Temporary Tattoos

John loves temporary tattoos. Since he was so good at the food store yesterday he was able to get some tattoos from the vending machine outside the food store. Daddy and John agreed to put the tattoos in the bathroom for after bath time. After dinner tonight, Daddy said to John "if you remind me we will put on a tattoo after your bath." John quickly replied "I'm reminding you now!"

John got a tattoo after bath, a Captain America on his arm. He was very excited to have it on his arm. He got a little disappointed when he realized that Captain America's boot got smudged when he put his Jammie's on. But he quickly rebounded. He told Daddy "the next tattoo I want it on my back." Daddy asked him why. He said "I've never had one on my back." I think he just wants to be like Daddy.

Food Shopping

I needed to do a big food shopping trip today. I convinced Daddy to come with me and do a double cart trip. The double cart means that I take Gillian and Daddy takes John. John and Daddy seem to always get in trouble. Today was no different. It started with a race to see which cart was the first one in the door (the boys won). We were in the dairy section and the boys were being very sneaky. Every time I looked at them they stopped talking and John had this big smile on his face. I asked what he was doing and he quickly replied "nothing!" After that he didn't want me near his cart. I finally caught up to them in the frozen food section and asked what was going on. He started to whisper to me, but could not hold in his giggles. He would get two words out and then laugh. I figured it out. He got "squeeze yogurt." Can't really get made at that choice of snack. When Daddy comes shopping with me we use the self-checkout and Daddy scans while I bag. I found all of John and Daddy's purchases as I bagged. I kept saying I didn't have this in my cart! John thought it was hilarious. He kept saying "Daddy and me picked that!" He was so good in the store. He asked for quarters to get some new tattoos. I just couldn't say no. He was so good.

The Party

We went to my cousin's daughter's First Holy Communion today. John was very good. He shook a few hands and sat down at the kids table next to Justin. My cousin Jen made sure all the kids had fabulous goodie bags. The kids were quiet and entertained for the entire party. Gillian, on the other hand, was not on her best behavior. The party started at noon and Gillian is used to taking a nap around 12:30. So she was not her typical happy self.

When the party was done, we went across the street to see the beach. We took the kids shoes off and let them run around in the sand. It was Gillian's first time with her toes in the sand. She loved it! We took the kids to the water to put their toes in the waves and Gillian did not like it. John was a little shocked at the temperature but kept saying "lets do it again!" He held up his pants so they didn't get wet and continued to get his toes wet. On our way back up the beach John wanted to check out the jetty. When he was looking at the rocks, Daddy and John discovered a crab claw. John tells it like this "and I saw a crab. But it's ok. It was dead. And I touched the pinchers, but it's ok they didn't pinch!"

The beach

I told John that we were going to a party tomorrow. He, of course, asked what kind of party. I told him that it was a First Communion for one of my cousins. He said immediately "I don't want to go." I quickly told him that hi cousins would be there. I then explained to him that the restaurant was across the street from the beach. His eyes lit up. I said maybe if you are good after the party we can go play in the sand. He said "I have four concerns. Number one: sharks. Number two: crabs. Number three: there's some bad whales. Number four: lobsters. Orcas! Orcas are bad whales." I'm not sure how playing in the sand changed into swimming with sharks. I love the way his mind works.

Too Big

I got out of the bathroom this morning and found John curled up on my side of the bed. He looked so sad. I asked him why he was so sad and he said "I'm too big to bring Travis to school." For those of you who don't know, Travis is John's stuffed turtle. Travis was John's first friend and he sleeps with him every night. Also Travis was named after John's uncle who gave him the turtle when John was born. Anyway, back to this morning. John said "I'm too big to bring Travis to school." He was so sad. He also said "I'm going to miss him so much." I explained to him that I missed him when I went to work. I said since I miss you so much during the day, should I bring you to work with me? Is that fun for you to go to Mommy's work? He replied "no." I continued to explain to him that it wasn't fun for Travis to go to school and be stuck in his cubby all day. I asked John if Travis would have more fun if he stayed at home with John's other "friends" (i.e. Tank the triceratops, Crockie the crocodile and Cooper the monkey). That got a smile out of John. He still wasn't happy. Again, I said I miss you and Gilly everyday when I am at work. But I am super happy to see you both at the en of a day. Both of you make me so happy and I love to hear about your days. I said I know that Travis will be so happy to see you after school. And you two can talk about all of your adventures. He reluctantly agreed. He survived the day at school without Travis.

The whistle

The other night I was carrying Gillian upstairs and I stopped at the top of the stairs and whistled for Duncan.  He didn't respond to my first whistle, so I whistled again.  When I whistled the second time, I heard Gillian whistle.  Well, she didn't exactly whistle.  She kinda screeched and made a sound like a whistle.  I thought it was just a one time thing.  But we tried it again, and she did it again. 

Check out this video of Gillian "whistling" for Duncan.  It isn't until the end of the video where she attempts to whistle.

Every time she does it, all I can think of is Phoebe from Friends.  When Ross is playing "Celebration" on the bagpipes and says "you know the song, sing along."

Monday

John woke up this morning and walked into our room.  The first thing he said, "Mommy, is it a stay at home day or a school day?"  I told him it was a school day and that I didn't want to go to work either today.  He said "what day is it?"  I told him it was Monday and frowned.  He said "I don't have a problem with Mondays." 

After work and school, John told me about his day.  "I didn't need lunch today Mommy.  It was Troy and Gavin's birthday.  But it was just a celebration.  They turn 5 in like a minute.  And there was a pinata!"  And I guess Daddy already heard the story, because Daddy said there was othing else exciting today.  Then John said "NO!!!  We had a boa constrictor visit."  I got him to tell the whole story on video so you can experince the whole thing.

I can see why John doesn't have a problem with Mondays.  If every Monday was as exciting at his Monday, I think I would love them too!

First night without the kids

Daddy wanted to take me out to dinner for my birthday. Luckily for us, Mimi offered to take the kids overnight for us. Saturday afternoon we dropped the kids off at Mimi's house. John was so excited to spend the night with Mimi and Poppie. It was Gillian's first sleepover ever. According to Mimi, it took Gillian about 20 minutes to figure out we left her. The kids were good for Mimi. Gillian had a hard time falling asleep and ended up taking Mimi's spot in her bed and kicking Mimi to the couch. Poppie woke up around 6 and found Gillian sitting up just watching him.

While the kids were having their adventure at Mimi and Poppie's hose, Daddy and I were having dinner at the Fromagerie in Rumson. First of all, it's a real treat to have a dinner out. Second, it is nice to go out without the kids. I am truly thankful to have a dinner out at a nice restaurant and that Mimi & Poppie were willing to take the kids overnight.

When we picked up the kids this morning, they came running to us. Gillian did not want Mommy at first. Daddy and I agreed that she was mad at me "for leaving her." Mimi told us all about the fun they had and explained how the princess did not want to sleep. Mimi predicted that Gillian would be asleep by the time we reached Target (which was our next stop). And Mimi was right.

Overall a fabulous weekend for our little family.

Table Manners

Tonight I made cheeseburgers for dinner. We cut up Gillian's cheeseburger to make it easier for her to eat. Before we even started eating, she was pointing at something. I assumed that she wanted a roll like John. I gave her a roll and she was happy for a little while. She then started pointing at something else. She wanted John's juice box. We gave her one that had maybe a quarter left in it. She drank it quietly and quickly finished it. I turned to her and said if you eat some of your cheeseburger Johnny will get you another juice box. I didn't expect anything. I didn't think she would understand me. But she heard that and then leaned over her plate, mouth open wide and picked up a piece of cheeseburger. Daddy and I agreed that she reminded us of Randy from "A Christmas Story."

Snuggly kids

I got the best welcome when I got home from work today. John came running up the stairs and into my arms. Followed by Gillian. They didn't want to share and Gillian started to push John away. So I just sat on the floor and had John in my left arm and Gillian in my right. By far the best part of my day.

After dinner we went downstairs to play. Gillian didn't want to play. She just wanted to snuggle Mommy. She laid in my lap. Johnny got jealous of our snuggling and he had to get in between us. They both snuggled with me for a few minutes and then moved onto something else. John ended up with his super hero masks and Gillian found a book. She brought the book back to me and I asked her where the animals were and she pointed to them. Then I asked her what noise the animals made. There is nothing cuter than hearing her say "hee-haw!" with her hands up by her head like ears.

Backseat driver

John has become a backseat driver. It started out innocently. He started out by telling me the color of the traffic light. He would see a green light and say "go, Mommy go!" He has also started to read street signs. He saw a Do Not Enter sign and was able to explain to me what it meant. This morning I made the turn onto Newman Springs Road and all I could hear from the backseat was "Speed. Go speedy!" I told him I was going the speed limit and I would not be going any faster. He quickly replied "But you gotta speed. You gotta catch those cars!" Luckily for me, the lights changed ahead of us and the cars he was pointing to had to slow down. Again from the backseat I heard "Yes! Now we are going to win. When the light is green you gotta go fast!" I am in so much trouble when he gets his drivers permit.

Bedtime

After bath time tonight, we went downstairs to play. John played with his super heroes and Gillian played with her babies. Once again, Gillian's babies were put into timeout. John would take them out and bring them go me. Gillian would have them sit next to me for a few minutes and then walk them back over to the steps to sit in timeout. Poor Katy Katherine (Gillian's Cabbage Patch Doll) spent all night in timeout.

When it was bedtime, I announces bedtime! And the kids went running upstairs. I followed them upstairs and told them to go to their rooms. I found John in his bed and Gillian snuggling next to him. John kept saying "no Gilly. Go to your room!" She just giggled and put her head on his pillow. Daddy said goodnight to them and turned off the lights. Gillian didn't make a peep. But John did. "You gotta get her out of here!" Gillian just wants to be like her big brother. But Mommy is not ready for Gillian to be in a big girl bed.

Sit down

We had a busy morning of errands. Our first stop was Lowes. John and Gillian love going to Lowes. John loves to drive the race car and Gillian is a great co-pilot. Check out the picture of my silly drivers below. Our next stop was a fish store and Staples. Gillian and I got stopped in the parking lot by a lady that declared herself to be a "wanna be grandmother." Gillian was very quiet (even at 18 months she knows not to talk to strangers). I got stuck making small talk with the lady but I was happy that we could make her day a little brighter. Our next stop was to Target, we had a few random things to pick up and ended up running into Dr Yee (the kids pediatrician) in the toy section. The kids were a little shocked to see her outside the doctors office. Gillian kept watching her as we talked. Dr Yee suggested that it was because Gillian remembered that she gave Gilly a shot during her last exam. Our last errand of the day was Costco. The kids love Costco mainly because they can sit next to each other in the shopping cart. Also because of the free samples. I personally hate the free samples and try to avoid that area of the store. Lucky for me, we got there just as the samples were being set up. We finally finished our errands and Gillian fell asleep on the car ride home.

After nap time, Gillian got all of her babies out. She started playing with them on the couch. Then all of a sudden she went running across the basement to the staircase. She put one baby down on the bottom step and said "sit down!" She walked back to the couch and got another baby. She put that baby next to the first one saying "sit down!" She walked away and played with some other toys. She put her babies in time out!

Before bed tonight, the kids read a few books together. So sweet.

Christmas in April

The kids got to celebrate Christmas with their Gran-dad today.  Gran-dad arrived just in time for Gillian's nap.  I put Gillian down while the boys made a trip to Toys R Us.  Gran-dad wanted to get John a new bike for Christmas and we all decided it would be easier if John was there to pick it out and to try it out.  It was a good thing that Daddy went too, because they decided on getting John a eighteen inch bike instead of a sixteen inch bike.  This gives John a little extra space to grow too.  The boys brought John's new bike home and all three of them worked on putting it together.  John was very patient during the whole building process.  It didn't take too long, and luckily we had a really nice day today.  No one minded sitting and relaxing on the deck while the bike was built.  Gillian also got a new doll stroller.  I put that together when Gillian woke up.  The stroller is a double stroller so now she can push two babies at a time.  After the stroller and bike were built, we went to Dorbrook to test everything out. 

We got to the park and John went running towards the playground.  Gillian, on the other hand, loved pushing her baby dolls.  She walked all over the park pushing her stroller.  It took a little convincing from Mommy for Gillian to take a break and play on the slides.  John was running around playing and then all of a sudden we heard "John!"  And along came John's best friend from school Nick.  They gave eachother a quick hug and continued to play.  Gillian continued to play on the little slide, while Nick and John ran all over the playground.  Nick had to leave after a little while, but John still continued to have fun without his friend.    

After Gillian played on the slides for a little while, she decided to take baby for another walk.  Again, we walked all around the playground.  I had to keep an eye on her, because she is a little bit of a crazy driver.  She doesn't always pay attention to everyone around her.  She took her baby for a walk and we ended up by the swings.  She stopped the stroller, walked to the front and got baby out.  She walked to the slide.  I assumed that she wanted to push the baby in the swing for a little bit.  No, she wanted to go in the swing with baby.  She and baby loved the swing. 

After Gillian was done on the swing, John tried out his bike.  He did great!     

Cooking Class

John's class had a field trip today. They went to the Young Chefs Academy. John told us that they made pizza. According to John "It had cheese and sauce and vegetables. And I got to cut the vegetables. The knife was not sharp. It even touched my finger but it didn't cut it!" They got to eat the pizza for lunch too. "But I didn't eat all of it, because I didn't like the vegetables." The class also got to make cookies. "Guess what? I like raisins now. We made raisin cookies with a little bit of chocolate." I asked him if he got to mix everything together. He said "I used my strong arms and strong face to mix everything together!" Then he showed us his strong face (see the picture below). I am so glad that he likes raisins now. I asked him if he would eat raisin cookies if I made them and he said "but we need the recipe."

Don't be angry

I am trying to get John to become a little more independent. We started the chore chart a few weeks ago. That has helped to teach him responsibility. This week I have been having John dress himself. He is doing a pretty good job. He does have a tendency to ask for help. Daddy and I repeatedly tell him that he can do it without assistance. Tonight when he kids were in the bathtub he asked "Mommy, can you put Phineas and Ferb on the surfboard?" I told him no and explained that he could do it. He tried for like ten seconds and gave up. "Don't be angry. You need to help people. That's what everyone is supposed to do. I helped Gillian before. You could help me now!"

The Easter Bunny

Taking the kids to see the Easter Bunny is always an adventure.  John's first visit was pretty uneventful in March 2008. 

The next year however, he was a year older and he was not too happy to meet the big bunny.  It looks like he is trying to run away in this picture.

I think we missed visiting the Easter Bunny in the spring of 2010.  I can't seem to locate the picture from 2010, but I'm sure being pregnant with Gillian I probably totally forgot about going to see the Easter Bunny. 

We did make it to see the Easter Bunny last year.  Gillian was about nine months old and John was three and a half.  John was not to sure about the Bunny while Gillian loved the big stuffed animal. 

We went to see the Easter Bunny today.  Yeah, I know.  I'm a bad mother.  I waited until Good Friday to take my kids to see the Easter Bunny.  And silly me, I thought the line would be short.  Well I was wrong, it was so long.  We probably spent forty-five minutes in line.  While Gillian and I waited in line, Daddy and John walked around the mall.  As we got closer to the bunny, Gillian was pointing to him and waving and yelling "bunna!"  I really thought that we weren't going to have a repeat of our trip to see Santa.  John and Daddy came back from their adventures and John said to me "that's not the Easter Bunny.  The Easter Bunny is white.  I don't want to see the brown bunny."  Daddy talked to John about being brave for Gillian.  That was all it took.  He told me "Mommy, I'm going to be brave and sit next to the bunny."  When we were probably two pictures away from see the Easter Bunny ourselves and Gillian started to get shy and back away. Daddy took her and I took John.  John went right up to the Easter Bunny and gave him a high five and a pound and then sat down.  Gillian, on the other hand, was not happy.  She started crying as soon as Daddy took her close to the Easter Bunny.  Daddy attempted to put Gillian down next to the Easter Bunny, but she freaked out.  So he gave up, he sat down next to the Easter Bunny and put Gillian on his lap.  The photographer started to instruct Daddy to lean back, but we know the drill.  This is not our first time of having a crying baby when visiting Santa or the Easter Bunny.  She cropped Daddy out of the picture and looked at me and apologized.  I told her that there isn't anything to apologize for, this is how my kids reacted.  I still love the picture and years from now I will always smile when I think back at this morning's adventure.

Wink and a nod

Tonight at dinner, I gave John a little wink. Normally in response to that he attempts to wink back and basically ends up blinking at me. Not tonight. He winked back at me! I had him show Daddy his new ability. John then tells us "I can close this eye, but not the other one. I can wink like a hundred times." And then he proceeds to wink a bunch of times.

Mimi dropped off some Easter goodies for the kids today. They each got candies, cookies, bubbles. John got a Max Bunny (from The Max & Ruby show) while Gillian got the Ruby Bunny. Well Gillian was running around the house with Max all night. John, of course, wanted his bunny back. We finally got Gillian to trade and she ended up putting Ruby in a box and leaving her there. I finally got her to play with Ruby by putting both bunnies in her doll stroller so she could take them for a walk. I think she only wanted Max because it was John's but we will see who she plays with tomorrow.

The Cold

John has a little head cold. Monday morning he woke up and said "Mommy is today a school day? Cause I can't go to school today. When I cough my neck hurts." I said I think you mean your throat. "Mommy, my throat hurts when I cough." I explained to John that he will take some medicine and go to school because he only has a cold. As I was getting him ready for school he says "Mommy I should be bed. My throat hurts when I cough." Again I explained to him that he had a cold and he had taken medicine. Also let me mention by this point in the morning he had only coughed once. While the cough did sound painful, he still only had a cold and no fever. I dropped him off at school and during my lunch break I ran to the store and got him some new medicine and special dissolving drops for his throat. Before bed we gave him the new medicine. He did not like it. "Mommy it makes my throat hurt. Don't get this kind again!" He does like the dissolving drops and I think that they are helping with his sore throat.

Green Eggs and Ham

John and Daddy read "Green Eggs and Ham" tonight. Daddy read all the Sam I Am parts and John read the part of the roommate. It was awesome. John would get mad at Daddy when he thought that Daddy was reading his part. "No Daddy! That's my part! You read that side." They read the entire book and at the end John was so proud of the roommate trying the green eggs. "Because you don't know until you try it!" Love my smart guy and how he loves to read.

Patience

John has no patience and a really good memory. I made the mistake of telling him on Friday that Aunt Betty was going to come visit this weekend. We found out on Friday that Aunt Betty was coming over on Sunday. And we told John that. Well first thing Saturday morning, John found me in the kitchen. "Mommy, where's Aunt Betty?" Again I explained to him that Aunt Betty was not coming over until Sunday. Again hours later, he asked when Aunt Betty was coming. This morning, he woke up and came right into my room. "Mommy, my hand hurts." As I was rubbing his hand to wake it up, he said "is Aunt Betty coming today?" I told him, yes today was the day Aunt Betty was coming. He left me and went running downstairs. I found him sitting in the front window. "There is no sign of Aunt Betty anywhere!" After explaining once again that Aunt Betty would arrive later in the day. He was disappointed, but didn't hesitate to ask when Aunt Betty would arrive an hour later. Hours later Aunt Betty called to let us know that she was on her way to our house. When John heard that he went running upstairs to wait for her to arrive. I think the entire neighborhood heard him screaming "Aunt Betty!" when she pulled on to our street.