Kitchen Help...

Half-pint likes to help me in the kitchen. He especially likes to get things out of the "gadget drawer". He likes to stir, especially with a wire whisk, and open cans with the can opener. He likes to help me make chocolate milk, muffins, oatmeal, and "dinner-time". He enjoys to hold the measuring spoons and cups. He loves to get the baby food out of the cupboard for Quarter-pint. I often find him climbing up onto the counter tops and getting things out of the cupboards. A few days ago, I told him we could have some ice cream-with sprinkles-after I put Quarter-pint down for a nap. As I was coming down the stairs, I could hear Half-pint and guessed what he was doing. As I approached him quietly, he quickly tried to put the sprinkles back and get down off the counter top. When I asked him what he was doing he simply said:

"Naut-ing, just checking on the spinkles!"

I never know what he's going to do next...

When Momma's Gone...

On Saturday I had a church meeting in the middle of the day that I needed to go to. Daddy stayed home with Half-pint and I took Quarter-pint with me. I fully expected Daddy to let Half-pint watch movies the entire time because I knew he had work to do (business work, not house work). When I got home 1 1/2 hours later, I asked Half-pint:

"What did you do while I was gone?"

"I went to the basement all by-myself!"

"What did you do in the basement? Did you play with your train?"

"No, I eat doldpish"

"Did you open a new bag of goldfish?"

"Yep, I eat doldpish two times!"

"Did you make a mess?"

"Ummm, a little mess..."

"What else did you do?"

"I tiptoe (if you have ever seen Half-pints hands when he says "tiptoe"-he always puts his little hands up by his cheeks and wiggles his fingers)...and eat TOOKIES!!!" (The Oreo ring around his mouth gave away the "tookie" eating immediately!) "Then I watch my hero movie!"

"Wow! Sounds like you had fun while I was gone!"

At first I couldn't find the goldfish he had opened, so I had Half-pint show me. Sure enough, on his pint-sized picnic table was a bag of goldfish obviously opened by a three-year-old. He was right, it was only a little mess.

Hair...

Recently we've been getting a lot of comments about Quarter-pint's hair. Complete strangers stop us and tell me how much they like his hair. It's a fun hairdo and it's completely natural! Honestly, I don't do it-that's what it naturally does. When I wash his hair, it lays flat on his head while it's wet and as it dries...well, it stands straight up.

My Dad sloved the mystery: Quarter-pint gets his hair from...me!

Rug Mover...

I was doing a little ironing the other day (I know, that's historic) when Half-pint wanted me to go downstairs. As I reached the front door, I realized that the rug in front of the door was missing. That's what Half-pint wanted to show me...he had rolled up the rug (sort of) and has stashed it under Daddy's desk, neatly against the wall. What a little Turkey! I don't know why he does most of the things that I catch him doing...but at least he quickly and eagerly complied when I asked him to put the rug back and proudly exclaimed when he was finished "that's perfect!" (He didn't straighten it out, which surprised me, but he was quite pleased with himself.)

Shower Rules

So, Half-pint has a few rules to follow while I am in the shower and Daddy isn't home. I always have Half-pint repeat the shower rules to me before I get in the shower and generally he watches cartoons on my bed.

• Rule #1: No Answering the Phone
• Rule #2: No Opening the (front) Door
• Rule #3: No jumping on the Bed (there is no reasonable way I can enforce this one...but Half-pint always throws it in.)

These rules are generally followed, but not always...
A few weeks ago Half-pint was having a tough morning-just plain being naughty. After a time-out or two and having TV privileges revoked (which, by the way, is NOT a good way to begin the day) I finally thought Half-pint had settled down. I got Quarter-pint asleep for his morning nap and I told Half-pint I was going to take a quick shower. Because the TV was not an option, I thought playing computer games would keep him occupied long enough for me to get cleaned up, after all, he was already playing a computer game. We went over the "shower rules", everything seemed fine.

As I opened the shower door to get out, I heard an unfamiliar voice call out "Hello? Is anyone home? Hello...I have your son." I called back and raced downstairs in my bathrobe and a towel on my dripping hair. Sure enough, a very kind woman (with about 10 kids in tow) was standing on my front porch with Half-pint right next to her. She said he was outside, hiding in the bushes and that he had been there for about 10 minutes! That's the entire time I had been in the shower! She asked him how he had gotten out and he told her the door. Sure enough, he had unlocked the front door and run outside, still in his pajamas and with a VERY stinky diaper! I was so embarrassed!

Just the other day, we discussed the "shower rules" again. As I got in the shower, I could hear Half-pint moving chairs around in the kitchen. I wondered what he was up to (there is never any telling what he's up to!) and hurried to finish my shower. When I came downstairs, there he was watching his movie on the couch, everything seemed fine. I looked on the kitchen table and found the loaf of bread I had baked the day before-with tunnels burrowed through it! We had sliced bread in the same cupboard where he found the unsliced bread. I'm not sure what he was thinking...practicing to become a Sandhog???

This morning he wanted a slice of bread, so I cut him one. He was NOT happy about all the holes in his slice. "No, it's broken! Maybe we cut the back side!" I wouldn't cut the back side-I know, I'm so mean!-(what a smart little turkey!) but got him a piece of sliced bread instead.

Quarter-pint Milestones!

Quarter-pint has been awfully busy the past little while...he has cut his first THREE teeth in less than three weeks! He only waited nine months to begin, but now he is making up for lost time. He has also figured out how to crawl in the past few days. Well, I wouldn't actually call it crawling, it's more like propelling himself forward on his belly. He pushes off with his toes, and catches himself with his arms--he doesn't really have the arm, knee movement synchronized yet. On Sunday we used strawberry shortcake to entice him to move forward and last night a game of dominoes did the trick. Today when I left him playing with toys on the floor and came back into the room a few minutes later and actually had to look for him, I knew he has officially moved into the realm of mobility!

"I Do It Myself!"

Anyone who has babysat Quarter-pint will tell you that he has a little stubborn streak. One way that he expresses this is when he is thirsty. He will not let me help him with his sippy cup. If I try, he makes a face, lets go of the cup and pushes the cup and my hands away. He won't even try again if my hands are anywhere near him! I can't wait until he is a teenager!

Sweetly Sleeping...

Half-pint, Quarter-pint, and I have all come down with stuffy noses this past week and we haven't always felt great. Yesterday afternoon Half-pint fell asleep on the couch. Quarter-pint and I were in the same room as Half-pint began to snore. Did I say snore? I mean SNORE! I looked over at him and couldn't help but laugh and take his picture.

Because he took such a late nap Half-pint had a difficult time falling asleep at bedtime last night. After I got Quarter-pint in bed, I went to help Half-pint relax. I asked him if he wanted me to rub his feet. When he agreed, I said that I was going to get a "special lotion". He wanted to see what the new lotion looked like, but I said it was dark. He quickly thought and stuck his little index finger into the air and said "I know just the thing...a light!!! That light!" pointing to the star-shaped nightlight shining quietly on the wall. As soon as I returned with the "special lotion" we huddled around the 4 watt nightlight a examined the jar of lotion. After a foot rub I left his room, with Half-pint in his bed and yawning. When I checked on him again, he had moved all the things that are important to sleep (i.e. his teddy bear, baby, puppy, bumpy blanket and pillow) to the lazy boy chair in the corner and had his tiger-shaped flashlight shining in his face. He was sound asleep!

"You say kill it? I don't want that to happen!"

I don't even know where to begin...I guess I begin in the morning. This morning was blessed because I actually got up and went to my exercise class (beginning at 8:00, but we have to leave by 7:30 to get there on time). We did great getting out the door, the trouble began after the exercise class. Half-pint was dawdling along to the car as usual, until we reach the parking lot, then he runs (that's going to be a whole separate blog post!). I finally get him to stop as the car parked next to ours begins to pull out. He moves to the front of our car where the landscaping between the parking spots and the road into the parking lot consists completely of rocks and a few trees. While I'm getting Quarter-pint in the car (I can't wrestle Half-pint if I'm holding 20 pound Quarter-pint!) Half-pint decides it's a great idea to throw rocks and a stick into the street, then he changes his trajectory towards the cars! Needless to say, getting him into the car is not going well. He loves to go to the grocery store, so I tell him that we can't go if he won't get in his "chair" (aka: car seat with a firm chest clip!).

Eventually Half-pint gets into his chair nicely and we head to the grocery store despite my hesitations about his behavior. As we approach the store, Half-pint saw the grocery carts with the truck in front and decided he wanted to drive one. I agreed, knowing that he wouldn't stay in the driver's seat for long, but the promise of a cookie from the bakery usually goes a long way in keeping the driver in his seat. As we move through the produce section, Half-pint gets out of the truck and wants to help me. Everything okay so far until he walks around the corner out of my line of sight. I hear a smallish crash and poke my head around the corner. Half-pint was running his little hand along the displays and knocked about half a dozen crouton bags on the floor with his unzipped jacket. He was trying to pick them up, but kept knocking them off. As soon as we finished picking them up, he immediately ran his little hand along the display and did it again. Before I could get to the cart (with Quarter-pint in it) Half-pint decided to drive again, but not in the truck, by pushing the cart (he isn't tall enough to see over the top and Quarter-pint's car seat was blocking his view) into another display. By this time we have 3 items on our list and we are still in the first department of the store...I thought it was bad...As I tried to quickly finish our shopping Half-pint is hanging out of the truck windows, dragging his hand along the floor, climbing up and hanging out of the windshield, then turning about to face me (still hanging out of the windshield) to say "You okay Momma?" "Yes, sit down please." By the time we get to the bakery and dairy (almost finished shopping!) Half-pint decides he wants to help me get the yogurt from the shelf so he climbs on top of the truck. After I get everything on our list (I think there were about 12 whole items) I think we're just about home free...but the only checkout lane open in a self-check lane. "Oh great!" I think to myself as we get started. Half-pint wants to help, so he again climbs on top of the truck, but he still can't reach the scanner and I can't position the cart in a place where I can reach it and the scanner so I'm running around the cart to grab as many items as I can, scanning them and then running around the cart again to place them on the weight sensitive bagging platform. After Half-pint fell off the top of the truck (thank goodness I caught him just before he hit the floor) he decided it was too dangerous to help me. He kept himself busy by touching the screen of the grocery checker for the self-check lanes, and rearranging the gum on the shelf across the isle from us. The entire time, Quarter-pint is babbling away, smiling at everyone around us. Oh, those are the days!!!. I think we've gotten through the worst of it as Half-pint rides on the back of the cart with me to the car. But then he won't get in his car seat...again! He hid in the cart corral in the next parking space, and threw rocks at ME when I tried to encourage him to get into the car. I think it took about 10 minutes to get him into the car and buckled, but in the end, he showed me that he could do it "all-by-my-self!"

I was TOTALLY exasperated as I pulled out of the parking lot. Our short shopping list took an hour to get. I called Daddy on his cell phone and simply said "I don't know what to do with him." Daddy suggested that I just stay home with the boys all the time. My response was "I can't stay home all the time, I might kill him." From the back seat comes the little voice of Half-pint "Did you say kill it? You say kill it? I don't want that to happen!" "I don't want that to happen either!" I don't know if he knew who I was talking about, but he doesn't miss a thing!

Quarter-pint

I realize up to this point, Half-pint has hogged all the blogs! Quarter-pint is beginning to come into his own. When we go shopping, especially at the super-mega mart, I have found it goes much more smoothly if we are all eating as we shop. So when I can, we head straight for the deli. This last shopping excursion, Half-pint wanted macaroni and cheese (whatever keeps him happy and sitting in the basket is fine with me!) and I got the customary popcorn chicken. Quarter-pint has recently become VERY interested in whatever the rest of us eat. His diet has thus far been restricted to anything mashed or mooshed, but no wheat, dairy or protein. If it's on my plate, he wants it. This shopping trip was no different. He was very interested in getting his fat little hands on my cup of popcorn chicken. So after some lively grunting and reaching, I gave in and handed Quarter-pint the cup (with a lid) of chicken. It was amusing for me to watch him try to get the chicken. He shook and banged and babbled. Eventually he did shake some chicken into his lap, but his plan was quickly foiled by his mean, mean Mother. While I was distracted by Half-pint as we were trying on shoes for his fat little feet, Quarter-pint succeeded in freeing the chicken! I looked up just in time to see him pull his pacifier out of his mouth and stuff the entire piece of popcorn chicken in. Granted popcorn chicken is small, so is Quarter-pint's mouth! I just watched and thought "Now what kid? You don't have any teeth and you can barely close your mouth!" He just looked at me as if to say, "Now what Mom?" I fished the now slimy ball of breaded chicken out of his little mouth without a fight (to my surprise). Much to Quarter-pint's delight he has begun to eat wheat and he has cut one tooth and I think a second is on it's way since our outing a few days ago.

Weeelicious, Mom!

Half-pint is a funny kid and he says all kinds of sweet things, mixed in with all his antics. To illustrate one of the good things he has done... Last night as we sat down to dinner, I was a little frantic-just plain hungry and tired of Half-pint and Quarter-pint whining. Half-pint helped change my mood in an instant. He said "Weeelicious!!! Thanks Mom! Thank you, Thank you! Weelicious!" "What's delicious?" "The potatoes, Mom, weeelicious!"

When Will It Stop?

When Will It Stop?

The day after the bathroom flooded, Half-pint, Quarter-pint and I were all playing in the family room. Half-pint proudly said"Mom, look at this..." I looked up, but I could only see an empty end table. Then I realized what Half-pint had done. "Did you color on the table?" "Yep, see?" As soon as I got Quarter-pint in front of the basket of toys, I was on my feet examining the end table. Sure enough, there was a masterpiece, completed by a three-year-old. We had a little discussion about not coloring on the furniture, and only coloring on paper. Thankfully, the masterpiece was a work of pencil. After Half-pint and Quarter-pint were in bed (and Dad was gone for the evening, since I didn't bother to tell him about this episode) I got out the big eraser and removed the work of art and then polished the table. All in a Mother's day's work!

Bath, Anyone...?

Bath Anyone...?

We didn't have much time to wait before Half-pint was at it again! Just two days after christening our home with a hole in the door, he struck again. My little Half-pint is a great kid, pretty obedient and a lot of fun, but when he gets tired, instead of getting grouchy, he gets naughty (then he gets grouchy). I knew that he was a little tired, but he hadn't begun the naughtiness yet, so I suggested he play in the bath tub with all his ducks and boats and such. Generally this is a great activity to give me a little break and settle him down. I was frantically working on a baby blanket for my newest niece (born the previous evening) before we went to the hospital to meet her later that evening, when I realized that I hadn't checked on Half-pint for awhile. I could hear him playing, so I wasn't too concerned...while I finally got upstairs and opened the door to his bathroom, I was immediately hit with the weight of humidity. That is not a good sign, even in a small, closed bathroom. My first step completely soaked my foot (I'm really glad I wasn't wearing socks-I hate wet socks!). I looked at Half-pint and then at the tub and quickly realized that he had poured HALF of the water from the fairly full bathtub onto the carpeted floor! I was shocked-he had been working on his wet little project for quite awhile since he only had one 8 oz. plastic cup and two empty bubble bath bottles at his disposal! He is resourceful! The entire carpeted floor in his bathroom was soaking! I quickly grabbed all the large towels I could find to soak up all the water. I couldn't believe how much water I was soaking up! Each time I put a towel down, and stepped on it, water flooded around my foot. By this time Half-pint was ready to get out of the tub, but being the mean Mother that I am, I made him stay in the half-full tub until I finished soaking up water. When I finally got as much water as I could, I ran all the dripping towels downstairs to the laundry room and then got Half-pint dressed. I made him go to the basement with me and help carry up the vacuum to try to get the rest of the water. After a little visit with a wrinkly-footed Mother, he spent some time on his bed for time out! What a turkey! (or should I say a fish out of water?)

To Begin the Week...

Last week was a busy one for Half-pint. We began with the first real destructive act at the hands of Half-pint by putting a hole in the coat closet door. Granted, it was an accident, but that's still not a very good way to begin the week! We keep all the boardgames on the top shelf of the coat closet, and he knows exactly where to find them, but is much too short to actually reach them (even on a chair). He opened the door and was gazing longingly at all the games...Candy Land probably, and simultaneously bouncing the door against the door stop. It didn't take long and I heard a terrible crunching sound. When I asked what happened, and he didn't answer I began to worry. I got up and immediately saw the hole (it's not a large hole, but a hole none-the-less). I don't think he even knew what happened. After a little talk, we went to get Dad. "Daddy be mad?" Half-pint asked me as we walked hand-in-hand down the hall. Daddy was upset, but took it in stride, realizing that the perfect house he tries so hard to maintain has begun its inevitable descent into the hands of the wee-ones. I guess we're lucky that it has taken this long.