Snow Day

We had our first snow day of the year last week.

The kids were so excited. They actually got up earlier that day than they did on Christmas!

The day started off with chocolate chip pancakes then a viewing of Pee Wee’s Big Adventure. That has become the new “go to” movie in our house. The kids also like to watch old reruns of Pee Wee’s playhouse on You Tube…Thanks to Ricardo’s new Blu Ray player we can do all of those things from the comfort of our couch.

We hit the slopes in the backyard by 9 am. They aren’t super steep, but good enough for the 2 younger timid kids. Luckily or unluckily, because it was 10 degrees outside, the kids lasted over an hour. It takes a long time to get 3 kids, plus myself ready to go play in the snow. It seems like old times when they were 2 1/2, 1, and a newborn!

We came in and enjoyed some delicious hot chocolate and chocolate chip cookies that I had made earlier.

Piper Ann spent the rest of the morning at the neighbor’s house while the boys ran around the house playing with another neighbor.

After lunch the boys hit the slopes again with a neighbor while I worked out, showered and put laundry away.

I heard Oliver crying outside. I assumed he had had enough of the cold, but met him at the back door. I was greeted with bloody faced 3 year old. Apparently he didn’t get the “bow out when you get close to a tree while sledding” memo, and smacked a tree head first.

He definitely did a number on himself. Luckily it didn’t scare him too much. He went back out after Ricardo got home.

Nathan had the next day off too because of the bitter cold, but Piper Ann had preschool. Thankfully Ricardo drove her, so I didn’t have to face negative temps!

Withdrawals

The “gunga” (binky) fairy came two nights ago, and left Oliver some really cool Star Wars sheets for his bed. I’ve been putting it off for so long, but it was time for Oliver to hang them up.

He’s been doing pretty well at night time, its the napping that he’s having trouble with.

Today was the first time he asked for his “gunga.” When I said they were gone, he started to cry for daddy. (Ricardo was always quick to the draw to shove that thing in his mouth.)

He still loves his blanket and has attached himself to a bear. I’ll take it. The bear won’t cost us thousands of dollars in dental work!

Now if I could think of some sort of “fairy” to get Piper Ann to stop sucking her thumb!

Letter…

Dear company that makes little boys’ underwear,

Could you maybe put characters all over the underwear instead of just on the back? That way my 3 year old won’t insist on wearing them backwards, so he can see the design.

It can’t be comfortable to wear them that way!

Thanks,

Me

Wunny Babbit

Yesterday I had some peace at the grocery store, because I only had one child with me. My bill was exponentially less than the last time I went with all 3 kids.

It wasn’t until we passed the Easter display and Oliver asked for candy. I told him the Easter Bunny was going to bring him candy in his Easter basket.I didn’t realize we’d still be talking about it every five minutes for the next 24 hours.

him: When’s Easteh?

me: In a few weeks?

him: but when?

me: a couple days before Nathan’s birthday

him: oh. (a few seconds pass) Wheh does da bunny wabbit wive?

me: I’m not sure

him: can we see him?

me: ya, we can go to the mall and get our picture taken with him.

him: oh.

We picked up Piper Ann from school after grocery shopping.

him: (PiperAnn) da wunny babbit’s coming!

Since she understands him perfectly, she knew exactly what he was talking about.

The funny thing is that he never calls him the Easter Bunny. He either calls him the Bunny Wab, the Bunny Wabbit, or gets confused and calls him wunny babbit.

April 12th, get here soon, so we can stop talking about this! Its going to be a really long 2 weeks!

Buggie Lou

Yesterday was my “baby’s” 3rd birthday. It was a crazy day that consisted of not one, but two all-you-can-eat pizza/salad bar buffets along with video games.

Potty Training

So I think I have changed the last diaper of children I’ve given birth to (knock on wood).
Oliver started his potty training yesterday. Its not going too bad actually.
It started off rocky, but doesn’t it always? He wet his pants twice in a row. Then he stayed dry through his nap and let it loose after he woke up. He didn’t have any more accidents the rest of the night.
This morning he woke up dry. Ricardo tried to take him potty but he wouldn’t. He let loose all over a chair in the family room. Other than that he had no other pee accidents today. Pooping is another story…He went twice in his pants and it was diarrhea. How could you be mad at that? Hopefully he thought it was so disgusting that he’ll never want to do that again. We’ll see.
According to the Farmers Almanac I should have started on the 2nd of July or waited until the 19th. I’m hoping to prove it wrong.
I am glad to know that the bull out back that needs castrating can happen on the 21st.
It even tells you the dates to pickle vegetables or cut your hair.
Anyway, I hope the pooping thing goes better.
Here are some of my tips for potty training:
1. Go cold turkey. Pull ups feel like diapers, so they will treat them as such. I would use them at night. We call them “nigh nigh time undies.”
2. Rewards, rewards, rewards. Their wish is your command. I have a jar of M&M’s in the bathroom. He gets one just for trying. If he pees, he gets a few. At this point he can have the world for poop, but we’re negotiating with big marshmallows (I like to call them “baby crack”).
3. Speaking of rewards…There was nothing more rewarding for my children than making me proud. You have to play it up. When he finally does go, jump up and down, dance, scream, clap, etc. He will get the point!
4. Quantity, not quality. Forcing your child to sit on the toilet until something comes out will only make you and him frustrated. Sit your child on the toilet for a minute or two. Let him know its time to go potty. If nothing happens after those few minutes, take him off and try again in 5 or 10 minutes.
5. If he has an accident, put him on the toilet and let him know this is where we go potty. Never yell at your child for having an accident. Most children (Piper Ann is an exception. I wouldn’t let her change into multiple pairs of new underwear, so she peed in them. That way I had to change them.) don’t do it on purpose.
6. I don’t really have a preference for potty seats. The seat on the toilet has always worked best for me. We had a free standing potty seat, but they just thought it was a toy.

I could go on and on. I consider myself a pro at this point. If you need advice, feel free to ask.

Why I Love Swim Diapers…

How Can You Not Laugh?

Oliver has two new little sayings, one of which is “shut up” and the other one is “poop head.”

Usually when he uses those cute phrases I explain that its not nice, blah, blah, blah, but a couple of times I had to walk away because I didn’t want him to see me laugh.

One day he was walking around the kitchen telling everything to “shut up,” like the table etc. When he got to the fridge he saw a picture of the kids sitting on Santa’s lap. He saw and said,”shut up, Ho Ho.”

Another time he was overly tired and smacked me. I told him to tell mommy he was sorry. He said, “sorry, poop head.” In the straightest face I could manage, I told him that was not nice to call people “Poop Heads.” His response was “poop head, poop head, poop head.” Lovely.

And last night we were saying prayers and as we got to …I pray the lord my soul to keep… he said, “I pray to  ‘poop head’…He knew he was funny, because he was laughing hysterically.

All this from a not even 2 1/2 year old.

A little note…We are going to be potty training after Memorial Day. Wish me luck!

Too Much Fun at the Mall

Apparently Oliver had too good of a time! Of course he didn’t take a real nap.

Spring Ahead

I’m anxiously awaiting losing an hour of sleep on Saturday night. “What?” you say.
I’m hoping that it will retrain my children to wake up around 7am instead of 6am. I need more than 8 hours of sleep. I know, waaah, but I love sleep.
When they wake up that early, they usually come in my bed and cuddle for 2 minutes and then demand to watch TV. I tell them that there’s nothing worth watching until 7am, so Nathan sits there and stares at the clock waiting for it to have a 7 and then screams, “Kid show please!!!” Meanwhile the other two are fighting over blanket and pillow space. On top of it, I’m so not a morning person, but I’m not a night owl either.