Wordful Wednesday

Here's my Wordful Wednesday...

Jake stayed home with me one afternoon while John and Katie went to visit grandma Mary Lou.  I think Jake liked the peace and quiet.  He played on all three of the kid bikes and on the scooter without once being elbowed aside by his big sister.

We also tried going for a walk but only got around the corner before he decided he liked the toys in one of the yards and that he wanted to play with them right then.  I had to carry him back (after I chased him down).  He landed a few good hits on my lip while he was thrashing about, but I managed to keep him in my arms and get him home without too much damage to my face... although it was just a teensey bit embarrassing.

Ahh, Katie.  Katie got a new ceiling fan the other day.  Grandpa, Grandma, mommy, and Jake went with to help choose one that wouldn't be too pink or too frilly (I thought I should go so I could veto anything that would fit either of these two categories.  I wanted to keep things neutral.).

Well, what do you see in that picture?  Flowers and hearts?  Check.  Pastel pink background?  Check.  Next time maybe I'll just stay home.

Katie's job was to screw together the fan blade and the part that fits the blade into the fan.  And also to make funny faces at the camera.  A+ for Katie. 

I remember watching my dad do work like this when I was younger.  I haven't given much thought to it but it's so fun to see her "helping" grandpa with stuff, and she really was a help!  She handed grandpa the pliers and screwdrivers, and she really did put together fan blades... at least three of the four!  Jake was also there, but he was more interested in climbing the ladder.  See?

Ahh, and this is what happens when Jake has something Katie considers HERS.  I thought this was a chase to win custody of the Woody doll... but now I think this was the chase to get her chapstick that Jake had picked up off of the floor and carried away.  Woody was causing problems earlier when both kids were still in play clothes and not jammies. 

Ah, Woody.  Too bad we can't clone you, or find another one of you for really cheap.  Then there would be no discussion over who you belonged to, which would lead to more peace and quiet.  That would be nice.

So that's it.  My first Wordful Wednesday.  I'm linking up on Parenting by Dummies here.  Maybe.  If I can figure this whole "linking" thing out.  That's why this is my first Wordful Wednesday... or first anything that requires me to figure out how to link.  Maybe I should ask Katie how it works... she's pretty smart ofr a 4 year old.

I'm a Disney Princess (without the gown. Or woodland creatures. Or pretty jewelry. So, I'm a Disney Princess mostly in attitude which really just isn't as much fun).

I went downstairs for just a few minutes last night to move laundry into the dryer and when I turned the corner to head up the stairs, I saw Katie waiting for me.  She looked a little upset.  Aaaand, that's an understatement because she had big tears and a heartbroken expression on her face.

I didn't know what was wrong so I went to pick her up and cuddle her.  She can be a little... intense... sometimes so I just thought it was a mood.  Until she told me, between sobs, that she was "running in the living room" and she "knocked over daddy's laptop".  Daddy was already in bed and doesn't know this happened.  (Hi Daddy!)

I looked, and sure enough, the laptop was on the floor with the hinged side in the air.  It was open when it fell and luckily didn't break apart upon impact. 

I didn't freak out over this very expensive potential paperweight and I'm very proud of that.  Um, if it had been my laptop I might have shed a few tears... maybe let loose with a "NNNNNnnnnnooooooooo!" but I didn't want to scare Katie.  And it wasn't mine.  So I kept it together.  I felt like a Disney princess with all of the tra la la-ing and oh, let's just put this back on the table, no need to cry, everything will be fine.  Not sure which princess though... maybe Lily Tomlin in 9-to-5.  (Minus the animated woodland creatures... I don't know if I like those.)

So, after the initial shock, my calm, positive attitude helped to calm her down a little and after I got the laptop back on the table without it breaking into two large pieces, Katie ran to me and wanted me to hold her.  This doesn't happen a lot these days.  She's usually very independant and very much "I can do it myself" or "I don't want to sit with you, I want to play" (and this: "in my room, with the door shut so Jake can't get in here and mess up my stuff because, even though I want to keep all of *his* toys in here, I'll scream if he so much as breathes on my stuff" is implied even if it's not verbally stated).

We cuddled and she cried and I told her that it looked fine, just be careful when running in the living room.  Which, I just don't get anyway.  I mean, daddy's laptop is in the far end of the living room, the only thing near it is his chair and the TV cabinet.  And the kids don't usually play over there because, well, it's not too exciting.

And after taking half a second to consider that statement, I've got to take it back.  Jake *loves* to play over there when daddy isn't in his chair and he's forgotten to close his laptop (the laptop that's now minus a few keys because Jake has plucked them off.  Don't ask me how... it's a mystery of tiny fingered dexterity) but Katie usually ignores it. 

I guess maybe curiousity got her.  Daddy has a pretty cool screen saver and I can see her being interested in it and trying to get closer look at it... and then trying to turn the screen for an even better look, and then getting mad that the laptop isn't moving, and then giving it a really hard jerk because she really wants to see that screen, and then realizing that maybe it was too hard when the laptop falls to the floor.  That's another way this might have played out.

Anyway, I haven't gotten any calls today asking what might have happened to the laptop last night so I think this little mishap ended without the destruction that usually follows when one of the kids drops something.

Happy day... because I really don't want to share.  (I like my keyboard keys right where they are... thank you very much.)

Mommy loves you BOTH the SAME... Do you hear me, Katie?!

Jake and Katie.

These kids can be the worst of enemies at times (these times are not fun... there's usually some hair pulling, loud screeching, yelling for mommy, pushing and shoving... not to mention the resulting tears from pushes and shoves) and then, as if a switch has been flipped, they're the best of friends. 

Running around the house together, laughing, doing silly things to entertain each other, sharing... SHARING!  I wish I could find that switch, turn it to "friends"... and break it so it can never be flipped again.

Want to know why?

Here's why...

The other day, Jake was playing in the bathroom sink when Katie ran down the hall past the door yelling, "I'm going to wear THIS!" and waving her jammies around.  Jake saw her, we ALL heard her, and he laughed. 

He laughed harder and harder each time she did it (and she did it about 20 times). 

Eventually he left the bathroom to follow her down the hall and she would gently walk him back to the bathroom and say, "Jakey, you stay here." (so she wouldn't run him over) and she would continue running and yelling, and he would continue to laugh.  Eventually this lead to them running around our house in circles with one or two "accidental" pushes when Jake got into Katie's way.  But they were getting along.

No bribes or threats could have accomplished this.

(Not that I've tried, or anything... Really.)

It was just nice to see them getting along and happy.  And it was especially nice after I overheard this comment from Katie to Jake...

"She loves me better than you." where "she" = mommy. 

Um, yeah.  Usually I let them get through whatever they're doing without my intervention (unless Jake has his hand in her hair and is in the process of pulling hair out, or they're about to come to fisticuffs, then I intervene)  but in this case, I had to tell her (in my most serious mommy tone with my most serious mommy face) that I love them both the same and that Jake is my favorite boy* in the whole world and Katie is my favorite girl*... but I could swear that when she smiled at me, her smile was saying, "Suuuuure mommy.  I know you have to say that... he's your kid too of course.  But I know the truth!"  Something tells me she won't be convinced.

*So lucky to have one of each. How do you parents of two girls/two boys handle this?

Here's also why...






And some oldies I couldn't resist posting again...

Jake's 18 month well check went... well. And he had lots of fun playing with the stirrups.

Jake had his 18 month baby well check this week.  He's healthy and growing well which we kind of suspected... the kid is crazy busy and not tiny.

As a matter of fact, he weighs in at 27 lbs and his head circumference is 19 inches and a bit.  The nurse took his height measurement when he was standing up... usually they lay him down on the paper.  I think the paper might be a better way to go because when she compared this measurement to his previous measurement, something wasn't quite right. Unless Jake really did shrink two inches since his last doctor visit... Anything is possible.


So weight and measurement was the easy part.  Trying to entertain a toddler while waiting in the room was not so easy.  Luckily they baby-proofed pretty well.  My only complaint?  There were two chairs in the room.  I sat in one and Jake?  Well, he enjoyed climbing up onto the other chair over and over.  But, aside from the chair, and the stirrups that swung out from the table (he thought those were pretty fun AND they made a satisfying CLANG as he pushed them from side to side), the room was pretty much baby-proofed.


Katie came with us too (it was easier to let her come with than to spend precious time explaining *why* she couldn't go and running out of the house while hoping that this time the doorknob guard that is supposed to prevent little hands from opening the door would actually work).  It turned out to be a good thing because after Jake tired of the stirrups and forgot about the chair, the kids played together nicely while we waited for what seemed like an hour (but was really probably only 20 minute) between the doctor and the nurse. So the appointment was a success. 


Shots? Check. 


Tired baby who needed a long nap when we got home? Check.  


Oh, and one last thing...


Pee pee trouble because of some adhesions the nice doctor had to "break"? Check. 


Oh, yeah.  I won't go into more detail because it's a little lot gross AND something that is more common than I thought in infants.  And it's something the doctor didn't warn us about when Jake was circumcised*.  


Sorry Jake.  I'm sure that if this blog is still around when you're a teen and some of my more personal posts, like this one, get into the wrong hands, there may be a little potential for embarrassment but hopefully I've written enough stuff about your sister so it will be in her best interest not to mention some of this to anyone.


My poor baby.  It's sad (but a little bit cute)... the way he's been holding his diaper, looking at me with a scrunched up face, and saying "Ouch." when he "goes".


And based on that potty time routine (hold, scrunched up face, ouch), I'm going to assume that separating the adhesion area at every diaper change, and the resulting discomfort, is just minorly less fun for Jake than for me.