Half-pint Conquers Super Mario Brothers...Almost...

Half-pint petitioned for a Wii for more than a year. When he didn't get one Christmas 2009, he talked about it nearly everyday of 2010. He quickly realized that Mom and Dad were not very anxious to get him one, so he trumped his parents by announcing that he was asking Santa for a Wii. Smart kid! All year long he told everyone who would listen to him, that he was going to get a Wii from Santa.

There were tears when Santa showed up in the flesh on Christmas Eve and gave Uncle D a Wii and didn't bring one to him. There was a discussion about waiting until morning to see what Santa would leave while everyone was asleep, because Santa obviously didn't bring ALL his presents at his special visit, he only brought special Christmas Eve pajamas for the kids.

Half-pint was ecstatic to find a family Wii Christmas morning and has been playing it fairly regularly ever since. We've had special play dates with his school friends so they can help get him farther along in the Super Mario Brothers game. The boys want to play nearly every morning when they get up. It's been a great motivator to get ready for the day nicely; and it's usually the first privilege lost for misbehaving.

Last week, Half-pint was insistent that I play Mario with him. I played a little Mario back in the day, and I wasn't too bad. The Wii Mario is completely different than the old Nintendo 64, and needless to say I'm pretty horrible! I finally relented and played for about 45 minutes with him. Thankfully the baby started getting pretty fussy so I got out of it, but not before my thumbs hurt! Half-pint has kept up the insisting, despite my comments about how badly I play. The other night as he was going to bed, Half-pint informed me:
"Mom, I'm your coach. I'm your Mario coach. You'll never get better if you don't practice!"
He's right of course; and he's been practicing...he's even unlocked two more levels this week and is quick to call his school friend to share the good news. It would be long until he has the game beat!

Half-pint Celebrates President's Day...

At school, Half-pint's kindie class had a Patriotic Presentation this week. All the kids had specific speaking parts they have been working on memorizing, they learned patriotic songs (even one "marching song" Half-pint informed me) and of course, all the parents were invited to come and watch. I've been working with Half-pint on and off for a couple of weeks on his speaking part. It was actually really short-just one little sentence and he had it mostly down from the very beginning. "George Washington loved to read." That was his specific part.

Every few days I'd ask him what he was supposed to say, and he knew it, but for the life of him he couldn't remember George Washington's name. It wasn't until about a week ago, when I was reading the teacher's weekly blog, that I realized they hadn't covered George Washington yet in class.

Every time I'd ask Half-pint to recite his part, I got a different name...from Abraham Lincoln to Martin Luther King Jr., and (my favorite) Thomas S. Monson. I wondered what his teacher thought when she heard "Thomas S. Monson loves to read." By Tuesday evening, Half-pint knew George Washington is the guy with the white hair, but still couldn't remember his name. I'm happy to report that Half-pint got it right when it mattered most---in front of all the parents. Good Job Half-pint!

Remind You of Someone???

About a week ago,
as I was getting Peewee-pint dressed,
I had visions of...
Pugsley Adams...

Quarter-pint Talks On The Phone...

Today Quarter-pint picked up the phone and pretended to have a conversation. Actually, he pretended to dial first, and then had this conversation...

"Hi. My name is _____."

"I want to meet you at my house."

"I love you so much..."

His conversation was interrupted by Half-pint who was listening by now and asked Quarter-pint what he was doing. I was a little disappointed that his conversation was finished...it was SOO precious! After Half-pint broke the phone magic, Quarter-pint looked at me and sweetly said:

"I calling my friend."

That was it, then they were both off onto the next game.

Peewee-pint Learns New Tricks...

Peewee-pint has officially entered that stage of quick and measurable development. It's so fun to watch him learn new things and to watch him figure out what his chubby little body can do. Now that he's 4 months old, he's basically sleeping through the night, discovered his hands, trying to sit up (from a reclining position), and grabbing anything that comes close to him, and just in the past few days he's really reaching for things and then getting them into his mouth.

Yesterday, I was reading books to the older boys, with the baby reclining on my legs. I was holding the book between myself and Peewee-pint, so he was looking at the cover, while we were looking at the pages. It only took a few minutes before we saw tiny fingers curled around the top and bottom of the book. Today, Peewee-pint was hanging out on the desk top next to me while I was working at the computer. I gave him a toy to keep him busy. When I looked over at him, this is what I found...

Quarter-pint Sleeps...

A few weeks ago, Daddy wasn't home when it was time to put the boys to bed. I went through the nightly bedtime rituals and then settled in on the couch to feed the baby. In a matter of minutes (this is also a nightly ritual) Quarter-pint was up and cautiously coming down the stairs. Usually, I hold his hand and walk him back to his bedroom and tuck him in again, but this particular night I wanted to finish the feeding (Peewee-pint is generally VERY patient during bedtime-I didn't want to interrupt his time!) so I told Quarter-pint to go back to bed and I would be up soon. He found a few toys on his way back to the stairs, one of which was a little hand-held video game. I could hear the game noises coming from the vicinity of the stairs, but I couldn't see the little turkey, so I knew Quarter-pint didn't actually make it back into his bed. That night I didn't really care. When the baby was full and happy (and probably a little groggy as well) I realized the stairs were quiet. I stealthily approached, and this is what I found...