On Sunday night, John and I were getting ready to go to bed. About 11:30, we hear the baby screaming so I sent John in to quiet him down. (If I go in, Philip thinks it's time to get up.) John goes in and talks to Philip for a minute but the screaming doesn't stop, then John yells at me to hurry up and get in there quick!

He finally noticed that the baby had his leg wedged in-between the slats of his crib. Just his knee actually. We figured out to put the rest of his leg out too and then John pulled the slats apart just enough so I could pull Philip free.

Then we had to go out to the living room to calm him down. Philip said, "That was kind of scary."

My poor baby.
____________

Of course, if he'd just get out of the stupid crib and into his big boy bed, that wouldn't have happened! I don't know why he won't move over. As soon as Stephanie saw her big bed, she refused to even touch the crib again.

I hate to tell Philip this: but his New Year's Resolutions are to be sleeping in his big boy bed before the end of January and to be housebroken before his 3rd birthday.

I'll let you know how he does. ;)

Not the Santa

We went to see Santa last week. Philip really enjoyed meeting him.

However.

When we were leaving the store, the cashier had on a Santa hat. This irritated the heck out of Philip.

He kept yelling at the guy, "You're NOT SANTA! You give that hat BACK!"

Saturday Night

As John and I were getting ready to go to bed Saturday night, I could hear a certain little someone talking in his bed.

Naturally, I assumed he would quiet down and go to sleep so I got into my nice comfy bed and got all nice and toasty warm.

Still with the talking. So since I was nice and toasty warm, I sent John to go quiet the baby down. (OK the real reason is because if I go in there, Philip thinks he can get out of bed but when John goes in there, he'll usually go ahead and quiet down and go to sleep.) Whatever, I still didn't want to get out of bed.

Less than a minute later, John comes back, crawls into bed, and advises me that I need to go get my boy. He said Phil had taken all his clothes off and was sitting there naked.

I said there was no way that could have happened. The baby was exhausted so I just put him down in his clothes - sweat pants and a pull-over shirt - and there was no way he could have gotten his shirt off.

We argued about it for awhile (nice and toasty warm in bed!) but, finally, I got up and this is what greeted me when I looked in on him. . .

The first thing he said to me? "I'm nekked!"

I advised him next time to wait until AFTER he pees to take off the diaper. I was impressed that he managed to get his shirt off though.

Lucky me - I got to clean up and dress a baby AND change his sheets at nearly midnight.

Oh, Kid - The unedited picture will be around for me to show your future girlfriends. Consider it payback.

An Irritation

Philip looked at Hayden the other day and said to him,

"Hayden, you irritate the crap out of me!"

......

No - I have NO IDEA where he got that! - stop looking at me! - and, besides, I only say that when I'm teasing the kids!

That boy is going to get me into so much trouble...

Waking Up

I peeped my head into Philip's room this morning. As soon as he saw me he said, "Help me. I'm stuck in this cage."

Later, Daddy patted the top of his head and he said, "Stop ducking me!" (You know - like, "Duck, Duck, Goose")

Duck, Duck, Cracker

Right now I have the roller coaster right behind the couch. So - when I sit on the couch, occasionally, I have someone come up behind me, pat me on the head, and say, "Duck."

That's all he ever says when he comes up behind you and pats you on the head. "Duck." I keep telling him one of these days, he's gonna have to say "Goose."

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Speaking of speaking. . . this boy can say just about anything.

Except "please."

He refuses to say please.

We've bribed him with cookies and candy, tried to make it a game, and nothing works.

Then. . .

Yesterday, I was in the kitchen eating some Ritz Toasted Chips (my own personal drug of choice - along with Mountain Dew) and Stephanie came in and requested some. I said "no, these are mine!" but I was guilted and cuted into giving her a few.

Then Philip came in and requested a cracker. I said "no, these are mine!" and he said, "Cracker, please."

I said, "What?"

And he said it again, "Cracker, please."

I'm very happy he said please but from now on, I'm locking myself in the bathroom to eat my chips.

What About Mittens?

Philip brought me a glove today.

He said, "Please put my fingers on."

Philip and the Magic Crayon

I've noticed a lot of scribbling on my walls recently in both crayon and pencil. The girls both said they didn't do it.

So I looked at Philip and told him, "I've noticed all this drawing is about at your height."

He smiles, his face lights up, and he says, "Yeah!"

So I advised him we do not draw on walls.

Yeah - we'll see how that turns out.

Good thing I haven't painted in the living room yet.

A Joke

P: "Knock, knock."

Me: "Who's there?"

P: "Banana who?"



hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Even the baby is a cut-up around here.

Cheese

This baby has quite the imagination.

He walks around the house roaring and says either "I din-o-saur" or "I a bear."

Sometimes "I a robot" in a robot-y voice.

Yesterday I was arguing with him. I'd say "I'm a robot." Then he'd say "I a robot."

Back and forth until finally I said "Cheese. See. I'm a robot because a robot, a robot, a robot says 'cheese'." *

Last night I put a robot to bed. I said "Good night, little robot."

He said, "Cheese."

* This would be a song from the Backyardigans episode "Front Page News" where Tasha is a 'Clark Kent' reporter/super hero who is trying to save the town from a giant robot who really only wants his picture taken.

ROAR

P: "ROAR . . . ROAR"

Me: "Are you a bear?"

P: "Din-saur. Me Din-saur."

Cute New Saying

He runs down the hall right up to me. . .

"Aha, I got you now!"

Bedtime

Philip can get out of his crib at will now. He (more or less) knows that he is not supposed to get out once we put him down. Sometimes he will try to defy us without us knowing. Unfortunately, something usually gives him away sooner or later.

We're working on getting him into a 'big boy' bed.

Houston, We have a Problem!

Guess who figured out he can get out of his crib by himself?

Saturday night, I was sitting at the computer after having finally gotten all the kids in bed. Someone came walking right up to me and said, "I poopy." And he was. So I changed him and put him back to bed.

And he got back out 3 more times. I finally had to show him that Mommy was going to bed now and threaten him to stay in his bed.

Then I lay in bed for 2 hours trying to decide if that noise I heard was the cat or the baby up wandering around.

So we're going to get a bunkbed put up in Hayden's room so the boys can share.

However, before I do that I would like to get Hayden's room painted.

Before I can do that, I really should get the girls' stuff out of Hayden's room.

Before I can do that, I need to get their closet systems installed.

Before I can do that, I need to paint their room.

Before I can do that, I need to finish mudding and sanding the drywall.

So that is what I've been doing the past few days. Sanding drywall. I will mud it again in the next day or so, get it sanded, prime it, and hopefully get it painted before school starts next Wednesday. Serves me right for putting it off for so long. But I hate mudding and sanding. I just want to paint.

Artwork Wednesday #2

The main problem with having kids spaced up to 7.5 years apart is: letting the older ones do their age-appropriate activities without letting the younger ones get themselves hurt on said activities.




OK. Technically he didn't hurt himself on the markers but he does look ridiculous and the markers are not the washable kind.

Oh, and I don't remember what he was eating when I took this picture but, apparently, it was very good.
____________

Speaking of eating . . . another hazard of having children 7.5 years apart is the older ones teach the younger ones games.

I caught Philip playing the "Zombie Game" the other day. He was walking stiff-legged around the house saying, "Brains!"

Rugrats

Have you seen the cartoon show "Rugrats?" It's about a bunch of babies who get into adventures. The baby leader is like a MacGyver who always has the necessary tools and whatever stuffed into his diaper.

I always thought that was stupid. I've never seen a kid stuff things down into his diaper.

. . . . Until now.

I changed his diaper yesterday and found a WebKinz figurine. Thankfully, it was only a wet diaper!

Today he crawled up next to me on the couch and had the handle of one of the play kitchen spatulas sticking up out of his diaper. Apparently, that kind of hurt.

I never was a fan of the Rugrats.

Bust a Move

We've been dropping the older kids off at summer camp for the past week.

For the last 2 days, as Meredith gets out of the car, Philip will tell her, "I ruv ru, Mere-ith!"

That's my sweet little Scooby Boy! (The 'd' is silent, don't ya know.)

_______________

This boy is an incredible mimic. So was Steffi. The older two would always act shy when you asked them to say something. But Philip will just say it.

This is one of the more fun aspects of having children!

If you watch "Scrubs", there's an old episode that has J.D. and Turk at a medical convention and they meet an old guy who impersonates Young MC. He's called 'Old Young MC.' Everytime anyone asks Old Young MC anything, he responds with, "Bust a move."

(Young MC is a rapper and had a song called "Bust a Move" back in, I think, 1989.)

So now John and I are trying to teach our baby to say "Bust a move." He'll say it when we say it but we're still waiting for him to just say it on his own.

It's still hilarious to us though.

Artwork Wednesday #1

This drawing is from July 2008.

Philip may not have very many "Artwork Wednesdays" for awhile. I don't mind helping the kids draw but if I do most of it, it doesn't count as their art.

Time to Get Up

Mommy got to sleep until 9:00 this morning! It was lovely. When I got up the girls were already hard at work playing computer games. Hayden got up at 9:30. John asked me to come downstairs and help him with something so I decided I would go before the baby got up.

I was walking down the hallway to the door when I heard it . . .

"Hey!"

"Get me out!"

He's so sweet!

John wants to put him into a big boy bed already. I'm not sure I'm ready for that. He still stays in his crib until I get him out but he is getting kind of big for it.

Look Who's TWO!

Someone had a birthday last week.

Can you guess who it was?

The alligator cupcake cake Daddy made.

This is what we had for the day of his birthday at home.

Ferocious, isn't he?


And yummy too.

Well, at least the frosting was - that's all Philip would eat of it.

We went to Grandma & Grandpa's on Saturday and
got these cool toys!
There is a pig under the haystack in that wagon - he pops
up and down. Every time he popped up,
Philip would say, "Ta da! Here I am!"

This is the cake I made.
It's supposed to be a field.
Thosse green things are supposed to be the crops.
Clearly I need lessons on cake decorating.
There are 68 green 'dots' because
Dad's birthday was 2 days before Philip's.

Yes, I even made Dad get in on the
cake picture!

What's better than turning 2?
Sharing your birthday cake with Grandpa.

I made chocolate cake from scratch
but John made the frosting.
If you add a little extra milk to this frosting -
it becomes fudge!
We made more frosting/fudge this week.

Not so Little

Apparently my baby isn't as little as I seem to think he is.

We went for his 2-year-old checkup today.

He weighs 33.4 pounds and is 36.25 inches tall.

That puts him at the 100th percentile for weight and 95th percentile for height.

So he's actually pretty big.

Guess Who is Having a Birthday?

Happy 2nd Birthday, my little Sweet Potato!

A Boy and his BaPa

Philip isn't actually mad at Grandpa in this picture. He's mad at me because I went outside to yell at the girls and didn't take him with me. The fact that when he's outside he immediately heads to the road doesn't seem to be a factor to him.

"She's so MEAN! I wanna go out too!"

But Grandpa is nice!

Dental Hygiene

I was on the computer last night. Thinking John was taking care of the kids.

I got up and looked around - there were only 3 kids in the living room with us.

The baby was missing.

The lights were on in the kitchen down the hall. Drat!

There he was.

Sitting on the floor in the pantry.

Between the trash can and the cat box.

Using his toothbrush to dig in the cat box!

----------------------

I have never been so glad we have a automatic cat box!

And believe me - I REALLY liked it before.

I was also glad the Easter Bunny bought a double-pack of toothbrushes for him.

Rudolph

Do you know what happens when you race your older sister down the hall and she pushes you from behind and you fly through the air and land on your face?

Onesies are Wonderful!

You probably don't know this about my Mommy - but she doesn't like onesies very much. Especially for bigger kids like me.

But yesterday she bought me some 'new' onesies at Once Upon a Child in Omaha.

I don't like them very much either.

You see, I like to reach down into my diaper and make sure all my bits & pieces are there. Sometimes I can get the diaper pushed down in front. Sometimes the front of my jeans and my shirt get all wet then and I get to have fresh new clothes in the middle of the day.

I can't do that with onesies.

So - why did she buy them?

__________________

Mommy here: What do you think people?

Hayden never did this. At least not to this extent. This boy constantly has his hand down his pants. I suppose it's still in the normal range but, I am seriously tired of having to change his clothes all the dang time!

Is this just normal behavior that he'll outgrow?

Or, do I need to add "trench coat" to the 1st day of school shopping list?

See How They Run

This kid is soaking up information as fast as you can put it out there.

Yesterday I taught the girls the "Three Blind Mice" song.

Last night before bed, Meredith and Stephanie were playing on the roller coaster and singing "Three Blind Mice."

After they got off the roller coaster, Philip got on and as he rolled down the track, he was singing, "Three Blind Mice, Three Blind Mice, Three Blind Mice..."

Quack, Quack

There is a Backyardigans show called "The Mighty Knights." Tyrone and Uniqua have to guard a egg and it says, "Quack, Quack." They end up having to chase it around and it eventually turns into a dragon.

Today Philip found a play egg from our kitchen stuff and he was walking around with it saying, "Quack, Quack."

I thought it was funny.
______________

If we're in the car and have to stop at a red light, he says, "Go, Man!"
______________

Last night we were in the car and listening to a children's song called, "I'm gonna get you, you'd better run." and he was singing along, "Get you...better run." He also got a few of the other words right.
______________

Also, last night I was singing the Alphabet Song to him. I got to P, and he sang "Q, R, S" then I sang to Y, and he said, "Z."

Potato Head

Philip was just crying.

I went to see what was wrong...

He's trying to stick a Mr Potato Head nose in his own nose.

I'm not sure if he's crying because it hurt

or because it wouldn't stick.

Mr. Potato Head (and his parts) is now being exiled into storage for awhile.

Hi, Mom

As I was getting ready for bed last night, I kept hearing a thump, thump noise. It was coming from the wall shared by the bathroom and Philip's room/closet.

I opened the baby's door and he was standing in his crib. He looked at me and very clearly and very much awake said, "Hi, Mom! What ya doin'?"

So he didn't get to sleep until after 11 last night and woke up before 8. I don't think he'll put up much of a fight at naptime today.

Don't Float Away!

The baby went to bed on time last night at 9 o'clock. Later I was in the bathroom huddled in front of the heater and sitting in front of the steamer trying to steam my clogged nasel passages open. It finally worked and I was heading to bed to try and get to sleep while I could still breathe. I went into the baby's room/closet to cover him with his blanket and, in the dar, I could see him just sitting there. Scared the crap out of me. He was so quiet, I thought he was asleep. Instead he was sitting there. Why? Because he and his bed were SOAKED! He likes to play with his, ummm, equipment, and so he had pushed his diaper down far enough that the diaper may as well have been off.

I had put him to bed in a 2-piece pajama set because that's all he had in his drawer. At 11:30, I dug a footie pj out of the clean laundry pile for him. It zips all the way from his knee to his neck and he doesn't yet know how to upzip it. Ha!

On the plus side, I got my day's allotment of smooches from the baby before I put him back to bed. He doesn't give them out much during the day, but 2 and a half hours after bedtime, he's all lovey.

First Haircut

BEFORE:


DURING:

Watching "Shark Tale"

Don't get the ear!


AFTER:

The celebratory dinner: french fries!

He looks so big now.

I'm kind of sad I got his hair cut.

No More Kisses

This baby (and I use that term loosely) is driving me crazy! He won't give me kisses anymore!

I did manage to coax one out of him yesterday - after about 3 days of begging. But that's it. The well is dried up.

Now he'd rather tackle me. Or stand on my toes. Or laugh hysterically and run off.

A New Game for Toddlers

What you need: 2 weeble wobbles and 2 of your sister's dress-up bracelets.

How to play: set the weebles on a table and put the bracelets over them. When the bracelets are on the table around the weebles you can either, a) move the weebles to a new location on the table, or b) pull the bracelets out from under the weebles. Then you put the bracelets over the weebles again.

Please try to start this game at about 3 seconds until naptime. When your Mommy calls you to come take your nap, don't listen, just keep playing the game.

Your Mommy will come over and see that you are using this game to build your motor skills and even though she knows you need a nap, she also knows it's important to build these skills. Also, if you play the game quietly and look really thoughtful while you're doing it, she will be more inclined to let you stay up just a little bit longer.

Watzup?

The baby just crashed his Tonka dump truck into my chair and said, "Hi. What's up?"

Then as he left, he said, "How you doing?"

Random

Yesterday, I worked in the store all day from 10am to 8pm. Paula was with the kids all day and John was with them off and on all day.

So I finally get upstairs at 8:10 and everyone is at the table eating. Philip calls to me from his high chair, "Mommy, Mommy, hep me!"

I go get him out and give him a big hug and he's being so sweet.

Then....I have to put him down for a minute.

He. Had. A. FIT! Screaming, crying, then he wouldn't let me pick him up but he didn't want to be down. Seriously, it took him about 10 minutes to calm down.

I think the problem was that I've been home with them all week and, then, I wasn't. Perhaps he had been missing me all day and just didn't realize it until I got home?
______________________

Random fact of the week: When I feed him a banana, I only give him 1/2 at a time. He always turns the banana so he's eating the tapered end first. Always. If I hand it to him the wrong way, he will turn it around. It's hilarious.

My Little Hooligan

He likes to help me 'clean' the kitchen.
How else do you find that ONE book you want to read?

I believe Snoopy won this round.

Bath Time!

He can now get into the bathtub by himself.

By throwing himself in head first.

'Bye until next time!

Morning Activities

Philip is walking around my chair saying "Mommy, Mommy, He'p me. He'p me."

Then he stands on the chair next to mine "Ready. Seck. Go!"

I'm sitting on the edge of my chair (I know this game) and he jumps into my chair behind me and gets stuck on the arm "He'p me."

I ask for kisses and he says "No."

But he did give me a nice long hug.

More Cute Sayings

Philip likes to race. By himself.

He stands still. "Ready. Seck." He goes. "GOOOO!"

____________

Today Philip brought me a toy that makes noise but it was turned off.

He starts from across the room. "On. On. On. On."

He hands it to me. "On. Please."

Awwww! At least one of the kids knows how to say please.

____________

When he wants some more to eat, he says, "Some."

Mommy's Favorite Pajamas

I love these pajamas. I don't know that we'll get to pass them on to anyone else. I've already had to repair the toes. (It hurts when your toe sticks out of the footie pj's.)

Can you guess which kid is which?

They are (from top to bottom): Hayden, Philip, Stephanie, and Meredith.

Crabby Morning

You gotta love little kids. Philip refused to sleep until very late last night so he is crabby this morning.

Just a minute ago he was at the other side of the house having a fit. He REFUSED to be comforted. So, I walked to the living room and turned on "The Backyardigans." I turned it up real loud so he could hear the opening song. I could see his little legs from where he was lying on the floor. As soon as he heard the music, his legs stopped kicking. He laid really still for a minute like he was trying to process what he was hearing. Then he got up and ran to the tv.

The moral of the story: Sometimes the tv can be a good thing!

I Love You

Guess who started to say "I Love You" this past weekend?

Yes, you're right - it was Philip.

It sounds more like "I you" or "Lalu" and it's part of a game for now.

But I'll take it!

He says so many words now I can't even begin to tell you everything he says.

It's a Brand New Year

Philip has some resolutions this year too...

He resolves to think about being house-broken by the end of the year.

He resolves to not just snatch toys away from the other kids. And then run away screaming when they try to take them back.

He resolves to take his naps in a more timely fashion instead of lying there talking to himself for 45 minutes first.



OK. That is just wishful thinking. But a mother can dream, right?