The Theater

John's class had a field trip today. They went to the Count Basie Theater in Red Bank to see "Seussical" which is a collaboration of many of Dr. Seuss' favorite stories. I explained to John that he was going to see a show. He said "like a movie?" It took a little bit longer to explain to him that there would be no TV or screen and that people would be performing for him. Tonight he started to tell us about his trip and at first he focused on the bus. You know, who he sat next to and where his seat was on the bus (priorities for a four year old). We asked him who was in the show and he said "Cat in the hat! And Thing One an Thing Two. They're troublemakers!" He told us a little about the actors that were holding fish and dancing around the Cat in the Hat's box. But that's really all the information we got about the show. However he did get a window seat while sitting next to two girls on the bus ride home!

Windows down

John loves to put his window down when we are driving. Sometime last year he figured out that he could reach the window button in both of our cars. Now when he wants his window down he doesn't ask he just puts it down.

We have a short commute from school to the house a little over two miles. Last week we were driving home and John had his window down. On the road next to us was a motorcycle. And to make things even cooler the motorcycle was green (John's favorite color). We were both stopped at a light and John was so excited. I guess the motorcycle driver heard us talking and looked over at John. Johnny immediately waved and made friends with the motorcyclist. The light turned green and John was yelling from the backseat "go Mommy! Go!" The motorcycle got stuck behind some slower cars which meant that Mommy won. John was so pleased with me. "Mommy, your car is faster than a motorcycle!" The next night John had his window down again and he made friends with a lady in the car next to us.

Gillian has finally caught on to the window thing. She can't reach the window button yet. But when John puts his window down you can guarantee that Gillian will start pointing at her window and going "eh, eh!" Tonight Gillian had her window down and started waving to random cars that we passed. She didn't get anyone to wave back at her yet, but it was her first time.

Silly Tuesday

Daddy works late on Tuesday nights. So I picked up the kids and we had dinner together. After dinner John wanted to "race." The "race" is a new game that he and Gillian made up. Basically one gets Gillian's doll stroller and the other one gets Gillian's shopping cart and they chase each other around kitchen. They love it. Duncan does not like it. It makes Duncan crazy. Tonight it only took about five minutes for Duncan to start following Gillian around the kitchen. Gillian cried. So I picked her up. John wanted to race still, so I held on to Gilly and we chased John around the kitchen. John and Gillian loved it. John is really fast and he didn't even have his "fast shoes" on tonight. We raced/chased each other for about 15 minutes and then gave up to take a bath. After bath time, we decided to dance a little in Gillian's room. I turned on Pandora and just let the kids go crazy. And they did. Gillian shook her little tushy. John did all of his moves: the robot, the tushy shake, and his mixture of parkour and dance. We danced until Daddy got home. We had such a fun time tonight.

Doctor's Appointment

Gillian was overdue for her 18 month well visit. Every time I went to schedule an appointment, Gillian had a cold. I was finally able to schedule an appointment for today (Gillian is just one day shy of 20 months today). I dropped John off at school and Gillian and I headed to the pediatrician. We take the kids to the same pediatrician I went to as a child. We got to the office and sat in the waiting room. There was another family waiting with us. Gillian as a little shy and sat quietly on the chair next to me. She watched as the little boy and little girl with the other family got yelled at for fighting over a toy. She started to smile at the little boy and he started to point at her and say "girl!" They only had a few minutes to be friendly, because we got called into an examine room. We started by weighing her first. Gilly was not happy on the scale, but she weighed in at a whopping 28lbs and 2 ounces. She laid very still while we measured her height, 34.75 inches, and head circumference, 48 cm. Dr. Yee came in the office. Like always, she immediately said "mommy you do all the work and they both look like Daddy!" I can't argue with her, Gillian looks a lot like Daddy and his side of the family. We talked briefly about the family and she quickly started the exam. When we were there for Gillian's one year visit, Gillian kicked her pretty hard. Dr. Yee remembered that Gillian is my feisty child but there were no tears during the exam and no kicking too. But it was time for the worst part...shots! Dr. Yee called in a nurse to help because "Gillian is feisty!" I am very happy to say that the nurse was not needed. Gillian was very brave and only cried for about 30 seconds when the second shot was completed. She was very happy when she got her lollipop as reward for being a tough girl!

I dropped her off at school and I found her class playing outside. I brought her through the gate and she immediately went to find her BFF Jo-Jo. Again I have to admit I was impressed. Some mornings I have to pull her off of me but today she was so happy to be outside. She didn't care where Mommy went. She ended up having a great day at school too. I am so proud of my brave, strong girl!

The cake

On Saturday, John and I decided to make a cake. John did all the mixing as I added the ingredients. According to John, "it's easier to stir with the water than the eggs." Anyway, we poured the batter into two round pans and put them in the oven. I had a small argument with John about who should put the pans in the oven. He gets a little excited sometimes and forgets the simple facts that ovens are hot and little boys should not touch them. So we made two round cakes and left them on the stovetop to cool. The cakes sat on the stovetop for awhile and then Daddy and I decided to run some errands. When we leave the house we normally gate Duncan in the kitchen. When we leave we make sure there are no yummy distractions within Duncan's reach. I moved the cakes to the corner of our L shaped counter and put a chair in the corner as well. We ran our errands and when we got back we found the cake pans on the floor. I made a mistake instead of putting the kitchen chair with arms by the counter I put one without and Duncan was able to reach the cakes. Apparently the cakes were yummy because all he left us with were a few crumbs. When John saw the mess, he said "you know, you shouldn't have left the cakes there! He got to eat them all!"

My biggest kid

Tonight at dinner, John asked to be excused. I told him no and that we would be going right to the bathtub when I was done with dinner. "But I'm not dirty!" I looked at John and said Gillian has eggs in her hair (we had Brinner tonight) you need to take a bath tonight. Again he responded with, "I don't need a bath. I'm not dirty!" Then my husband got involved. Daddy said "You are phewy!" "No Daddy! I'm not phewy! You are phewy!" The two of them went back and forth for a few minutes until John was on the verge of tears. I had both of them apologize to each other. Even though Daddy had to apologize twice because he laughed in the middle of his first apology.

Last night when Daddy picked up the kids, John wanted to have his window open during the car ride home. John rolled his window down. Then Daddy rolled it up. Then Johnny rolled it down. Then Daddy rolled it up and locked it. When John realized he couldn't roll the window down and told Daddy "put it down!" Daddy said " I can't. It's broken." John replied "it's not broken Daddy. You just locked it!" I'm not really sure which I worse; that John is a smarty pants or that Daddy is just a big kid.

Wet Dog

I gave the kids a bath tonight. After bath time, I put Gillian to bed. John got to snuggle with Mommy & Daddy in our room. Duncan was snuggling in the bed with us too. As I was petting Duncan I noticed that his neck was wet. I asked John why Duncan was wet. He said "cause I poured water in him." Then he backtracked, "well Duncan was drinking the water in the bathtub. And I thought he looked dirty. But I could only reach his neck!" so basically the dog was bothering him so he poured water in his head. Poor puppy.

Cleanup & Mickey

We have a seven year old boxer named Duncan. Duncan is a messy eater. He likes to take a big mouthful of food and ends up spilling a good portion of it on the floor. Because Duncan is a messy eater we keep his food and water bowls in the laundry room. Tonight while I was making dinner, John was playing on the deck and Gillian was trying to sweep the kitchen floor with my broom. All of a sudden I heard little plinks and plunks. Gillian was picking up Duncan's food and was putting it back into his bowl. I asked her what she was doing and she replied "cleanup!"

John and Gillian were really good for Mommy tonight. As a special treat I put on an episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Gillian is just starting to watch TV and actually enjoy what she is watching. As the opening started, I heard John say to Gillian "it's magic. You need to say the magic words." Gillian wasn't capable of say Meeska Mooksa Mickey Mouse, but by the end of the episode she was able to say "Toodles" and "Mickey." Amazing how quickly they learn.

Unusual Monday

We are having unusually warm weather in New Jersey.  Daddy picked up the kids from school and gave me a quick call.  He was wondering if I was going to be on time today.  He had brought the kids to a local park to enjoy some of the nice weather.  I was out the door on time and found them still playing on the playground.  Gillian came running towards me and wouldn't let me out of her sight.  John on the other hand waved from the top of the slide.  Daddy told me to put Gillian down and let her climb the jungle gym.  The second I put her down she would cry.  She just wanted Mommy. 

I took her to the top of the jungle gym and tried to get her to go down the slide.  She wouldn't go.  I sat down and we went down the slide together.  She giggled and loved it.  As I got off the slide, Daddy stopped me and showed me the video below of Gillian.  I guess my little lady is brave and adventurous.  She just wanted Mommy to go up and down the slide with her. 

While Gillian and I were going down the slide, John was having "a race."  Which basically meant that he would start at one end of the jungle gym and go through all the obstacles and then end up going down the slide.  I loved watching him go down the slide.  The slide was plastic and was super staticky and his hair would get all spiky when he went down.  The video below is of John finishing his race and going down the slide.   
 

What a pleasant way to start our week.  



Good boy?

Today Daddy and I wanted to go to the mall and do a little shopping. We decided that we would take two strollers to help eliminate any whining. We told John that if he was really good while we were in the mall then he could go on a ride. Unfortunately we left the mall without a ride. But we did agree that John was a very good boy and should get rewarded for his good behavior. We stopped at Petsmart and picked him up a couple of new neon fish. Daddy let him hold the bag on our way home. We were almost home and we could hear him talking to the fish. I asked what was going on. And he replied "the fish are sad." When we asked him why, he quickly responded with "they are going to miss their friends." He then started talking right to the fish telling them that they would be ok and that they would have new things to play with in the big tank. I just love his little heart.

Later tonight, John was sitting next to me on the couch reading a book. Gillian wanted the book and before I realized it John took the book and pushed it against Gillian's head. I immediately sent him to timeout. On his way there he threw Travis the turtle on the floor. He did his time and when he got released he said "Travis needs to stay in timeout for five minutes. He was bad. He told me to do it!" What am I supposed to do with that?

The Jokester

John told us some jokes tonight. Listed below are a few of John's jokes.

How does an ice pop turn into a tiger?
It eats stripes.

How does a couch turn into a door?
Because they are both made out of wood.

How does a dog turn into a people?
He eats lettuce.

How does a night turn into a house?
Because it's dark outside...and dark inside.

How does a clown turn into a doorknob?
Because they are both made out of gold.

How does an ice pop turn into a house?
They are both the same color!

He started with the first one listed above and I have to admit I was laughing so hard I got the hiccups and I started to cry. After seeing my reaction before he would tell his next joke he would say "this is my joke and it is super duper duper silly!"

Italian Ice

We had another beautiful day in Jersey. Daddy and I had decided earlier in the day that we would treat the family to Italian ices if it was still nice after dinner. I picked up the kids from school. I didn't mention the possibility of a treat. But on our way home we drive past Ralph's Italian Ices. As we drive past, John says "wait a minute. Mommy go back." I said what's the matter John, what did you see? He says, "I saw the ice cream place. Mommy, I was playing outside today. And I got really hot. Maybe we could get ice cream today." I can't believe this little guy. He certainly knows how negotiate. We got home and he and Gillian played outside on the swing set while I made dinner. After dinner we went to Ralph's and had our first Italian ice of the season. Everyone enjoyed it.

Outside

It was another beautiful day in Jersey today. I picked up the kids and before we got out of the parking lot, John rolled down his window. As he rolled the window down, he said "it's a nice day today, that means we get to have the windows open." We got home an had a picnic dinner and played outside. We had bubbles and chalk on the deck. John wanted me to blow bubbles so he could "karate chop" them. I wish I got it on video. I would blow a bubble and he would spin around to chop them or kick his fee. At one point he had his arms sticking straight out and spun around in a circle. As I was laughing at my silly boy, I looked up and saw two beautiful cardinals flying around the backyard. I hope they enjoyed watching John as much as I did.

Cookie Helper

John always wants to help me make cookies or decorate cookies. Today Aunt Betty came to visit. She wanted to visit with the kids and also help me with decorating St. Patty's day cookies. As I was getting the icing ready there was a little ruckus behind me. John decided to make a bowl a hat and hit his hat with a wish. Check out the pictures below of my silly kids.

I got the icing ready and set John and Aunt Betty with green icing and the shamrocks. I gave them a brief lesson and I left them for a moment to put Gillian down for a nap. By the time I was back, John had enough. He didn't like putting the icing on and only wanted to help with the sprinkles. The sprinkles entertained him for a little but and then he wanted to do what mommy was doing. I was working on the beards for the leprechaun cookies. "But Mommy I never did that before!" And then he was quiet for a little bit and I look over at him. He had a huge smile on his face and he had a green mustache. Aunt Betty asked him what he was eating. Grinning ear to ear he says "green sprinkles!" I guess a big part of being a cookie helper is eating all the sprinkles and asking if the cookies are dry.

Octopus and nighttime help

John did a craft project this morning and the entire kitchen table was covered in markers, stickers, glue and paper. He wanted to help me make cookies and I told him that he needed to clean up the table before he could help. He looked at me and said "what am I an octopus?" I am sure I had a look of confusion on my face because it prompted him to explain "I don't have eight arms! I can't pick up all that stuff. I'm not an octopus!"

When we put Gillian to sleep, we just lay her down in her crib. No rocking or anything to get her drowsy before we leave the room. Most nights she stays awake for a half hour or so and talks to herself. The past couple of nights she would call for Mommy. After a few minutes she starts saying "Fia, Jo-Jo, Dashiel." I guess since I didn't go running into her room she decided to change her tactic. Silly little girl, your friends aren't going to help you.

Got the moves...

John likes to race all the time. On our way upstairs to bed tonight, John was ahead of everyone (as usual). When he reached the top he said "I won!" Daddy said "that's because you are so fast." John quickly replied "that's because I've got the moves like Jagger!"

Nice weather

Today was a beautiful day. It was almost 70 degrees. I got to pick up the kids from school. As I approached the building I could see John running around the playground. His cheeks were red and he was grinning ear to ear. I went inside and got Gillian and their stuff and then we went to the playground to find John. Gillian started calling her brother. "John-John!" she yelled. And that's when we saw a little girl being chased by John. He finally saw Gillian and I and came toward us. He barely said goodbye to his friends and we were on our way.

As soon as we got home he wanted to go play outside. I told him he had to wait until Daddy came home. So he sat in the window and waited. The second Daddy got home John had his coat on and was ready to go outside.

I love when the kids play outside. They are tired, dirty and hungry when they are done. He ate all his dinner without a complaint. There was only giggles in the bathtub tonight. And we didn't have any arguments at bedtime. I can't wait for spring to be here.

Be Brave

John's school had Monmouth County Park Systems visit today with snakes. John has been telling us all about snakes for the past two days. He was telling us all about vipers and milk snakes. He said he read about them in a book. Daddy is afraid of snakes so all this talk has made him uncomfortable.

John was telling us tonight about the snakes that visited his school. He said "they brought good snakes. And there was a rattlesnake puppet." I asked him if he got to touch a snake and what did it feel like. He said "I got to touch the black one and it was hard." When Daddy heard that John touched a snake, he said "well you are braver than Daddy!" John replied "I know." Then he thought about it for a second and hit Daddy with "well Daddy if you tried maybe you could be brave like me. You don't know unless you try."

The Price We Pay

I am a full time mother and I also have a day job as a controller. Unfortunately I got stuck at work really late on Monday. I missed John tell me about his day. I missed John say "Gilly stop it!" I missed the giggles and smiles. I missed bath time splashes and bedtime snuggles.

Tonight, on the other hand, I got to pick the kids up from school. Gilly was sitting at a table reading a book. She looks up at me and smiles and points across the room at John. She ran over to him and said "John-John come." And that's all it took he went running down the hallway. In the car on the way home, we talked about what happened at school today. "we learned S today. I can make an S. It's like a snake, but snakes aren't always like an S." And with that statement I remembered that tomorrow they are going to have Monmouth County Park Systems come visit with snakes. I asked John if he knew that snakes were coming to school. He got quiet and said "I don't want them to come. Are they going to bring mean snakes?" We talked about the snakes and how mean snakes would not be allowed at school. He replies "do you think that they will bring a milk snake?" I've never heard of a milk snake so I asked him how he knew about it. He told me that he saw it in a book. When we go home I looked it up. I honestly thought he was making it up. I was wrong.

We ate dinner and took a bath and got dressed in our Jammie's. We still had time to play and there was no fighting or yelling. John was pretending to fall on the couch and Gilly loved it. She giggled and giggled. We read a few books and climbed into bed.

Two completely different nights, both were rewarding but for different things. On Monday I was able to complete a project that will help to enable our sales team to continue to grow our company. Tonight, I was educated by my four year old about snakes. I was also reminded of how we should enjoy all the little things like Gillian laughing at her silly brother.

The Circus

Mimi got tickets for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus for Saturday night.  She originally got 4 tickets and Daddy & I debated whether or not to take Gillian.  We were unsure if she would pay attention or get bored quickly.  We later found out that the tickets and Mimi got were for a suite and she was able to get another two tickets.  After finding out that we had a suite, it was an easy decision to take Gillian along for the show.  We figured she could run around the suite if she got bored. 

eating pizza

Mimi met us at our house and took John to the show in her car.  Daddy and I drove up with Gillian.  Gillian fell asleep in the car and we woke her up to walk into the Prudential Center.  As we were walking into the Prudential Center, there were protesters.  While I agree that they have a right to protest and want the best for animals, but do I really need to be screamed at while holding my 18 month old.  I don't think so.  There is a time and a place for everything.  And I'm sorry I don't think that they convinced anyone to actually walk away from the circus.  Once we got inside, Daddy and I found John and Mimi in the suite.  John was already sitting down eating a slice of pizza.  Once Gillian saw that John was eating, she had to have something too.  We moved John over a seat and sat Gillian down next to him.  She had some chicken fingers and then started to help herself to John's juice box.  John was a little leery about going down the steps from the suite area to our seats.  He got a little nervous at the height.  Gillian on the other hand, wasn't afraid.  Mommy had to keep an extra eye on her, because she would go running down the steps.  She also attempted to throw a napkin over the railing.     

Gilly & Mimi

 

 As everyone was getting something to eat, the pre-show was ending and they were starting to get everything set up for the show.  The clowns came out first to get everyone excited about the show.  John loved the clowns.  Gillian wasn't so sure at first.  Once the ringmaster came out and started to sing and the elephants and animals came out she was much happier.  Gillian loves music, so once they started to sing she was happy.  Plus she loved the elephants.   

 

watching them set up the ring

After the opening song, the riders of the wind came on.  They did tricks on horseback.  I'm not so sure that John was impressed with the horse and riders.  I think he was still excited to know that he could have as much popcorn and soda has he wanted.  After the horses, they set up the ring below for the tiger and lions, they had a motorcycle on a high wire.  The motorcycle was really cool, but unfortunately it was on the other side of the stadium.  It was hard for John to see and he probably would have loved it if it was closer.  The big cats were up next.  I think that Mimi was a little afraid that they would attack the trainer.  The cats were well behaved, although one named Princess did not want to do all the tricks.  She barely cooperated and was the first one back in the cages.  But don't worry no blood was drawn and the trainer survived!

Alexander Lacey and the tigers

 After the big cats, there was the hair-iffic act where the ladies actually hang from their hair.  That act was really impressive.  I don't think I could handle that.  There was a short intermission after the hair act while the circus got set up for the trapeze.  Daddy and John went on an adventure to find ice cream or a treat for after dinner.  Gillian, Mimi and I decided to hang out in the hallway and let Gillian run around.  Gillian loved it.  She watch over balcony to see the people below and also ran around with the other kids in the hallway.  Daddy and John came back with cotton candy in hand along with a fancy mask.  We got the kids back in the seats along with their cotton candy.  We actually found something that Gillian does not like.  She was not a fan of the cotton candy.  She pushed it away. After intermission, the trapeze was up next.  John loved watching the trapeze.  He would yell "wahoo!!!" every time they would catch someone.  Then the clowns did a little skit with one acting as Repunzel.  He thought it was hilarious.  Even this morning, he said "and remember they both jumped on the thing and then it broke."  That was his explanation of two clowns jumping on a teeter board at the same time. 

  

just chillin


John's favorite acts came at the end of the night.  Just like Daddy, he loved the motorcycles and the globe of steel.  He will tell you "they got eight motorcycles in the circle.  First they got four and then seven."  He also loved the teeterboard tricks.  There were two rings with the teeterboards.  They would make one guy go up in the air and he would land on top of some one's shoulders and they would go higher and higher.  He loved it.  He was sitting behind me at the time, and all I could hear was "that was awesome!" or "Wahoo!!!"

Gillian's favorite act of the night was the elephants.  She would point at them and say something that sounded like elephant (at least to me).

While we were waiting for the elevator, Mimi asked John what was his favorite part of the night.  He responded "all the parts."  I have to agree.  It was a lot of fun to see the circus and truly wonderful to see both Gillian and John's eyes light up at all the amazing sights.     


John in his circus mask



Travis the turtle with the mask



best pic of the two of them together



Sick day

Gillian had a cold and over the past couple of days she has had a cough too. Daddy and I were a little concerned about her cough. Daddy took the day off today to take her to the doctor. I dropped John off at school this morning. He was a little shy and drop off was twice as hard today. He told me "that he was scared to go to school without Gilly."

The doctor told Daddy that Gillian has a nose and throat infection. Daddy took Gilly to his office so he could pick up paperwork for court tomorrow. Daddy put Gillian down for a nap, but I guess she wasn't ready. Daddy went to check on her and found her in the crib with no shirt on. No nap for Gilly today. But an hour later when I came home for lunch, Gilly was super excited to see me. She was happy and talking and silly. Not at all like a sick child.