Katie wants to live under the...

Katie was about to come upstairs last night after a fun time at Grandma and Grandpas.

Her toys were all set on the bottom two steps (yes, she has that many toys that MUST come downstairs with her or her whole life will be ruined) when she told us that she was going to live there.

Not "there" as in *at* Grandma and Grandpas (she wanted to do that a couple of weeks ago), no, she decided that she was going to live on the basement stairs. She was ready to sleep there and as she waved her arms to the blank space behind her she said that her kids were here and she needed to stay with her kids to keep an eye on them.

I thought that sounded like a good idea (figuring she would come upstairs when she got bored or tired or thirsty or hit puberty) so I let her stay there.

Till I heard a door shut and realized she was visiting Grandpa when he was trying to wind down for the night. So I went and got her to come up and I took her toys up. She had a bit of a fit. She was not happy and EVERYONE was going to hear it. She really knows the "n" word (that's "no" in case you were wondering) and she's not afraid to use it.

She kept yelling that she wanted to "live on the STAIRS, not here. I am MAD. No! No! NO!" Rinse, repeat, for about 5 minutes. Oh, and I made the mistake of letting her see me laugh. I tried to hold it in but just could. not. hold. it. any. longer! So I tried to hide my face behind my magazine. Didn't help... she's pretty perceptive. Then I heard "Stop laughing AT ME!" at least 5 times. Which made me laugh again. Arg.

I'm surprised that Jake didn't wake up to this but he was in dream land.

Finally she looked at me and with all of her anger she said "you a... (and I held my breath hoping not to hear something that would require a time out... or a bar of soap*)... you a NAUGHTY GIRL" and she added a "hmpfh" which is her way of putting an end to discussion on the topic. (Kind of like "I no do that. Hmpfh" after which she crosses her arms and turns her head away in a semi hair toss.)

I let out my breath and thanked God, Dora, Diego, and Caillou that it wan't something much worse. And then we snuggled on the chair and played I spy. And she was happy again.

* Just kidding. I would never, ever, ever wash her mouth out with soap. I might talk to her about using kind words to the point she would prefer the soap, but we go through soap pretty quickly already and I don't have a re-stocking trip to Costco planned for a couple of weeks. Plus, that stuff's expensive! Just kidding.**

** No, really. I'm just kidding. We do have plenty of soap in the bathroom closet.

Jake's a healthy baby boy.

I took Jake to the doctor for his shots and 1-year checkup. Got there at 5 and checked in, Jake played with the waiting room toys and was having a ball. The nurse called us and we headed into our cell... um, I mean our room. I had to get all of Jake's clothes off for the check up and then she weighed and measured.

Jacob weighs in at 24 lbs 6 oz and measurs 33 inches long. He's in the 66th percentile for weight and 96th for height.

Then we waited. And waited. And waited.

Jacob played with the chair, the table, the step thing that comes out of the table... and tried to get into everything. And at first I tried to keep him out of stuff. But that got old after about 45 minutes. At that point I brought out the puffs so I could distract him from the really dangerous stuff but really I let him push buttons and spin the little doctors chair as much as he wanted. I did wrangle him away from the outlet under the desk... you know, the one that powers and runs the handy dandy computer.

After awhile the puffs weren't doing it for Jake so I opened the door and we went for a walk. Jacob found a storage room and loved looking at himself in the mirror someone had propped against the shelving. (I don't know why that door wasn't shut or the mirror put in a less "child friendly" place but I don't claim to be a genious.)

We finally got shots taken care of and then had to go downstairs for a finger prick. Poor Jake! He finally calms down and then has to sit through another round. The lab tech was trying to talk to Jake and get him to smile but Jacob just looked at him. If looks could talk, his look would have said "what do you think you're going to do?" He suffered through this too and we headed home.
We finally got home at about 6:30 (in case you're wondering... that's an HOUR AND A HALF at the clinic!) and John took him so I could eat dinner and Jake fell asleep. Slept through the night and didn't wake up once. Whew!

Katie had gone shopping with Grandma and I think she invited herself to visit downstairs because that's where she was when I got home.

John sat down to eat after I took Jake. Katie came upstairs (I think she wanted to get her flip flops - don't ask me why she insists on wearing them in the house) and saw John eating his BLT. She asked for "just one bite". Took that bite and needed "just one more bite". This went on until his whole sandwich was gone!

Then she went back downstairs. And I sent this to Grandma and Grandpa: