October 28th, 2010

It is hard to say whether grounding your 4-year-old from TV is more of a punishment for them or for you. Not only do you have no distraction for said 4-year-old, but you also have to endure endless begging for reconsideration of the no TV rule. Rachel was originally grounded because I asked her to put her shoes on for swim lessons. Instead she turned on the TV. Her defense was that Carson made her do it. This all happened on statements day, which takes all of my time and attention. I RELY on TV as a baby-sitter on statements day. Instead I told them to go clean their room, knowing full well that unsupervised this can turn into an all day affair. Often the room gets much worse before it gets better. It worked. It was 7pm before the room was clean, a full 30 minutes before bed time. And the bonus was, Rachel and Lilly spent all day playing together and had no major fallouts.

A switch flipped for Carson. He is now mimicking words like crazy. And he will sign any word I teach him. He is enjoying his new found ability to communicate with us. He says "no-no!" which sounds more like "doh-doh!" Also, variations of "stinky", "thank you", and "up".

After my run this morning I asked Lilly for a hug. She told me no because I "smell like exercise". She did tell me if I take a shower and change my clothes, then she will hug me. I guess that is the end of the unconditional affection!

October 26th, 2010

My sister watched the kids while I did my workout yesterday. My plan was to stop at the store on my way to pick them up but the workout took much longer than I expected. I was trying to decide if I should still stop at the store, or if I should pick them up first when a thought occurred to me. I missed them. And even though picking them up first would make the whole affair take twice as long and much more stressful, I wanted them with me. They are such delightful little people! And they didn't disappoint. We laughed a lot at the store. Or rather, I laughed a lot. In the car, after we were done, Lilly and Rachel got into it a little and Lilly declared "I don't love anyone!" I asked her if she still loved me, and she said "yes". Then she listed all of the exceptions to her no-love declaration. "I love Nonna and Papa, and Grandma and Grandpa, and all aunts and uncles and Carson." So what it boiled down to is that she no longer felt any love for Rachel. I told Lilly that unfortunately she has no choice, and must love her sister.

Speaking of Lilly, she just came upstairs with her pants and shirt on backwards. I sent her down to get her shoes on and I am betting money that she puts them on the wrong feet. If you tell her she will just say "It's OK with me." This happens a lot with Lilly. One day she had her pants and shirt on backwards, along with shoes on the wrong feet. Later that day I noticed her panties were inside out and on sideways. But if it is OK with her it is OK with me.

The thing I love most about having kids is watching how excited they get about little things. Today is swim lessons day. I reminded Rachel last night. Her eyes lit up and she got a big smile on her face. "I'm going to swim tomorrow?" She was giddy. I told Lilly about swim lessons this morning, and she got the same wonderful look of delight on her face and she said "I'm going to go tell Rachel! Hey Rach!" And she was off. Everything important in their world is small and simple. Candy, family, cousins, books, movies, and swim lessons. We should all be so easily pleased!

October 24th, 2010

Rachel got to have a sleep-over at my parents' house along with her cousins Brady, Brock, and Sam. Lilly did not make the cut-off for this particular slumber party, which I knew could be disastrous for our mostly peaceful little home. I asked Rachel not to talk about the sleep-over, and in the mean time told Lilly that me and her dad were going to take her on a date to McDonald's. Mostly this all went over very well and when the time came for Rachel to leave and us to go on our date, she only complained a little. On the way to McDonald's, we let her sit between us in the front seat. She linked arms with us and told us how much she loves us. When we got there, we ordered her a whole happy meal that she didn't even have to share, and an ice cream cone for dessert. The big thing was the ice cream cone, and the chance to play at the jungle gym. The first thing she did when we got there was climb to the top of the jungle gym. And that is where she stayed the whole time. She was too scared to go down the slide and too scared to climb down the way she came. There was no real way for us to go up to get her, so the two of us, along with several kids and one old lady tried to talk her into coming down. Finally I said "Lilly if you don't come now we won't have time for ice cream." The response was a rapid "OK!" and down she came.

At church today the primary kids did a program for sacrament meeting. Rachel was having none of it. It took forever to convince her to go up with her friends. Once we did, she lasted less than five minutes before she came crying back to our bench. I asked her what happened and she cried (loud enough for all to hear) "I don't want to go with my class today, it's BORING!" There were giggles aplenty, including our own.

Carson likes to play musical people. He starts in my arms, then moves to Shelby, then to the nearest other person whether he knows them or not, then back to me. I don't think it is a game to him so much as it is that he can't decide who he loves the most. When he is with me, he loves dad, when he is with dad, it is the stranger who he prefers. We went to the Hyde Park Street Fair the other day. We took our eyes off him for 1 minute, and he ran straight for a questionable, shady looking man and climbed into his lap. The guy had a look on his face of sheer confusion. I would not be surprised if he had never held a child in his life.

October 21st, 2010

While I was tucking Lilly in tonight she asked if she could count my "breath". By breath she meant teeth. She said "one, two, three, four, (giggle giggle) their slimy!" Then she sang me her own personalized version of "It's Raining It's Pouring" by inserting various names of family members. Tucking Lilly in is always a riot.

It was a beautiful day today so we spent a lot of it outside. I did something I rarely do. I played with the kids on their terms. I swung on the tire swing with them and slid down the slide. Not just out of duty to the kids. I truly played just like I was one of them. I enjoyed it, but learned the following two things: Spinning around and around on a tire swing is super fun, but as an adult, also nauseating. Also, the most efficient way to get to the top of the slide once you have slid down is to climb back up the way you came. But be aware, this is exhausting work. No wonder my kids eat so much!

Tonight the girls are having a sleepover with their friend Ben. This is big news in the world of my children, and will no doubt be the talk of the town for the next few days. I don't know how much fun Ben will think it is. I had no cool treats for them to eat, no fun games planned, and I made them go to bed at their usual time, in separate bedrooms. Still, the idea that another kid slept at their house will be enough excitement to last at least a couple of days.

Carson has finally figured out how to say "please" in sign language. It isn't exactly talking but it beats his usual grunting to get what he wants. He uses it all the time, but he has been disappointed to learn that it doesn't always work. It is not the key to a never ending flow of junk food and beverage of his choice that he first though.

October 19th, 2010

When Rachel grows up she wants to be a washer superhero. She will find all the bad guys, clean them, and then throw them in the garbage truck. I know what you are thinking, "wouldn't that just make them dirty again?" The answer to this question is yes, but it is OK. Apparently once they are in the garbage truck, they die. Washing them first is sort of a last rights ritual. My daughter is a future vigilante.

I asked the girls yesterday what they want for Christmas this year. Rachel listed off all the things she got last year. I guess last Christmas was a hit. Specifically she wants gum and playing cards, and a new horse for Lilly since hers is broken. Since her expectations are incredibly low, it should be an easy Christmas for us. When I asked Lilly what she wants she just listed off a bunch of animal costumes. I think she is getting Christmas confused with Halloween.

October 18th, 2010

With the exception of green beans, Carson is not a fan of vegetables. Really, he is not a fan of very many foods unless they are sweet. Usually he grimaces upon tongue-on-vegetable contact. That is, unless it is a vegetable that is on my plate. On the rare occasions I get to eat a meal in peace in front of the computer, he will inevitably find me. He makes it clear he wants some of my food (which is almost always vegetables) by standing right by my plate with his mouth open while he makes a sort of urgent gasping sound. I give him the food on my plate I think he will find the most repulsive, hoping it will deter him. He is so stubborn! Sometimes I see him struggling with wanting to take the bite I am giving him, but not wanting to actually eat the food. I can tell he is trying to brace himself. His eyes say "no" but his mouth says "can't-let-mom-win".

Shelby's mom visited this weekend along with her friend John. The girls were so excited. Here is the  thing about my kids, they put on a great show. When other people are around, they are not necessarily polite and perfectly behaved, but they are always entertaining. Lilly put on her own one woman show, complete with costume and a dance routine, and a whole array of very funny faces. She also played beautician for John, and did his hair so he could "look butiful." John was a great sport about it. My kids also give of their love very freely. Everyone in their world is important to them. It makes them easy to love in return.

I like that my kids think I am perfect, but this is not always a great thing. Rachel often asks me questions I do not know the answer to, but if I tell her that she doesn't believe me. The conversation usually goes something like this: "mom, why is the sky blue?" "I don't know Rachel." "But mom, why is it blue?" "I am sorry Rachel, but I just don't know." "Mom, just tell me!" This goes on until finally I make up some passable answer. When my kids go off to school they are going to have some pretty interesting ideas about things.

October 15th, 2010

Rachel said her first swear word yesterday. She was quite impressed with the work I had done on our guest bedroom and used a mild expletive to describe her feelings. I asked her to repeat what she had said, just to be certain. Sure enough, she said what I thought she did. When asked where she heard the expression and she told me she made it up. Mostly I was amused, and glad I was the first to hear it....at least I hope I was.

Three children acquire a lot of stuff. Mostly in the form of used toys given to them by well-meaning people whose own kids have outgrown them. Ours is a house of constant clutter. As a result I am forever throwing things away as I walk through my house. I am not sure if Lilly just likes exploring the contents of the garbage, or if she is just on to me, but she is always pulling toy pieces, bits of plastic, and other items she deems valuable out of the trash. "Mom, this is not garbage" she tells me in an authoritative tone. Sometimes I argue with her, but it ends in her being upset, so usually I just say "OK Lilly, go put it away." Yes, I have become that mother who gives in at times to avoid hearing a tantrum. Then during my next house cleaning I just throw it all away again. We have a stuffed Idaho Potato doll that I have thrown away at least a dozen times. Why not bury it deeper, you ask? Lilly is a digger, and if it is there, she will find it!

Carson has taken to sucking his thumb. Only when I am around and he is in the mood to push my buttons. He is not a thumb sucker, he never has been. He spent an afternoon with his cousin Lidia, who does suck her thumb. Now he thinks it's clever to do this while I am holding him. He looks me straight in the eye (daring me maybe?), inserts thumb, and waits for a reaction. A smart mom would just ignore him, which makes me think maybe I like this game too.

October 12th, 1010

Carson has 3 words: "Mom", "Dad", and "hi". I have always assumed that he is just not interested in learning to talk, and that he is going to be a little behind in the speech aspect of development. I don't think that anymore. Now I am sure he is a diabolical genius who knows how to talk just fine, but is choosing not to just to torment his mother. He gave himself away last night when he called Rachel's name. When I reacted, I am sure I saw a brief, sly little smile. And no matter how much encouraging we gave him, we could not get him to repeat himself. He gave us his usual innocent look that says "guys, I would talk if I could, honest!" I think he must practice at night when he is alone in bed.

Rachel has an imaginary friend named Poopy Dangle. He is 10, and he is the fellow that took care of Rachel when Shelby and I were in our mom's tummy. Poopy Dangle has been MIA for the past couple of months, but he resurfaced yesterday afternoon when Rachel informed me that we had accidentally left him home. Rachel well understands that I never go back for imaginary friends, therefore as far as she is concerned, Poopy Dangle can take care of himself.

Rachel and Lilly had swim lessons today. I cannot describe the enjoyment I get out of watching them prepare to go. They are so cute! On swim lesson days I can get them to do anything if I imply it will help us get to swim lessons quicker. It is the highlight of their week. Rachel keeps asking me "how many sleeps before we go to swim lessons?" Everything is currently measured in number of sleeps for Rachel.

Speaking of measurement, Lilly has been negotiating the amount of time things are going to take. Today I put her in time-out for calling Carson stupid (this is the worst of the worst of swear words as far as Lilly knows). She asked me between sobs how long she had to stay there, and I said "a couple of minutes". "No mom, I want 3 minutes, 3!" she said as she held up 3 little fingers. She woke me up kind of early the other morning and I asked her if I could just sleep for 5 more minutes. "Hmm" she says, "how about 10 minutes?" I jumped all over that deal!

October 10th, 2010

We ate dinner at my parents' house tonight. My daughters were a hoot. Merry brought her new boyfriend who spent much of the night giggling at Lilly. I don't blame him. Lilly is funny! She told my dad that her middle name is Vanilly, which of course makes her Lilly Vanilly. On the way home I made her lip sync to the songs on the radio.

Saturday morning I sent Lilly to get dressed so she could play outside. She is used to the warm weather, but on Saturday it was a little chilly. She came up in a sleeveless shirt and a short skirt. I told her that she might want to dress warmer since it is cold outside. She obediently returned to her room to put on more clothes and came back wearing a second short skirt and a second sleeveless shirt. I let her go out, and she never did complain about being cold.

The kids pretty much follow me around the house, no matter how boring my task at hand is. On Saturday I prepped the guest room to be painted. No matter how hard I tried I could not convince them that their room, outside, or even the living room would be a more fascinating place to play. Rachel and Lilly's favorite game is to play house. Usually, they pretend that their mom and dad "got killed" and now they are left alone in the world to care for their baby brother Carson (sometimes they rename him Brady). So morbid! I blame Disney. Have you ever noticed that in most Disney movies the main character is missing one or both of their parents? Anyway, it was delightful to listen first-hand to their survival techniques as they made their way in the world. Not only did they have to fend for themselves, but they also had to protect each other from that evil Roger, who so often turns up in their games of house.

October 8th, 2010

There is nothing my girls like more than birthdays. And not just their birthdays, everyone's birthdays. They don't even have to be invited, they just like to know when someone is having a birthday party. So when I told them we would be spending the afternoon finding a present for Nona's birthday (this would be my mom), they were super eager. I told Rachel before we left that she wasn't actually coming to the party and she told me in her most annoyed teenage voice with hands on hips "I know. We are having a baby-sitter". Before we left Rachel said "I have a great idea! Let's make friends at the store!" Rachel's method of making friends was by bribing them with food. She got together a zip-lock bag full of individual snack sized Craisins for both her and Lilly, and passed them out to any kid she thought would be a good candidate for a friend. I don't know how long-lasting the friendships will be, but she did make a lot of people smile.

Fun facts about Lilly: she can snap her fingers with water in her mouth. Also, do not mistake Lilly for a dude because she is a "dudatte".

October 7th, 2010

Carson has a new fascination with being naked. I can't let him run around in just a diaper anymore because he immediately takes it off. Yesterday I made the mistake of putting him down for a nap in just his diaper. When I came to get him out of bed, the diaper was on the floor and he had pooped all over his bedding. I allow each of my kids ONE poopy bed mess as babies. I guess Carson used his.

Another fascination Carson has is with our cats, Cat and Jackie Cat (named by Rachel). Any time he sees one of the cats lying around, he grabs the cat food dish and dumps it out in front of them. I know he thinks he is just being helpful, but for me it is a real problem. I spend most of my day cleaning up cat food and poop. Tonight Rachel was trying to talk me into letting her stay up, and I thought I would use her pleas to my advantage. I told her she could stay up if she cleaned for me the whole time. She eagerly agreed. The first thing I had her do was vacuum up the latest cat food mess. Of course Lilly was not about to be left out of the fun so I told her she could stay up too if she promised to help Rachel. She helped her alright. As soon as Rachel vacuumed up one cat food mess, Lilly would sprinkle more around the living room, just so Rachel would never run out of things to vacuum. We go through a lot of cat food.

Speaking of Lilly, we have been getting her out of bed before our own bedtime to have her go potty one more time. She seemed a little over padded in the bum when we woke her up tonight. It turns out she was wearing 5 pairs of panties. I want to know what she was thinking about when she put them on.

Finally, Rachel was invited over by her primary friend, Sarah today. Sarah's mom called me and asked if Rachel wanted to come over. I told Sarah's mom that I would ask Rachel. I had no trouble convincing her. She was very excited to go play with Sarah, and when I dropped her off, she seemed just fine with the whole thing.  Later when I picked her up and asked her if she had fun she said "Yeah, but that was the wrong Sarah." I was a little puzzled at first, but Rachel explained that she thought she was going to aunt Sarah's house, "you know, Brock and Brady's mom". It turns out we know an awful lot of Sarahs.

October 6th, 2010

I walked in on Carson going through my purse today. He had eaten all my gum, played with my make-up and was currently taking all of the credit cards out of my wallet. He knew he was busted and tried the whole "I didn't know any better" look, but I wasn't fooled. I said "You get out of here, mister!" and he was up and out in no time. A few moments later he brought me an old shriveled up piece of zucchini as a peace offering. He handed it to me with a smile and a look that said "are we OK now?" I thanked him for the zucchini, but informed him that we are in no way even. I remember when Rachel would get into my purse and eat my gum. I would have mixed feelings of anger and panic. The anger because she had gotten into my things, the panic because I didn't know the outcome of a toddler eating a whole pack of gum. Now I am so used to it that I hardly bat and eye. If it really takes 7 years to digest a pack of gum, my kids have a whole tummy-full of it. No wonder they never eat anything I make!

October 5th, 2010

Yesterday was karate day. 4-year-olds are so fickle. The instructor was late getting there and I told Rachel we might not have karate that day. She was so upset. Literally 10 seconds later we found out the instructor was there. I told Rachel she could do karate after all. She did a complete 180 and decided she didn't want to do karate anymore, and non of my bribes or threats could change her mind. Lilly and Rachel are in the same karate class. I usually do not watch because when I do, the girls spend all their time showing off for me. Yesterday I watched Lilly for a couple of minutes, and she was so cute! It was just her and 2 other boys. While they were practicing their punches, the boys looked so severe, but Lilly just had a huge smile on her face the whole time. Lilly finds everything very amusing. The girls are really into rhyming lately. Rachel is always asking me if words rhyme. Usually the words she uses just sound alike. For example "baby" and "Brady" is a favorite. But Lilly totally gets it. I can give her a word to rhyme and she pretty much gets it every time. She often makes up the rhyming word, but at least she gets it! Lilly is a very smart little girl.

Carson is getting old, which breaks my heart a little. He is a good little kid, but he has a stubborn streak. He likes to not eat his food if I am watching just to show me who is boss. He sits at his chair with this little pleased look on his face. If I try to feed him he just shakes his head with pursed lips and smiles. Two can play at this game though. Now I just put the food in front of him and leave. He likes to bring me things he thinks I might need, like my phone, my deodorant, little pieces of garbage. I always thank him profusely. Then he tries not to smile, puts his head down, and goes off in search for another item to please me.

October 3rd, 2010

Rachel wants to change Carson's name to Brady. She has asked me about this a couple of times. I have been assured that it is just until he is older, and then we can go back to calling him Carson. This all stems from her feelings about her cousin Brady who is older and very cool. Not only is Brady the coolest, he treats Rachel like she is his equal, which thrills both Rachel and me. Rachel also informed me tonight that she has a husband whose name is undetermined. This much is clear: he is an astronaut who is sun-proof, meaning he can touch the sun without "getting dead". He is in space right now, but will return before Rachel has a chance to truly miss him. Apparently the two of them are a crime-fighting duo that works together to destroy Rachel's nemesis, Roger (Roger by the way is the perpetual bad guy in all of Rachel's make-believe games). Rachel asks me every now and then if there are any real Rogers on the earth. I don't know exactly how to answer this. I don't want her to be afraid, but I also don't want her walking around thinking that all men named Roger are bad guys. As a joke, I think I will tell her that I am going to name our next baby Roger.

This October of ours is weird. It was in the 90's all last week. I guess this is a good thing, as my garden is still producing. At the same time, I am so tired of canning. My friend Deborah and I put up about 30 pints of peach jam today and only stopped because of a shortage of pectin and sugar. I know as soon as canning season is over I will miss it. The garden is work, but I so love walking outside to all the fresh basil I could possibly use. So no more complaining. It is October 3rd and I am still picking beautiful fresh zucchini. Before I know it winter will be here and I will be reduced to eating carrots and celery as my main vegetables.

Shelby and I spent the weekend working on our guest bedroom and bathroom. We picked out two colors for the guest bedroom. A beautiful brown for the main walls, and a deep sage color for the accent wall. At least that is what we thought. Once we put them on, the brown looked green and the sage looked like mint chocolate chip ice cream. Together the colors were a disaster. How does that happen? I suppose in another room the colors will end up looking pink and blue. Shelby says we should just break down and do a blue and orange room...

October 1st, 2010

So Rachel changed her first poopy diaper yesterday without any help. I actually did not even know this was happening until it was all done. Lilly told me Rachel changed Carson's poopy diaper, and I ignored her, hoping she was mistaken. Images of poop everywhere, and a diaperless 1-year-old peeing on my floor flashed through my head. And of course if I pretend like it didn't happen it all goes away, right?  A minute later when I saw Carson, he was indeed wearing a fresh diaper (although he still smelled ripe). Rachel had carefully placed all of the dirty diaper wipes in the diaper just like she sees me do. When I checked the thoroughness of the wiping, she had obviously missed some of the poop, but overall she did a great job. Especially for a 4-year-old, and especially considering this was one mother load of a diaper. I am so proud! I think I will turn all diaper-changing responsibilities over to her, and assign Lilly the job of supervisor. Together I think they can do this!

Yesterday was also grocery shopping day. I know I brag, but my kids are exceptionally well-behaved on these sorts of outings. They ask if we can buy just about everything they can reach, but there are very few fits, and they try their hardest to stay right with me. Lilly is a dawdler because she wants to see and touch everything, but even with this they are pretty great. However, despite all their effort to be good, grocery shopping with three small children is never going to be easy. By the time I get them all ready and loaded in the car, and then out of the car at the store, all the groceries picked out, loaded on the belt, bagged, back in my cart, back to the car where I load everything and everyone into the car, to the next store where we repeat this process, and then back home where everything and everyone is unloaded one more time, I am wiped out! Funny thing is, by next payday I am almost excited to do it again. Some people never learn.

Lilly is so sweet and so fun but she is really trying to figure out her emotions. Rachel went through the same thing when she was 3. I think it is just a hard age. They are finally realizing the world does not revolve around them, and we are not all here to fulfill their every need and want. It is a hard thing to accept. Lilly can go from sweet and happy to hysterical to laughing all in about 1 minute. Sometimes when she is crying I ask her what is wrong and she says (between sobs) "I don't know!" Truthfully, in Lilly's defense, I often cry without knowing the reason. Lilly is wonderful!