Luke's art

Luke loves to color and paint.  And he's developed his own style, as recognizably Luke's as any Jackson Pollock's is his.  After Luke finishes the coloring or painting, he uses a scissors and makes a series of parallel cuts all along the sides.

I love these little masterpieces of his; they're fun and unique and as artistic as a two-year-old's work can be.

I must usually express my excitement in a predictable way when he gives them to me.  Friday night, I was a little distracted as he gave one to me, and I said, "Oh, Thank you, Lukey!  I love it," and continued my work.

He was completely offended by this reaction, and he corrected me, "No, Mama!" and using a falsetto imitation of me, told me, "Talk, 'Oh, Lukey, Lukey, Lukey!'"

Yelling

I don't yell at my kids.  I get grumpy more than I should.  I sometimes use sarcasm, even though I try really hard not to.  But, one thing I very, very rarely do is yell.

So, shouldn't it mean something if I actually get to that point?  Shouldn't it tell them I'm at my wits end?

It doesn't.

I've yelled at Anna twice that I can remember, and both times she glared at me and told me, "Well!  You don't have to yell."

And Luke?  I lost my temper with him the other day.  He was freaking out because I put boots on him.  It was slushy and snowy, and I simply wasn't in the mood to debate the merits of Keen sandals versus boots in such condition.  So I stuck the boots on him and put him in the car.  He was in a full force tantrum.  My head ached, I was trying to strap in Anna and Ally.  Anna was trying to tell me something that I couldn't hear over Luke's screaming.  And, of course, we were running late.  I yelled at him to stop crying, raising my voice for what I think was the first time.

He stopped his incoherent screaming and yelled back, "No! No talk too loud, Mama!!"

Anna's cough

Anna wanted to stay home from school today.  She's asked this a few times, lately, saying she just wants to spend time with Mommy and with Luke and Ally.  Given the tough week we've had, I decided to let her.  (We had to put Mason to sleep on Tuesday.  I will write more about it when I feel up to it.)

I intended to call the attendance line and explain the situation, but I panicked at the last minutes.  I'd already let her stay home Tuesday to say goodbye to Mason, and I suddenly worried they would judge me or something.  So I lied.  I thought how she had coughed once that morning, and suddenly I was telling their voice mail that she had a bad cough, and how we didn't want to spread anything to her classmates.

Even as I said it, I had felt horrible and I was so glad Anna couldn't hear me.  I hung up, took a deep breath, and I noticed Anna peeking around the kitchen corner.

She skipped up to me saying, "Stay home day!" and put her little hand up for a fist bump.  Then with a big smile, she coughed the fakest sounding cough into the crook of her elbow.

Oh, the tangled webs we weave!

Where did it go?

I was getting Luke and Ally ready for their bath.  I had undressed Luke first and was in the process of undressing Ally.

Ally looked at Luke and said, "I see you penis."
Luke said, "Where you penis?"
Ally explained, "My penis in my pants."
I successfully suppressed a giggle, and this answer satisfied Luke.

Once I'd taken off Ally's pants and diaper, Luke said, "There you penis."
Ally looked down, then tried to bend her head more forward, then squished her belly in and back so she could see below it.  She looked for a moment and then exclaimed, "My penis all gone!"

Overheard

Ally and Luke were playing in the kitchen and Luke bumped his head on the table.  He said to Ally, "I hit my head, Ally. That funny? That bummer?"

Daddy's birthday

Kate and Anna had so much fun decorating for Dave's birthday.

Anna didn't want to wipe off her face, 
because she said it was decorated for Daddy's birthday.

Luke is my official cake tester.

He may "lay back" a bit on the job.

But he still takes his job very seriously.

He doesn't let any cake go to waste.  (Look at that tongue going to work.)

Time for gifts!

Ally stealthly tries to open one of Dave's gifts.

Look at him, humoring the girls with a look of surprise and delight!

Time for cake!

For being such a big eater, she doesn't care too much for cake.

Then there's Luke, who eats little else besides cake.

 We ended the night with a little dance party.  Everyone had so much fun!

This guy has the moves!

Even Mason showed some of his dance moves.

 And then there's Anna.  She does everything with a style of her own.

I couldn't help but picture 
what she'll be like in college if she has a few drinks.

We told her that she needed to wear underwear, 
so she switched her wardrobe up just a bit.

My sweet Lukey

The other day I was wearing an apron while scooping out pomegranate seeds, to try not to ruin another shirt.  It was a new apron I'd treated myself to on my annual shopping trip with my friend Jamie.

Luke knows me so well, especially for a two-year-old boy.  He looked at the apron and commented, "I like that, Mama."  I looked down, realized he was talking about the apron, and smiled, "My apron?  Thank you!"  Then he asked, "You make that?"

How cute is that?  Only a very sweet boy who is trying to make conversation with a mother who sews would think to ask such a question!

I love that kid!

A bonus "Oh, Anna!" moment

Anna came into the kitchen while I was making dinner and handed me this picture.

I loved the bright colors, so I bent down by her and said, "Anna, it's beautiful."

Anna replied, "I thought it was just scribble scrabble, but," she put her hand on my shoulder and tilted her head at me as she continued, "I knew it would look beautiful to you."

Today's "Oh, Anna!" moment

I told Anna to put on her shoes, and she came up to me holding her Hello Kitty slippers and asked if she could wear them instead. I told her no, that they weren't made for outside. She asked why not, and I told her that they would get wrecked. She asked, "Like will they get a hole in the bottom?"

When I said they might, she said, "I know a place that fixes shoes."

I asked, "Oh, yeah? Where's that?"

She said, "I don't know where it is... You know that place where the monkey and the weasel live? That's where."

The weekend's "Oh, Anna!" Moment

Kate and Anna were talking with Dave over breakfast on Saturday.  Anna said something was "gooder."  Dave reminded Anna that "gooder" wasn't a word.  Anna said, "Oh, yeah. But, why isn't 'gooder' a word?"  Before Dave even answered, Anna asked, "Is it because gooder sounds like a food?  Like a salt?"


It was while smiling at this a few hours later that something suddenly made sense.  Dave and I had been perplexed for weeks, occasionally bringing it up with one another, over something Anna said when I broke the news to the girls that our hamster had died a couple weeks ago.  

Anna had been devastated, crying and looking sick, but she kept saying, "What's better then a dead mouse?"  Dave and I had been so confused, we just hugged her and consoled her, but finally, when she said it the fourth or five time, we said, "What?  What's better than a dead mouse?"  She'd replied, "Nothing."  

We just shook our heads, concluding, "Weird kid."  But, I realized yesterday, she had been saying, "What's badder than a dead mouse."  

So, "badder" doesn't really sound like a food... well, I guess it does; it sounds like "batter."  But, more importantly, "badder" can make your parents think you've gone of the deepend.  So, at least if Anna asks why "badder" isn't a word, I'll have an answer.

Anna, suddenly an academic

Anna has been fascinated with spelling the last month or so.  After she perfected spelling the names of everyone in the family, she thought she was a bit of an expert.

She started to attempt to spell things she wanted.  "You know what I want?  B.P.S.T.  Blueberries!"

A couple weeks ago, Dave told her to do something when she was in a defiant mood and she grumpily replied, "D.P.T!  That spells, 'No!'"  I'm glad it was Dave, because I would have really struggled to discipline her while trying not to pee in my pants.

Yesterday, she got one right.  She said, "Mommy!  I know how to spell 'Oh, my gosh'!  O.M.G!"  

Well, at least she will be all set for texting.

Winter trifecta

We enjoyed our Wisconsin weather over the long weekend.

Dave taught Kate to ski on Saturday.  She was incredible, taking to it like a natural.  I think it helps to be seven (and not know it's scary) when you first learn.

I took the older girls skating at Red Arrow Park downtown the next day.  They loved skating down by all the big buildings.  They get this love of the city from their father.

We took the kids sledding on New Year's Eve, and it was actually fun.  I say it this way, because other attempts since the twins have been born were not very enjoyable, and because I had to drag Dave along because he was anticipating torture. 

Kate and Anna loved it, bringing their own sleds up the hill each time and there wasn't a peep of complaint out of them the whole time.  Luke wasn't entirely enthusiastic, especially after his second time crashing and getting a face full of snow, but he was a real trooper.

Ally was ecstatic.  After each run, she'd shout, "This is 'awethome' guys!"  And, by the end, she was insisting on going down solo!

When it was time to leave, she took off hiking back up the hill.  She kept yelling, "Come on, Anna!  Let's go."  We figure she thought her best shot at getting someone else to disobey the command to leave was with Anna.

I brought an old camera, and the pictures look like it's evening, but it was actually noon.