Dessert

The kids are loving summertime desserts. Most nights we are barely done with dinner and John is asking about dessert. The past couple of days their dessert has been ice cream cones. Ice cream is always a big hit. Last night was cookies. John asked me "what's for dessert?" while he was eating the cookies. I said cookies. He replied "cookies are a treat, not dessert!"

Tonight John decided he wanted a Klondike Bar. Gillian and I shared a bar while John had his own. John did very well for awhile until the ice cream started to melt. We put it in a bowl so he would have an easier time eating it. Immediately he picked up a huge piece of chocolate on his spoon. "I'm going to eat the chocolate first!" I love the way he thinks. After dessert I sang "what would you do for a Klondike bar?" Gillian didn't hesitate and said "bock bock bock!!"

Hello

Lately Gillian has been trying to get our attention any way possible. If we are driving somewhere, she will say "Mommy!" If you do not respond right away, you get "Mommy! Hello!" Again, if you do not respond right away, you get "Hello! Mommy! Hello!" And let me be clear when I say "you do not respond right away" I mean a matter of seconds. Children have no concept of time and my kids are no exception.

Tonight during dinner, John was telling me a story and Gillian wanted my attention for something (most likely because I was talking to John). Instead of doing her "Hello! Mommy!", she says "Hola! Mommy!" Well that worked. She got my attention. Smart little lady.

Pluto

The other morning at breakfast, John turned to Daddy and I and looked really sad. He told us "do you know? Pluto is not a planet anymore. It's some other word. It's not a planet." He was so sad. It was like he and Pluto were long time friends and he lost his friend forever. He continued "Pluto is really small, but it's not a planet. It's something else. Another word."

Chicken and the shopper

Gillian has learned a lot of the animal sounds. Now when you tell her that we are having chicken for dinner, she says "bock bock!" We say, Gillian eat your chicken. She replies "bock bock!" and then eats her chicken.

Today we went to Old Navy. I was looking for a new bathing suit for Gillian. I found a couple of bathing suits. Gillian insisted on carrying them herself. We also found some deals on the clearance rack. Every time I pulled something off the rack Gillian took the hanger out of my hands. She walked to the front of the store and handed her clothes to the cashier. My little shopper.

Cooper

When I was pregnant with Gillian, we talked to John a lot about the baby in Mommy's belly.  We told him that if the baby was a girl, her name would be Gillian Marie and if the baby was a boy, he would be Cooper James.  When John met Gillian for the first time, he looked at Daddy and I and said, "where's Cooper?"  We explained to him that there was only one baby in Mommy's belly and it was a girl baby.  He still seemed a little confused.  One of the ladies that worked with Daddy suggested going to Build-A-Bear Workshop with John and have him make a Cooper.  Daddy and John did go and make a Cooper.  Cooper is a monkey.  John even picked out an outfit for him (the outfit has been lost over the past 2 years).  He is one of John's favorite friends and often spends the night sleeping with him.   

John & Cooper the first day

feeding Cooper

Gillian discovered Cooper this morning.  She loves the monkey.  John and Gillian decided that Cooper needed socks on this morning.  And Gillian had him join her for breakfast this morning. 

breakfast buddies

He also made the car trip to school.  She gave him kisses in the car and waved good-bye as I walked her into school.  Daddy picked up the kids from school, but when I got home from work I brought Cooper back into the house.  Gillian found him in the kitchen at dinnertime and lucky Cooper got to "eat" chicken and rice for dinner.  During bath time, Cooper had to sit on the potty and wait for John and Gillian to be done.  But after bath time, Gillian made sure Cooper had a blanket and was put "night-night." 

The Owl

My mom has one of those plastic owls for her garden. We visited my parents on Sunday. Gillian found the owl on the steps of their deck. Grandma told Gilly that it was an owl. Gillian repeated "owl." Grandma asked Gilly if she knew what an owl said. Gillian just looked at Grandma. Grandma told her that an owl says "who who." Once again Gillian repeated and said "who who." Then she had to carry him up the steps of the deck. Once she got him to the deck, she put him in a chair and said "sit down!" She loved that silly owl.

The Diva and The Professor

This morning I picked out an outfit for Gillian. As I attempted to put on the shirt, she took it out of my hands and said "not this!" She then threw it on the floor. She then picked up her Kemit t-shirt and handed it to me, saying "this!" She isn't even two years old yet and she is picking out her clothes?

John has an amazing memory. He explained to me "Mommy, you know that a Stegosaurus can change the color of his plates?" For those who don't know a lot about dinosaurs, a stegosaurus has big spikes called plates that line his back and tail. John continued to explain "the stegosaurus makes his plates red to scare the bad dinosaurs away. And blue for the nice dinosaurs. Or maybe blue to scare them away. No. No. He makes them red to scare the bad dinosaurs away." I was a little taken back by his statement. I didn't know if it was true, but as I was silently contemplating it's validity, Daddy was looking it up on google. It turns out to be a theory among paleontologists. Earlier that day, John was watching "Dino Dan." I'm so glad that we were all able to learn something interesting from that show.

Girl Party

Saturday, Gillian and I had plans to go to Aunt Missy's bridal shower/luncheon.  I had discussed the party for quite some time with John.  First I explained to him that Mommy was making cookies for Aunt Missy's party.  And second, I explained to him that Daddy would take him to cooking class because I needed to go to Aunt Missy's party.  First thing Saturday morning, Daddy was telling John that maybe they would do something special, just the boys.  Daddy suggested that they go and visit the set of "The West End."  John was quick and said "but I wanna go to Chuck-E-Cheese!"  Somehow he remembered the last time Mommy had a girl party, he got to go to Chuck-E-Cheese. 

Aunt Missy planned a luncheon for the bridal party, but what she didn't know was that the bridal party planned a surprise shower for Saturday.  Gillian and I arrived at the club early to help set up the room.  Gillian was a little shy at first, but after awhile she got friendly with the other bridesmaids.  As the guests arrived, Gillian walked around the room (never too far from Mommy) eating her veggie straws.  Then it came time for the big surprise, Gillian joined the bridesmaids and I as we waited outside for Aunt Missy to arrive.  We all walked into the club together.  I was a little worried that Gilly would cry when everyone yelled surprise.  But she didn't.  She was wonderful.  She smiled and was very excited for Aunt Missy.  We all moved into the dining room to eat lunch.  Gillian, again, was very excited to be out to lunch with the big girls.  She got to sit in a big girl chair and she was even given ketchup to dip her chicken fingers into (and we all know how much she loves to dip). 


The best part was next!  Present Time!  We had Aunt Missy sit in a chair in front of everyone.  Gillian found the perfect seat for a little lady, some presents.  I was a little worried that Gillian would want to open the presents with Aunt Missy.  But again I was pleasantly surprised.  She did her duty as a flower girl and helped.  She would throw away the wrapping paper and give the bows to Kalyn.  She ran back and forth for about 20 minutes.  She visited Mimi for a little bit and then came back to get cake.  I was feeding Gillian in an effort to prevent getting chocolate all over her dress.  At one point I guess I wasn't feeding her fast enough, because she took the fork from me and stabbed the remaining portion of cake and picked it up.  That portion was probably two inches long!

She was so good.  She did start to get fussy when all the guest had left.  We were all hanging out on the patio and I think that Gillian was just overtired at that point.  We got into the car and we were less than a mile down the road before she was asleep.  I had a wonderful day with my favorite little lady celebrating with the bride to be!

 

Shake your booty!

First of all, let me apologize. I haven't blogged in a couple of days. Saturday Gillian and I went to Missy's bridal shower and then Sunday I actually got my house cleaned and organized for the week. Here's a little story about John to get your week started with a smile.

During bath time last night, Daddy played "Shake your booty" by KC and the Sunshine Band. As soon as the song got to the chorus John started shaking his tushy. He said "Mommy you know what? Booty is another word for your tushy." And in typical monkey see monkey do fashion, Gillian started shaking her tushy too. At one point the were on their knees facing the back to the tub so they were shaking their booties at us!

Animal rescuer

John loves to watch "Go Diego Go." He loves learning about animals and quite frequently he tells us facts about animals. When we ask how he knows these facts, he says "Diego!" Yesterday, Daddy was mowing the lawn and he found a bird egg in the middle of the yard. We have some really tall trees in our neighbors' yards, so we think that the egg had a big fall. Daddy picked up the egg and noticed it was cracked. He put the egg in a bowl on the deck. By the time I got home with the kids, the little bird had hatched. We showed John the little bird and Daddy explained how he found the bird. I was afraid that John would be scared but he immediately said "aww that little bird is so cute!" Daddy and I read online that you should leave the bird where it fell and put it in a "nest." We elected not to put the bird back in the middle of the lawn. We were afraid that Duncan would want to "play" with him. We left the little bird on the table on the deck. He was snug in his makeshift nest. We explained to John that we were leaving the bird outside so that his mommy and daddy could find him. Unfortunately the baby bird did not make it through the night. Daddy and I decided to not give John that news. We told him that the mommy an daddy bird found the baby. John was very excited to hear this news. He said "Daddy you're an animal rescuer! Just like Diego!"

New bedtime ritual

Gillian has a new bedtime ritual. I have to turn off her lights and turn on her ladybug nightlight. Next I have to put her down in her crib and put a blanket on her. Kermit needs to be next to her with his head on her pillow. Then I ask, does Kermit need a blanket? She always says "yes!" Then I turn on her music. I ask her, what's next? She says "kiss!" I start with Kermit and give him a bunch of kisses and say I'll see you in the morning, be a good boy. I tease her and pretend to leave. She then says "me!" I give her bunches of kisses and tell her that I will see her in the morning. She loves her little ritual. Daddy put her to bed on Tuesday and she cried until I went in there and gave her kisses.

Crusin'

"Where's the roof on Aunt Betty's car?" John asked on Saturday. Immediately, Aunt Betty offered to take him for a ride. I moved his carseat over while he inspected her convertible Bug. He climbed in the car. They went cruising down the street and turned around in the dead end. I watched from our porch and saw Betty make the turn onto Newman Springs Road and saw John's hands up in the air. They were gone for a little bit and when they came back John had a huge smile in his face. He loved it. He did say "I thought we was going to go somewhere." Even though he was disappointed that the trip was only around the block, he still enjoyed his first ride in a convertible.

John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt

When John was a baby, we used to sing John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt to him. He loved it. I would sing it as a lullaby while I rocked him to sleep. When he was cranky in the car, I would sing it loud and in a silly voice to get him to giggle. It's been awhile since we have sung the song. At some point tonight Daddy started singing it. John immediately stopped in his tracks and requested that Daddy sing the song again. I sang it for him. He loved it. On our way to bed, he requested that I sing the song again. Of course I sang it for him. When I was tucking him in I told him how we used to sing it to him all the time. He didn't believe me. He asked "who is John Jacob? And what are the words?" I told him it was a silly song and that I would teach him all the words soon. I guess we will be singing John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt a lot!

John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt,
His name is my name, too.
Whenever we go out,
The people always shout,
"There goes John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt!"
Da da da da da da da.

Mother's Day

John was very excited about Mother's Day this year.  He made something in school and he brought it home on Wednesday.  He told me that "I wasn't allowed to look at it until Mother's Day."  When I told him how many days before Mother's Day, he was a little disheartened.  Then on Thursday, Gillian had a present for me.  Again, John told me "you can't look at it until Mother's Day!" 

Today, we had a little adventure.  Mimi, John's grandma, is involved with producing a movie.  Today, they were filming a funeral scene and the entire family was able to be extras in the movie.  I am not going to lie, it was a long day.  We had to be at the funeral parlor at 7 am and we were not done until after 1 pm.  Daddy and I woke up got everything into the car and got the kids out of bed and put them right into the car.  They were a little shell-shocked to be awake so early, but they were troopers.  They enjoyed some donuts while we waited for our turn. 

After our breakfast, we went right into our scene outside the funeral home.  John and Gillian were very good.  By our second take, Gillian started to say "Action!" after the director of photography.  John was good at remember his place and was quick to tell Daddy what to do next.  John made friends with the Director of Photography, who showed him all the cameras and the special dolly that the camera was on for our scene.  If you ask John how the most important person was in the movie today, he says "me!" 

After our little adventure in movie making, we headed home for a quiet and relaxing afternoon.  Gillian fell asleep in the car on the way home and continued her nap at home.  John "rested his body" on the couch while watching a show.  I finally got to open my Mother's Day gifts.  Well, John opened them, while I got to watch.  John made me a wonderful card where he wrote out Happy Mother's Day.  He also decorated a mug for me too.  Gillian made me a sign too.  I love their gifts.  I am very thankful to have such wonderful children.   

 
"A mother's love for her child is like nothing else in the world. It knows no law, no pity, it dares all things and crushes down remorselessly all that stands in its path."
- Agatha Christie


Dip, dip, dip

We had hot dogs and hamburgers for dinner tonight.  Gillian had a hot dog.  She was eating and then started pointing across the table.  I thought she wanted chips, but she was pointing to the ketchup.  I gave her some, thinking she was just going to leave it on the plate.  Well I was wrong.  Out of the corner of my eye I could see her dipping her hot dogs into the ketchup.  While she was dipping, she was saying "dip, dip, dip."  I personally think the best part is how she is holding the hot dog.  So gentle. 

After dinner, I decided to give the kids a treat...an ice cream cone!  It was such a nice day and I knew they would enjoy one.  It was Gillian's first time having an ice cream cone.  She was a little shy at first, and was a little afraid to lick the cone.  But she got over that quickly when she realized it was yummy.  

yummy



she loved it

Wheeeee!

Daddy picked up the kids from school today.  On the way home, John asked "Daddy, why are we going so slow?"  Daddy explained to him that there was traffic.  "Daddy, can I open my window?"  He opened his window, stuck his head out and had the following commentary:  "Whoa, look at all of those cars!  You gotta make it past the force field.  We made it to the pond.  We made it past the smallest mountain.  Now we are on the Speed Speed Speed Speed Road."  Daddy then turned on to Shrewsbury Avenue.  John declared it "Super Speed Road."

Daddy got a little glimpse of John enjoying the open window.

It made me think of the GEICO commercial with the little pig.

One day

Last night in the bathtub, John said "One day, I'm going to be a Daddy and Gillian is going to be a Mommy." I was a little taken back by his statement, but I did ask him what kind of kids he was going to have. He said "you mean boys or girls? Boys!" I asked how many. He said "Two. I'm going to have one and then when that one's big like Daddy I'm going to have another one." I asked him what job he was going to have when he gets bigger. He said " I don't know. Oh I know. I'm going to be a policeman. And I'm going to name one of the kids Rose." Once again I was a little shocked. John you can't name one of your boys Rose that's a girl's name. He replied "What's your name? Not the one Daddy calls you." I said my full name is Rosemarie. "Then I'm going to name one of them Rosemarie." I again explained to him that Rosemarie is a girl's name, but he didn't seem to care.

I know why

I picked the kids up from school today. Before we were out the door, John started telling me about how he, Nick and Logan were inside while everyone else was outside. Before they got to go outside, it started raining. I said John why were you guys inside while everyone was outside. "I don't want to talk about it." I said well I want to know why three boys were inside while everyone else was outside. "It's okay Mommy! I know why!" John that doesn't really help me to understand why three boys were not outside with the entire class. He then freaked out and said "Mommy, I don't wanna talk about it now!" At this point I gave up asking him any more about it at school. I did get information out of him in the car. He said that they were talking during class and not listening. We had a long discussion about how important it is to listen to our teachers and to follow directions. I just hope that tomorrow is a better day.

On a positive note, we discovered that with a little prompting Gillian can count to four. We were counting John's last three bites of breakfast this morning. As we said three we heard another voice go "four!"

Counting and wishes

Tonight in the bathtub, John found Gillian's foot under the bubbles. He counted her toes and put it back in the water. He then searched for the next foot. Once he found the other foot, he counted her toes again. He then says "what does five and five make?" Gillian cooperated and gave him her feet again. After counting he says "five and five makes ten! Did you know that?"

Earlier today, John and Daddy were cleaning the garage and working outside. John found a dried dandelion in the yard and promptly blew on the flower and made a wish. He found another and said "Daddy I got one for you. So you can have a wish." Daddy said, no I want you to have the wish. John replied "that's what I wished for! All the wishes!"

First cooking class

I signed John up for cooking classes at the Young Chefs Academy. John went to YCA for a field trip and I thought he would enjoy taking classes there this summer. Today was his first class. I made sure we had plenty of time to get there. But I still heard from the backseat "we weren't on the bus this long! Are you sure we are going the right way?". I tried to distract him and have him focus on the bike riders we drove past. But he kept coming back to questioning my sense of direction. Anyway, we got to YCA and he was still a little skeptical. He was finally ok when he saw the sign for YCA and we walked in the door. "This is the place! I've been here before."

We found our kitchen, washed our hands, put on aprons and introduced ourselves to the instructors. We only had to wait a few minutes for the rest of the class. I was very happy. There were only 5 kids including John. This meant the kids got to do much more "cooking". Our first recipe of the day was breakfast empanadas. The kids all got to mix cream cheese with parsley and cheddar cheese. Then each kid got to crack an egg. It took John a couple of tries before his egg cracked. One of the other mom's asked if I told him to be gentle frequently. I guess all the times telling John to be gentle with Gilly has paid off. The next step was rolling out biscuit dough to act as the crust to the empanada. John is an expert with a rolling pin. Once the dough was flat they spread the cream cheese mixture on top and added the scrambled eggs too. We then folded it over and covered the outside with an egg wash. While the empanada was cooking, we started the next recipe tomato and bean stoup. John volunteered to peel the carrots and we got to cut them after they were peeled. John loved cutting the carrots and would giggle any time we had a "runaway carrot." After we got everything into the pot for the stoup we got to try the breakfast empanada. John loved it and said "we need to make these for Daddy and Gilly!" We also got to try the stoup. John didn't like the stoup as much but he tried it.

We had such a wonderful morning at class. In the car on the way home, I said John I had so much fun with you this morning. He giggled and said "with no Daddy and Gilly!"

The address

Yesterday on our way to school we saw two big buses and lots of cars. John said "There are so many cars driving today. How do they all know where their houses are? There are hundreds of houses!" I explained to him about how everyone has an address. And that the address is made up of a house number and street. I told him our street address and had him repeat it for me. I also asked him if he knew what was the name of our town. He said "Red Bank?" I said close but that was not right. He responded "Red Hill?" Again I said no. We live in Tinton Falls. Can you say Tinton Falls? He replied "Tinton Falls. Oh like Tintin the movie." He then went into a five minute diatribe about Tintin the movie. After he was done, I said do you remember what town we live in? He said "Red Hill?" No John, we live in Tinton Falls. And he says "like the movie!"

On a side note, I found out tonight that John has not seen "The Adventures of Tintin." All the details he gave me yesterday morning were from the commercials he has seen.

FaceTime

The kids have discovered FaceTime. It started one Saturday morning when Gillian and I were in Gillian's room and we decided to call Daddy (who was in the basement with John). That short 30 second call was all it took. Now anytime Gillian gets my phone she points at the screen and says someone's name. "Betta. Missy. Daddy." Last week we tried to call Aunt Betty using FaceTime. Gilly loved it. She did not want to share the phone with John. Anytime John came near her, she would push him away. She didn't say much to Betty but she loved seeing her face on the screen. John did get his chance to talk to Betty too.

The kids called Aunt Betty again tonight. Not only did John tell her about his day, but he also showed her some of his dance moves. She asked him about a song he was singing and he went into his own rendition of "I've Got The Moves Like Jagger." His version goes something like this "I've got the moves like Jagger. I've got the moves like Jagger. I've got the moves like Jagger." He then put the phone down on the floor and did a little dance for Aunt Betty. I got the phone back and held it up so Betty could enjoy all the dancing. As we were saying goodnight, Gillian was kissing the faces on the screen and ended up hanging up on Aunt Betty. It was a quick end to our call but I am still so glad that John and Gillian got to spend some time with Aunt Betty, Grandma and Grandpa tonight.

Zzzz's and a not sleeping little lady

John was very excited to tell me about his day today. "Mommy, we're at the end of the alphabet! Do you know what letter we did today? Zz!" I said No Way! He then proceeded to sing the ABCs. Almost to prove that Z was at the end of the alphabet. I asked him if he knew any words that start with Z. He said "Zebra! Zig-zag! Zipper!" Then he paused. "Mommy do you know any words?" I said I am thinking of a place that has a lot of animals. He said "a zoo! Zoo starts with Z!" He then had a hard time thinking of other words that started with Z. I'm so glad that he is excited about learning.

The kids bedtime is 8. I'm sure I have mentioned it before, but Gillian does not fall asleep right away. She quietly (sometimes not so quiet too) talks to herself or her babies. She kicks her feet and plays with her blanket. Tonight I caught her laying on her back with her feet in the air. As if that wasn't enough she was trying to balance a little pillow on top of her feet. I told Daddy to just take a peek at her. When he got there, she was banging her feet against the slats of the crib.