Sister-cousins

Dave's sister adopted one of Finley's litter mates.  Dave and Jen say they're still sisters.  I say they're now cousins.  Either way, they're really cute together.

This cousin, identical cousin thing always makes me want to sing "The Patty Duke Show" theme song, but I've found no one else understands the reference, so I'll spare you.

Or, will I??

Finley (left) and Emma (right)

Finley (left) and Emma (right)

It's too slippery to sit, Mom!  -Finley (right)

Finley (left) and Emma (right)

Emma's left hook!

Finley (left) and Emma (right)

Ally and Finley

I was holding Ally on my lap this morning, and Finley was trying to snuggle with us.  Ally was getting annoyed, so when Finley stuck her nose up by Ally's face, I said, "Awww, Finley loves you.  She's giving you a kiss."

Ally replied, "I don't like that dirty mouth!"

Some themes of my three-year-olds

Theme #1 - "Birfday"

The twins had been taking some of Anna's favorite toys.  (In their defense, Anna has dozens of "favorite" toys, and these favorites change daily.)  When they would be playing with them, Anna would complain that they can't take a certain toy, because she got it for her birthday.  The twins soon caught on to this reasoning and began arguing back with Anna.  They'd take her toys and claim they had actually gotten them for their birthday.  And when they'd fight with each other over toys, they'd both be yelling that they got these toys for their birthday.

A few days ago, Luke was crying over a piece of string that he had tied on a toy.  Anna had untied the string, and he explained, between sobs, "I got the string for my birfday!"

If I thought that was ridiculous, I wasn't ready for the dinner-time drama that evening.  The meal wasn't a favorite, but there was some leftover mac & cheese for lunch.  I warmed it up as a side dish and put some on Luke's plate.  Kate and Anna wanted some, too, so I took the container to dish some onto their plates.  Luke began protesting, but I said, "They can have some, too."

"No!  No!" he began screaming, "It's my mac & cheese!"  And then came the line, "I got the mac & cheese for my birfday!"

Theme #2 -Safe Drawer

We don't have know how the idea of a safe drawer materialized.  (For some reason the termalways makes me think of a ten year old Jodie Foster movie, "Panic Room.")

If I had to make a supposition, I'd say this might have started when we would be at the library and one of the twins had to go potty.  The other twin would never want to go because they were worried some other kid would come during their absence and "steal" their train.  So, I'd tell them they could put the train on the book shelf next to the train table to keep it "safe" until we got back.  (Yes, I know.  Hiding a communal toy seems on the cusp of breaking society's rules, but when the alternative is having one twin pee in his/her pants while the other throws a huge fit over a train...  I stretch the rules.

Anyway, now they have to hide anything that they were playing with before they take nap or go to bed.  Twice a day the two of them are each shoving several things into drawers.  It used to be one drawer in their bedroom.  But, it got full.  (See, that's the stupid thing--or one of the stupid things-- they never resume playing with anything they put in the drawers after they wake up, so a quarter of our toys were up in these places.  After a few weeks of this, I decided to empty their original "safe drawer" and put the things away.  I had to endure Luke's wrath for days.  He'd spontaneously declare,  "Don't take my toys!")

Luke has also taken to putting food that he doesn't finish in a plastic sandwich bag and asking if he can put it in a "safe drawer."  He's usually content to keep things safe in the 'fridge.

I fully expect to see both my twins on episodes of the 2030's equivalent of hoarders.

Catch Phrase #3 - "Acc'int"

When four or more kids are playing in a confined space, accidents happen.  I don't want my kids getting unnecessarily angry at each other or at friends, so I've often found myself scooping up a kid who got bumped or banged and saying, "Oh, it's okay, Sweetie.  It was an accident!"

Ally thinks accidents are very convenient.  The other day, I was cooking dinner when Luke cried out, "Ally hurt me!"

I heard her nonchalant answer, "It was an acc'int."

Then Luke, "Ally hurt me again."

And Ally, "It was an acc'int again."

Catch Phrase #4 - I don't hear...

I'm sure I somehow started this by telling them I didn't hear them doing something.  Maybe I was in the kitchen and I'd asked them to clean up blocks or something and they said they were, but I said, "I don't hear the blocks getting cleaned up."  I can only guess, but now they have used it more than I ever have.

Luke or Ally will ask me for something.  I will tell them I'll get them it when I finish doing whatever I am doing.  And then they'll ask for it again, and I say something like, "Yep, I'm getting it."  But I'm still finishing whatever it was I was doing in the first place, so they will look at me and say, "I don't hear your feet moving."

Okay, first of all, I'm busy.  I'm doing something already.  And, whatever they want can wait a few minutes.  But, more importantly, they can see me, I'm right there, so why would they have to hear my feet to know I'm not doing whatever it is they want me to do.

And, that's the point to which I've come: arguing logic with three-year-olds.

Catch Phrase #5 - Friday

Luke recently became aware of days of the week.  This has helped him make some more elaborate excuses.

I took Luke to the bathroom to go potty before his nap.  He said, "Potty not coming."

"You have to try," I told him.  "You haven't gone potty all morning."

"I did go potty."

I took a moment to think over the morning, trying to remember if he had gone potty recently.  I concluded that he hadn't gone since before our playdate and said, "No, you didn't.  You have to try."

"I did go potty," he insisted, "...on Friday!"

Since it was now Wednesday, I sat him on the toilet.

***

I was making dinner, and Luke was sitting on the steps yelling for me to get him his scissors.

"Get your own scissors," I tell him.  "It's on the project table."

"No, Mommy," he whines.  "You get it."

"I'm not getting your scissors.  You can get it."

He told me, "I just can't right now."

I walked over to the stairs and looked at him.

"You 'just can't right now?'" I asked him.

"Yeah," he explained, "'cause it's Friday."

"It's not Friday, Luke.  It's Thursday.  If you want your scissors, go get it."

Handy Manny

"I look like Handy Manny with my crayon like this."

10:30pm on a Monday

Ally, it's three hours past your bedtime, your room is dark, and you don't even know how to read!

 Go to sleep.

Yeah, you definitely look like you're taking me seriously.

The brown

I had some friends over to paint canvases last week.  I have painted exactly two paintings since college, and that lack of experience shows.  I can sew and make all sorts of crafts, but painting... it's not really my thing.

I painted this picture for Kate and Anna's room.   When I finished, I was reasonably happy with how it turned out.  I just knew Kate would be excited!

I didn't finish while my friends were over that night, so I worked on it as Luke and Ally ate lunch the next day.  I showed them when I finished.  Ally obligatorily said, "Pretty!" Luke asked, "What all the brown?"  I told him it was kind of decoration.  He didn't seem satisfied, but gave me a look like, I guess I'll just give this one to you.  Then Ally asked, "And what all that orange?"

When Kate and Anna came home from school, I showed them.  Anna asked, "What's the brown?"  I told them it was supposed to be abstract, kind of fancy.  Kate, always the sweet girl, said just what she was supposed to.  She said, "Mama, it's beautiful!"

Then the next day, I found Kate staring at the picture in the kitchen.  When she saw I'd noticed her, she cautiously asked,  "So, were you originally going to make it sideways and that was the dirt?"  I just look at her.  Not only did she wonder what "all the brown" was, but she'd formulated a hypothesis.   My pause makes her uncomfortable and she added, "Oh... um, well, did it happen that way?"

Anna Banana

Dave asked Anna, "I heard that they sometimes call you 'Anna Banana' at school."

Anna answered, "Yeah, they call me 'Anna Banana.'  But, sometimes they call me 'Anna Melbye.'  I don't get that."

One question before bed

We got home late from my nephew's baptism party tonight.  Kate and Anna went to bed.  We got Luke to bed, and, as I was struggling with Ally, Anna yelled she had a question.  I told her I'd be in there in a minute after I got Ally to bed.

I finally went in there.  It was after nine.  I asked Anna what her question was.

"Well," she said, pulling herself up onto one arm, "I just want to know where God first came from and how he created the whole world and how I came to the world and ended up being the person that I am."

Uh... is that all?

First Snowfall

My Luke

Having a "favorite" is never good.  But, there are times where each of my kids is the favorite.  Kate will amaze me with her intelligence or kindness and I'll think, "She's the best kid in the world."  Anna will crack me up, or amaze me with her artistic talents, and I'll think, "This kid!  There's no one better!"  Ally will be in a good mood and she'll be so sweet, and I'll see something in her that is just so endearing, I'll think, "Oh, my goodness, I'm going to melt!"

And, there's my Luke.  He's so good to me.  He calls me, "My cute Mommy."  He hugs me, and he treats me like his mom and his sweetheart.  He was playing house with the girls the other day, and Anna told him, "You'll be my husband," and he protested, "No!  I'm going to marry Mommy!"

It might be the difference between having daughters and having sons, but I just feel so adored.  If he's naughty and I have to discipline him, he'll immediately hang his head in shame and exclaim, "I so sorry, Mama.  I so sorry!"  Then he'll run to me and cling to legs, making sure he is still in my good graces.

He can also be pretty funny.  The other day I was doing my nasal flush, which can be, as Ally exclaims, "Gwoss."  The water kept going into my throat and I kept having to clear it out of my throat.  Luke came around the corner of the bathroom and asked, "You growling at me, Mama?" I laughed and said, "No, sweetie, I'm just trying to get stuff out of my throat.  I wouldn't growl at you."  He shook his head and said, "I know, Mama.  I just joke you."

Love, logic, and a whole lot of deep breaths

Ally has been a bit tough to take lately.  She's three, which for her means she wants what she wants, and it's usually what a sibling has, and she wants it now.  She also doesn't want what mommy wants, no matter what.

It's taking every bit of my Love and Logic training for me not to either a) just give in to her every demand in the interest of a little less temper tantrums or b) throw her out in the yard.

Here's a recent example.  It was time for nap, and she clearly needed a nap.  We, had, after 10 minutes, moved passed the "I'm not tired" arguments by anticipating all the wonderful things we could do after she napped, and I was trying to get her to go potty before her nap.  She was screaming, "I won't go potty!" and I was calmly holding her on the toilet telling her I'd love to read her a book as long as she went potty.  She finally let her potty out, knowing she'd get a book.  But, she glared at me and, in the same voice she'd been saying she wouldn't go potty, she said, "I won't go potty more!"

Okay, Ally.  You win.  Don't go potty more.

If three-year-olds weren't so cute, I swear there'd be a lot less of them in the world.

I love apple picking

Eleven days after my septum/sinus surgery, I finally felt well enough to get back to the orchard.

Too heavy

But not for Anna!  What a girl!

Got it!  Let's go!

Candy girl

Since Kate's first time trick-or-treating, I have been amazed that she could eat just a piece or two of candy and not beg for more.  I thought it might get harder as she got older, but she's seven, and she's still perfectly content to eat two or three pieces the day of trick-or-treat, and then one piece each day after that.  Anna put up a tiny fight for a couple years, but nothing the last couple years.  Luke's the same way.

Ally.  Oh, dear.  She's her mother's daughter.  (I write this after I just finished off eight pieces of candy.  It was going to be one, but I'd taken it from Luke's bag.  That wasn't fair, so I took one from everyone else's bags, as well.  Then I saw there were Rolo's in one of the bags, so I had to have one more, which, of course, had to be an even four more.)  Ally, like me, has not stopped thinking of candy since we arrived home Sunday.  She will come in the door and seek out her trick-or-treat bag, loudly demanding it.  Sometimes, to settle her down,  I'll let her see her bag, to pick out a piece of candy to have after a meal.  That's always backfired, though, as she'll grab a piece of candy and run around demanding, "Open it."  I'll remind her she can have it after her meal, but she'll refuse to eat anything but candy, stating that everything else is "gwoss."

This afternoon, I'd let her set a piece of candy by her plate because she vowed, "I won't eat it."  I turned my back, and she victoriously chewed down that piece she declared, "I open it!"  Then I moved the rest of the candy away and handed her a piece of pear.  "I don't want this!" she exclaimed, disgusted, "It gwoss."  Luke took the pear from her and said, "I'll eat it.  I like gross!"