's how tall."
8. What is my favorite thing to do? "Feeding Ben."
9. What do I do when you're not around? "Do puzzles. Play with Ben."
10. What am I really good at? "Feeding Ben food that's not milk."
11. What is something I'm not good at? "Messes."
12. What do I do for a job? "Kids."
13. What is my favorite food? "Green beans."
14. What do you enjoy doing with me? "LEGOs and reading."
About Jeff
1. What is something I always say to you? "I love you."
2. What makes me happy? "Cuddling."
3. What makes me sad? "Messes."
4. How do I make you laugh? "Saying 'Sam'."
5. What is my favorite color? "Green."
6. How old am I? "I think 32."
7. How tall am I? "Probably from the floor to here." (He was holding his hand about 4 feet off the ground.)
8. What is my favorite thing to do? "Watching football."
9. What do I do when you're not around? "Watching football."
10. What am I really good at? "Turning on tv."
11. What is something I'm not good at? "Messes."
12. What do I do for a job? "I think design buildings."
13. What is my favorite food? "Corn and okra."
14. What do you enjoy doing with me? "Watching football & Mighty Machines and LEGOs and reading and Magnatiles."
Without any answer-prompting, ask your child these questions. Post with age and name of child.
Sam, 2.5 years
About Brigitte
1. What is something I always say to you? "Go out for exercise."
2. What makes me happy? "I. Coffee."
3. What makes me sad? "Yourself."
4. How do I make you laugh? "Playing. When you say Ben is staying home and Sam is going to preschool and Matt is going to kindergarten."
5. What is my favorite color? "Something on your shirt."
6. How old am I? "Too much."
7. How tall am I? "Too much." (Lots of giggles.)
8. What is my favorite thing to do? "Something at Matt's school."
9. What do I do when you're not around? "Play. Play garbage truck."
10. What am I really good at? "Puzzles."
11. What is something I'm not good at? "That. That's on wall." (He was pointing to the calendar. ??)
12. What do I do for a job? "Chores and stuff."
13. What is my favorite food? "Not peanut butter crackers. You like soup."
14. What do you enjoy doing with me? "Playing. Have fun 'Mom & Sam & Ben time.'" (Aka, when Matt's at preschool.)
About Jeff
1. What is something I always say to you? "Mom."
2. What makes me happy? "I."
3. What makes me sad? "I."
4. How do I make you laugh? "Like Dad. Everybody go poop."
5. What is my favorite color? "Red."
6. How old am I? "Two and much."
7. How tall am I? "Too much."
8. What is my favorite thing to do? "Chores."
9. What do I do when you're not around? "Sleep."
10. What am I really good at? "Chores."
11. What is something I'm not good at? "I? My?"
12. What do I do for a job? "I'll move these things at church."
13. What is my favorite food? "Total and raisins."
14. What do you enjoy doing with me? "Chores."
Matt, age 4.5
About Brigitte
1. What is something I always say to you? "I can't think of anything for that. Matt."
2. What makes me happy? "Hugs and cuddles."
3. What makes me sad? "Dad."
4. How do I make you laugh? "Fuzzy puzzles."
5. What is my favorite color? "What? I don't know."
6. How old am I? "I think thirty or twentysomething."
7. How tall am I? "I don't know. I think if you're standing next to the couch and I'm standing on the edge, that's how tall."
8. What is my favorite thing to do? "Feeding Ben."
9. What do I do when you're not around? "Do puzzles. Play with Ben."
10. What am I really good at? "Feeding Ben food that's not milk."
11. What is something I'm not good at? "Messes."
12. What do I do for a job? "Kids."
13. What is my favorite food? "Green beans."
14. What do you enjoy doing with me? "LEGOs and reading."
About Jeff
1. What is something I always say to you? "I love you."
2. What makes me happy? "Cuddling."
3. What makes me sad? "Messes."
4. How do I make you laugh? "Saying 'Sam'."
5. What is my favorite color? "Green."
6. How old am I? "I think 32."
7. How tall am I? "Probably from the floor to here." (He was holding his hand about 4 feet off the ground.)
8. What is my favorite thing to do? "Watching football."
9. What do I do when you're not around? "Watching football."
10. What am I really good at? "Turning on tv."
11. What is something I'm not good at? "Messes."
12. What do I do for a job? "I think design buildings."
13. What is my favorite food? "Corn and okra."
14. What do you enjoy doing with me? "Watching football & Mighty Machines and LEGOs and reading and Magnatiles."
Thursday, December 17, 2015
What I'm going to do
We were leaving Matt's preschool after dropping him off, and I said, "Sammy, what am I going to do next year when Matt's at kindergarten and you're at preschool and it's just me and Ben at home?" Sam immediately replied, "Potty training! Potty training for Ben!"
Monday, December 14, 2015
Ben's nap notes
Well, the time has come for no more nursing or holding to sleep for Ben's naps. He's been taking the occasional decent nap but mostly naps only 5 to 25 minutes long. And that's not good for him.
Today:
7:00 a.m. - awake for day
9:22 a.m. - in crib, standing, cruising, making screechy noises
9:35 a.m. - asleep
10:48 a.m. - awake and happy
1:37 p.m. - in crib, standing, sitting, crawling, making happy noises
1:43 p.m. - standing and crying
1:48 p.m. - sitting and crying harder
1:50 p.m. - lying down and crying hard
1:53 p.m. - asleep
2:11 p.m. - awake
December 15
6:30 a.m. - awake for day
9:18 a.m. - in crib, crying
9:33 a.m. - asleep
10:18 a.m. - awake and crying
1:09 p.m. - in crib, standing, cruising, making happy noises
1:11 p.m. - lying down, making sleepy noises
1:13 p.m. - asleep
2:31 p.m. - awake and happy
December 16
7 a.m. - awake for day
9:13 a.m. - in crib, crying
9:20 a.m. - asleep
10:20 a.m. - awake and happy
1:13 p.m. - in crib, rolling, standing, fussing
1:19 p.m. - standing and crying hard
1:20 p.m. - lying down, sitting, lying down, sitting, fussing
1:24 p.m. - asleep
3:00 p.m. - had to wake him up!
December 17
9:19 a.m. - in crib, lying down, quiet
9:21 a.m. - standing and crying/fussing
9:23 a.m. - lying down and fussing
9:25 a.m. - asleep
10:28 a.m. - awake and happy
1:14 p.m. - in crib, lying down, quiet
1:22 p.m. - loud fussing
1:24 p.m. - asleep
Today:
7:00 a.m. - awake for day
9:22 a.m. - in crib, standing, cruising, making screechy noises
9:35 a.m. - asleep
10:48 a.m. - awake and happy
1:37 p.m. - in crib, standing, sitting, crawling, making happy noises
1:43 p.m. - standing and crying
1:48 p.m. - sitting and crying harder
1:50 p.m. - lying down and crying hard
1:53 p.m. - asleep
2:11 p.m. - awake
December 15
6:30 a.m. - awake for day
9:18 a.m. - in crib, crying
9:33 a.m. - asleep
10:18 a.m. - awake and crying
1:09 p.m. - in crib, standing, cruising, making happy noises
1:11 p.m. - lying down, making sleepy noises
1:13 p.m. - asleep
2:31 p.m. - awake and happy
December 16
7 a.m. - awake for day
9:13 a.m. - in crib, crying
9:20 a.m. - asleep
10:20 a.m. - awake and happy
1:13 p.m. - in crib, rolling, standing, fussing
1:19 p.m. - standing and crying hard
1:20 p.m. - lying down, sitting, lying down, sitting, fussing
1:24 p.m. - asleep
3:00 p.m. - had to wake him up!
December 17
9:19 a.m. - in crib, lying down, quiet
9:21 a.m. - standing and crying/fussing
9:23 a.m. - lying down and fussing
9:25 a.m. - asleep
10:28 a.m. - awake and happy
1:14 p.m. - in crib, lying down, quiet
1:22 p.m. - loud fussing
1:24 p.m. - asleep
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Barns
Sam: "What barn for, Matt?"
Matt: "A barn is like a house, except there's nothing to do in it except lay around and sleep. The animals just walk in it and go to sleep, or if there's bad weather they can go in it. Also, farmers can keep their tools in there and just go in and get what they need. Sometimes tractors are in barns but not usually."
Matt: "A barn is like a house, except there's nothing to do in it except lay around and sleep. The animals just walk in it and go to sleep, or if there's bad weather they can go in it. Also, farmers can keep their tools in there and just go in and get what they need. Sometimes tractors are in barns but not usually."
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