Why?

I am telling you, that 'why' word is sure annoying when you hear it all day every day after E V E R Y T H I N G that you say. My mom shared her secret response, which I use regularly. I have a couple other responses that I pull out from time to time, just to mix things up. It has become a habit to follow most things I say with a "why?" So, here is our conversation in the car the other day:

LM: I am not going to say "why" anymore, mommy.
Me: Oh, that would be wonderful.
LM: I am going to say "what" instead.
Me: How come?
LM: Then you can't tell me that "why is a crooked letter". (my mom's response)
Me: Darn, is that the only reason?
LM: WHAT?

Now, as a point of clarification, that would be all well and good if he actually did it. But, "what" is the second most spoken word by Little Man. He will burst out with a "WHAT?" before you even finish what you are saying. It is well on its way to surpassing "why" even before he made this statement... which is really too bad. We don't call him out on the 'what' just yet, we just ignore it, but I tell you, if he consciously is going to switch things up on us, we are going to have to remove all "W" words from his vocabulary... sorry Will.

blah blah blah

So, recently... well, really since he could talk, Little Man decided to never shut up. I know, I know, he is smart, funny, etc... but, my ears really do need a break every once in a while. So, today in the car I asked if he had an on/off switch for his mouth.

LM: Um, sorry, no I don't
Me: That's too bad
LM: Yah, I just keep it on all the time.
Me: That's really too bad.
LM: Yah.

Okay, we'll have to try another approach next time. But here is how most of our conversations go:

Me: (enjoying the quiet or music)
LM: blah blah blah blah blah race car blah blah blah super fast race car blah blah blah race car museum blah blah blah race car race car race car race car
Me: (screaming silently)
LM: blah blah blah blah blah blah
Me: Let's talk about nothing for a minute and see what that is like.
LM: Um, no thanks, Mommy, do you like race cars?
Me: Oh, so much.
LM: Me too! blah blah blah blah race car blah blah blah

AUGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!!!

Happy birthday to the best Daddy and husband anyone could ask for! You are the greatest!!!! I am sorry that you didn't get to visit the museums in DC or Old Town Alexandria yesterday. The boys are sorry that they were so tired and cranky, but it is just because we had so much fun in Charlottesville on Sunday visiting the family. Little Man says that he had a great time, and although he took a great nap at Aunt Em's house, he needed to go to bed before 10pm to be happy the next day. Squeaker says sorry for the horrible nap at Aunt Em's house, but he just wanted to give you an early b-day gift and show off his new talent - climbing out of the pack-n-play. We had a wonderful time at the air and space museum and it was great having Uncle Will here visiting all day!!! Oh, and we can't forget the yummy pizza dinner at Rubino's (our favorite). And, after a yummy dessert (thanks for the birthday cake, Grandma), Squeaker knew you wanted an encore presentation of his climbing skills, so he demonstrated his newest feat and climbed out of his crib at bedtime. And after finally crashing in Mommy's arms (so cute, by the way), you got to enjoy some peace and quiet on your bday!!! WE LOVE YOU!

New Kicks

Squeaker has joined Little Man in his quest for the cutest shoes ever. I forgot to take a picture of his crocs, but here is the latest edition. Added bonus: He can't remove these shoes every time he gets in the car/stroller/house/etc.

Pluggin' along

Not much going on around here.  We spent the entire last week healthy!!!  I would knock on wood right now, but I purposely said nothing earlier because I KNEW that I would have immediately jinxed myself.  Well, too late... all is back to normal.  We are sick again.  Just the boys, and just snot, but I think maybe it contributed to Squeaker's lasted 'bite-shaped' tatoo on his cheek.  Um, yah... 

Ah well, perhaps the ENT, or otolaryngologist will be able to diagnose another ear infection tomorrow???  

And, as a means of an update, the room consolidation is going extremely well.  We have been realistic in the whole process and they are doing quite well.  There are some days that are much harder than others, and some when the nap schedules conflict, but all in all, we are doin' well.  The Little Man falls asleep at naptime while Squeaker puts on his halftime show in his crib.  Squeaker falls asleep at naptime while Little Man sings to himself, talks up a storm and calls out to mommy and daddy to check out the stars on his ceiling that are glowing (as they have for his entire little life, now go to sleep!).  So, while we are confident that there will be days/nights that will make us want to muzzle one or the other child, we are glad we put them together sooner, rather than later.  And, I am already enjoying my new crafting space! :)

Pudding and fuzzy photos

So, last night Squeaker had some chocolate pudding for the first time... yummy... :)

And, today we went moon bouncing.  How fun is that!  All the pictures turned out pretty blurry, hard to catch fast moving people with a camera with dying batteries and I forgot to set it to the "action shot" setting.  oops.  Next time, better pictures, I promise.  

Sad

The day has come when my sheltered little baby has been stripped of his innocence.  Why???  i am sure that we did our best... We made sure that he only watched Elmo, BabySongs, and Little Einsteins (well, now he watches much more, but all innocent) for so long, and we knew all his friends (all first-born's).  So why, when I give him a pretzel stick, is he making shooting noises and telling his little brother that he had one, but (since he broke it) now he has two guns?  What in the world?!?!  I was just so shocked.  I never imagined that I would have such a sad and sick feeling about it.  I mean, I was a kid, had brothers, and knew all about playing cowboys and indians, pirates or whatever... so, why is it making me so sad.  I know... because he is THREE!  He is just a wee little thing... so innocent.. and all of that is being taken away, slowly, and not by me.  

Don't get me wrong, I am not sobbing in bed every night -- and that is  mostly because I asked him what he was doing and he had no idea what guns were.  I asked him where he learned that 'fun' game... he said from his friend at school.  Ten bucks that kid has an older sibling.  So, once he figures that out, what guns really do, you will find me curled up in the fetal position in bed... sobbing.  

It's what bowlers drink

This weekend, we took an impromptu trip to the local bowling alley.  I can't remember the last time we went -- I know it was before we had kids.  So, we thought it was about time to see how the kiddos would do with it.  End result: They had a great time!  I think we will do it again for SURE!  The local joint had bumper bowling and a metal ramp for the wee ones to launch the ball from so that it would actually make it to the pins.  It was perfect!  Toward the end of our (one) game, we realized it was lunch time.  (Who knew that one game would last so long... but, you have to test all the balls to be sure you have the "right" one, carry it (slowly) to the ramp, get distracted while waiting for the pins to reset, repeat.)  Anyway, we got some lunch from the food counter (yummy grease) and some orange soda.  The Little Man does not drink soda often (a sip here and there) but know it is good.  He was thrilled when there was a whole drink especially for him.  And, to top it off, it was orange.  He asked, "Is orange soda for bowlers?"  Yup, that is right, only for bowlers... :)

And, here are a couple other pics of the boys learning their new favorite sport:

Magic Number

That would be, um, 2.  Well, we tried 2 a few days ago, worked like a charm... then, I tried 1... that didn't work... tried 3, that didn't work... so, I am going to put the boys down at 2pm!  We'll try it tomorrow.  Third time is a charm, right?  My boys need sleep!  :)