Finally playing with our toys

The Little Man is finally getting into his Christmas gifts. He is feeling slightly better, although we are far from 100%. He has done a bunch of puzzles, played games, taken the Little Einsteins on several missions, and drawn some pictures. Here is one picture he drew in a Mickey Mouse wipe-off book. It asked him to draw a pet for Goofy then write his name. He drew a picture of Charlie and then wrote his name below.

Not quite as planned

Our Christmas didn't quite go as I had hoped. Since Santa was way ahead of the game and had done his shopping quite early, there wasn't much to get ready Christmas eve... thankfully! However, we were still up to all hours at night. The Little Man has apparently picked up some virus that strikes at the stroke of midnight on December 25th. Not so good... we changed sheets and pjs multiple times, including a sleeping bag (because we were tired of changing sheets). We did about 3 loads of laundry over the course of the night, and several more during the day. I won't go into details, but let's just say that things were not staying in his little body, on either end. Fun times! So, Little Man did not get to enjoy our beautiful feast, he did not get to enjoy the billions of cookies, he did not get to enjoy Santa's bounty as a 3 year old should. He was not interested in opening gifts, but was happy to play with those that were already unwrapped or unwrapped for him. Luckily, he was in good spirits and pretty happy throughout the day, despite lacking in energy. Last nght, we only had one sheet change, so that is an improvement. Things are temporarily looking up -- so far, he slept most of the night and is asking for oatmeal and raisins. (Mommy and Daddy are only allowing crackers and a popsicle, however.) We'll see how the day goes.

And, Squeaker was WAY into opening gifts. By the end of the day, he had mastered the art of using his teeth to start the unwrapping job, and continuing with his little fingers. He was a PRO!

I hope everyone else had a better holiday! Cross your fingers that this bug leaves our house before infecting anyone else!

Christmas Eve

This is truly going to be an exciting Christmas... all the gifts, wrapping paper, and ribbons. Hopefully the boys will sleep long and well tonight so that we can endure a day full of excitement without bursting. We had a quiet Christmas Eve before heading off to bed. After dinner and baths we put some cookies and milk for Santa, carrots out for the reindeer, wrote a letter to Santa to put in our new "Letter to Santa" holder, read "The Night Before Christmas", and opened one gift each. Squeaker was a bit fussy and took a while to go to sleep and the Little Man was a bit nervous about Santa coming. At one point he was crying (crocodile tears) that he did not want Santa to come to our house... and it wasn't that he didn't want the toys, it was that he wasn't quite sure that he wanted Santa in our house -- how cute that he was scared about that. In the end all was well and now our two little ones are nestled all snug in their beds.

Pre-Christmas Morning Photo

Save the Meatballs

This evening in the car, we were singing some songs to pass the time and so that they boys would forget just how hungry they were. The Little Man was not a big fan of On Top of Spaghetti. When I finished the song, here is the response I got.

Oh, that is so sad. The boy didn't have his meatball anymore. Why did it roll away? Where did it go? How come it didn't stay on the spaghetti? That is terrible. What is he going to do? He doesn't have a meatball anymore.

(he went on and on about each verse... why was it mush? why did it grow into a tree?
why did it have meatballs on it? how did it do that? why did it do that?)

Seriously, he was sad. He looked like he was about to cry. If I had known that he was going to react this way, I never would have sung that song. But, I explained that it was a silly song, and that meatballs wouldn't really roll out the door. Usually you just eat them. He still didn't go for it. He was quite sad about the whole matter. I can only assume that he a) really, really likes meatballs or b) is the kindest, gentlest boy and really was empathetic. I actually think it might be both.

How long will it last???

Little Man is in his bed calling, "Mommy"... and a variety of reasons follow:

• my stars are glowing (like they do every night)
• some noise woke me up (he wasn't asleep)
• i need you (no you don't. you are fine)
• i want to play (too bad, you didn't eat your dinner and threw it on the floor so you are going to bed early -- by 20 minutes)
• i am not tired (uh, yah, you are)
• i can't reach my water... my arm is going to break off (cute, but his water is definitely within reach)
• there is a "7" on my clock (like there is every night when you go to bed)
• no reason, just mommy mommy mommy mommy (ahhh, the sweet sound of mommy)

Anyway, it is fun. It has been 25 minutes or so... fun fun fun, and did I mention... fun? We turned on the washer and the dryer to drown him out. I haven't been in yet. Not because I am mean, but this is the fourth night of this... and really, we don't want a 5th. So, I guess it is mean, but it is for his own good in the long run, right? So we don't go insane around here. Um, maybe we are already there????

Less than exciting week...

So, you get a pictures:

Okay, okay, can't resist bath pictures... but seriously, how cute is this!??!


How to burn energy at home when there is limited space and it is freezing and wet outside!

Ho Ho NO!

Well, the Little Man has his heart set on one toy that Santa is going to bring (er, sure he is)... a big huge race car... which apparently is yellow. Whenever we are at the mall, he wants to see Santa. So, we do a 'drive-by'. We have done this several times, but never has he wanted to sit on Santa's lap. :( I guess that is okay, then I am not suckered into a $25 sheet that includes maybe 2 5x7s. Squeaker has added "Santa" to his verbal repertoire and loves pointing him out whenever we see a picture or a real live Santa Claus. It is truly a fun time of year... full of exciting and magical things (including our good friend Bubba).

This background info was necessary so that I could tell you about our morning. The Little Man's preschool hosted a family sing-a-long. Daddy joined us for Christmas songs and a feast of cookies (right before lunch, by the way). And, guess who else showed up -- none other than the big man himself... SANTA! The look on the faces of all those preschoolers was priceless. The Little Man's jaw dropped and he was almost giddy when he saw him coming down the aisle. Santa had just enough time for each of the kids to sit on his lap as well. So, as usual, I asked the Little man if he wanted to go tell Santa just what he wanted for Christmas. He, of course declined. Squeaker, on the other hand, wanted to head on up and yank on his beard. So, we got in line with one of his classmates, hoping peer pressure would do the trick for LM (which it did). As you can tell from the picture, Santa sure is magical--- Who woulda guessed that we would have had this reaction????

Random Pictures

Showing what not to do in a time out:



Squeakers breakfast... poor guy:


First snow, barely:

Overheard at dinner

From Squeaker:

"Buh-BAAAAAHHHHH"
So, as a gift, our friends and Little Man's Godparents brought over a gift for the boys for Christmas. It was the best gift EVER! It is called an Elf on the Shelf and it is an elf that visits your house before the holidays to spy on the kids and report back to Santa. I am all for that. Anyway, you have to give him a name when he arrives... ours is named "Bubba". (Second choice was "Racecar Cream"... don't ask.) Anyway, Bubba hides in a different spot every day and the boys have to search around and find him. Squeaker is very fond of Bubba and looks in all the previous spots occupied by said elf, wandering from place to place and screaming "BuhBAHHHH". Very cute!

From Little Man:

I am the sixth fastest eater in the world. Squeaker is the 10th fastest.
I guess the Little Man is figuring out sequencing and numbers right now. How cute, not at all true, but cute. :)

Some much needed sleep

After a wonderful Thanks giving, we headed home and tried to recover from Momny and Daddy's negligence. See, we forgot to take the Little Man's allergy medicine and inhalers with us to visit Grandma and Grandpa. So, after a couple of days of rolling around in the fall leaves, playing football outside, and inhaling whatever dust and other allergens were around, LM had a very difficult time with his asthma. We were only 2 days, but that was just enough. So, after starting our prescription drug regamine... and several days and nights of very (very, very) little sleep, we got this:


It was wonderful for the Little Man and as of today, he is almost back to his normal self. Now, Squeaker, on the other hand, chose to pick up some virus from he pediatrician's office during one of our many visits this week. So, off we go again, to make sure he isn't contagious and isn't next in line for breathing treatments. We are on night 2 of no sleep for him. Fun times in our house. Don't you want to come over and babysit for a while while Mommy and Daddy escape the craziness??? We promise to come back... eventually.