Painting

Daddy spent majority of today painting Gillian's room. After the first coat of paint, we ran a few errands with the kids. It was so nice outside, that after running errands I decided to keep the kids outside. I made them some sidewalk paint. They were excited at first, but John got bored quickly. I gave him regular sidewalk chalk to use. Gillian loved the paint. She kept saying "I paimpting!" Daddy stuck his head out of Gillian's window to see what the kids were up to. Gillian proudly told him"Daddy! I paimpting! See!" John took the sidewalk chalk and made a hopscotch a d a big map. According to John, "The map shows the way to the golden coconut!" Love their imagination!

Driving

I pulled into the driveway tonight, got out of the car and opened John's car door. "Mom, can I go out of the front door?" Sure. Why not. I close the door and walk around to Gillian's side. As I am unbuckling her, she says "Can I go out the door with John?" Sure. Why not. So I close her door. I open the passenger door get my bags out of the car and Gillian immediately climbs into the passenger seat. John was in the driver seat by now and Gillian was riding shotgun. John tested out the horn, touched every lever and button possible. I'm sure the windshield wipers will go off the next time I drive the car. Gillian watched John have fun and refused to leave the car when I said it was time to go in the house. I brought John inside and left Gillian in the car. She sat there for about 30 seconds and jumped out of the car. Driving is only fun when you have someone to share it with you! When we were tucking the kids in bed tonight, John asked "Can I get driving lessons?"

The Package

Daddy picked up the kids today from school. When they got home, Daddy gave John the keys to open the front door while he got Gillian out of her carseat. John got to the front porch and saw a package on the porch. He said "Look we got a box!" Daddy said "It's probably not for you!" John looked at the box and said "No it's for me and Gillian!" Daddy said "I don't think so!" John said "Yup! See it says J O H N! And that says Gillian!" Daddy picked up the box and brought it inside. He said "You are right John it is for you and Gillian. It's from Gigi and Pop-Pop." John said "Can't wait to see what these guys did this time!"

Bath time fun

Lately John has been taking showers, while Gillian has been takin bathes. Tonight I had both of them in the bathtub together. John did "This Little Piggy" on Gillian's toes. Gillian loves it. I love it too. My favorite part is when he says "This little piggy has roast beef!" Because it sounds like "This little piggy had rope beet." Gillian's favorite part is when the little piggy runs all the way home. She laughs and laughs.

After bath time, Gillian ran down the hallway screaming "Naked girly! Naked girly!" I got her dressed in her pajamas and next it was John's turn. She saw his and said "You a naked girly!" John did not like being called a girly. I asked Gillian if she was sure he was a naked girly. She said "Nah! Him a naked boy!"

Astronauts and Computers

I woke John up this morning. I said to him, it's a school day. He said "I know! I just don't wanna go to school. I don't like doing all that work!" I said you need to go to school. Remember you told me one time that you wanted to be an astronaut. It takes a lot of school to be an astronaut. "Yea. I know. That's too hard. I don't wanna be an astronaut." I said ok then what do you want to be? "I just wanna be a disco dancer!" I was not expecting that comment, but I explained to him that he still needed to learn how to read and write. That way he could read the contracts so he could dance on TV. My plan backfired. He says "Fine. Then I won't do anything!" I explained to him that he needed to go to school so one day he could have a job to make money. That seemed to make sense to him, because he got into the car and said "I'm not mad at you anymore!"

Today in the car on our way to school, John asked me "What's the tallest building in the world?" I told him I wasn't sure, but when we get home from school we should ask Daddy. I told him, Daddy can look it up on the computer. He said "Ok! I'll remember." Gillian says, "I have a computer!" Gillian has a LeapFrog laptop. It plays music and when you hit the letter keys it tells you an animal that starts with that letter. So Gillian says "I have a computer!" John looks at her with a straight face and says "Ok, what's the tallest building in the world?"

Coffee and the purse

This morning we were watching cartoons in the basement. Daddy and I were both drinking coffee. Gillian came over to me and asked "I have some?" I was a little surprised, and said my coffee? She nodded. I told her no, because my coffee was too hot and to go ask Daddy. She walked over to Daddy and said "I try your coffee?" Daddy let her have a little sip. She loved it. "I have coffee!"

Gillian got a new purse. It has cherries on it. It is small. It was empty yesterday, but she said "I need animals!" She went downstairs and came back with a little pony and a little whale in her purse. "I got animals!" She had her purse with her all day yesterday. Today, she tried to cram a Snow White Barbie into the purse. "It won't fit!" Daddy helped her by taking out the animals and putting Snow White in the purse first. Then he put in the animals. Gillian was so happy. She ran around showing everyone her purse and all her treasures.

Dance party

Tonight, Uncle Bryan and Ashley came to visit. John was so excited to have visitors. He ran around in circles when they arrived. He said "You gotta come downstairs! Wait until you see it!" He proudly brought them downstairs to show them all of his toys. We ate dinner. And John asked to be excused. Since the adults were content to talk, we let the kids go downstairs to play. John kept coming up the stairs and peeking at us threw a crack in the door. After his fourth trip, I asked him what was going on. He came over to me and whispered "I wanna do a dance party! Can you guys all come down?" We of course could not argue with that and went downstairs. When we arrived we saw that John had moved the stools from his table to flank the couch. He had created a little seating (viewing) area. Daddy put on some music and the kids went crazy. They showed off all their moves. John did all his best moves, the robot, the airplane, and the tornado. All with Gillian following and copying all the moves.

Coughing & hibernation

Tonight at dinner, John was drinking a juice box and a little of the juice went down the wrong pipe. He coughed a few times. Daddy asked him if he was ok. John kept coughing. Gillian watched this whole thing happen and started coughing. Again Daddy asked him if he was ok. John answered Daddy, "I'm coughing for real, but she's faking. Some of my juice box went down the wrong pipe!"

In the fall, Gillian needed to bring a teddy bear to school. All the kids in her class brought in bears and the bears hibernated for the winter. When I picked the kids up from school, I saw Gillian's bear in her cubby. She told me "Him waked up! I missed him!" She was so excited to get her bear back. He sat on her lap in the car and she ran in the house to show Daddy. "My bear back!"

Unnecessary Tears

I picked the kids up from school today. Gillian came running over to me. John, on the other hand, looked upset. He slowly walked over to me and hugged me. He started to cry. Gillian then said, "I got a boo-boo. On my chin!" Miss Chris told me it was an accident and that John didn't mean to hit her. I reassured John and told him that she was fine and there was no reason to cry. We left the classroom and I helped Gillian get her jacket on. I assumed that John was doing the same, but he wasn't at his cubby. I going him hiding behind a door in the hallway. He was crying again. I again told him that he shouldn't be upset about Gillian's chin. He said "It's not that. I wanted to play with a toy and someone else got it first. So I didn't get to play with it." And he started crying again. Gillian sees John crying and starts crying too. John says "Why is she crying? There's nothin wrong with her!" I explained to him that she was crying because he was crying. He tried to calm down and Gillian did too. I told John that he could play with whatever toy he wanted when he got home. That cheered him up and by the time we got outside the whole thing was forgotten.

Rain

A few days ago, I wrote a post about Gillian's umbrella and boots. Well, every day she tries to wear the boots or use the umbrella. And every day we say "It's not raining. You can use the umbrella when it rains."

Today, Daddy picked the kids up from school. He and the kids left school and Gillian said "It's raining! I need my umbrella! Daddy where's my umbrella?" Daddy got them home. He left Gillian in the car, went into the house and got her umbrella. Gillian was able to walk from the car to the house using her umbrella.

Unfortunately, the weather is going to be pretty yucky this week. Gillian will get plenty of use out of her new boots and umbrella.

Corned Beef

I made corned beef and cabbage for dinner tonight. When John heard what we were having he put his head down on the table. Gillian, of course, copied her brother. I fully acknowledge that it doesn't sound like a yummy meal, but they have eaten it in the past and loved it. Daddy convinced John to eat a "taco," cabbage wrapped corned beef. While Daddy was convincing John, Gillian was saying "I get meat! I hungry!" I cut up Gillian's meat and potatoes and cabbage. Gillian ate everything up and watched Mommy eat. She asked me "I have sauce?" She was referring to the mustard. I have her some. She dipped her corned beef in it and loved it. The next bite she had too much mustard on it and said "Too hot!" After that bite, she gave up on the mustard for a little bit. But by the end of the meal she had forgotten about the hot bite and she was dipping her fingers in the mustard. "Yum!"

Sign-in sheet

We have to sign the kids in and out at school. Each classroom has their own sheet. In the morning, the kids take their jackets off, we put their lunch bags and book bags in their cubbies, then we go to each class to sign them in. Our first stop is Gillian's class then we go to John's class. Lately, John has wanted to sign in. He gets the pen and asks me what to write. I tell him the numbers and he writes them down. Yesterday, he ran down the hallway and by the time I got there he had already asked Miss Maryellen what time it was and was writing it on the sheet. Today we got into his classroom and he was staring at the clock. "Mom! You know what? We have been learning about time! It's 11, 8 o'clock!" He was close. It was 7:55. At least he knew what numbers the hands were on. We will keep working on telling time.

Umbrella

We had dinner on Tuesday night with Mimi, Poppy, Gigi, Pop-Pop, Uncle T, Aunt Missy, Cara and Mike. This was our first time seeing Gigi and Pop-Pop in a long time. The kids were very shy when we got to Mimi's house. Actually, Gillian was very shy. John walked right in and said hello to Gigi and went right over to Pop-Pop and shook his hand. John noticed that Gigi had a bag next to her. He pointed at a box that was sticking out and said "My sister has that game!" I couldn't see what he was talking about, but shy Gillian chose that moment to come out of her shell. She walked over to Gigi. Gigi did not disappoint and reached into the bag and said "I have something for you too!" She handed Gillian a green frog umbrella. Gillian loved it. She walked around with it and twirled it. Then Gigi gave her a box with matching rain boots! Gillian immediately sat down and took off her shoes. "I wear boots!" And she did all night long!

Gillian loves her umbrella and her boots. She always wants to use the umbrella and wear her boots. I have to keep telling her she can have it when it is raining out. It is supposed to rain on Saturday. I'm sure you will find Gillian outside jumping in puddles while looking adorable!

Stretching and ice cream

John had Amazing Athletes today. At dinner tonight, we asked him to tell us about his day. He said "I had Amazing Athletes. First we stretched out!" This is the first time we heard about stretching, so Daddy asked him to tell us what kind of stretches they do. "Well, you know that there's one stretch you do all the time. When I said 'I don't know' (and he shrugged his shoulders) I was actually doing a stretch!" He shrugged his shoulders a couple times. Then he said "See! I'm stretching now! I'm stretching my shoulders!"

After Gillian finished dinner, I told her that she could pick out something for desert. She stood up in her chair and points across the room. She kept saying "I lick!" And pointed. Finally we had her get up and show us what she was pointing at. She got up and ran to the kitchen island and pulled out a box of ice cream cones. "I eat ice cream! I lick!" We didn't give her a cone, but she did have ice cream. She ate two bites and then started crying. She said "My teeth! My teeth hurt." Someone tried to eat her ice cream too quickly!

Haircuts and 'Noculars

John decided he wanted a haircut tonight. Daddy asked him how he should cut his hair, "With scissors (basically a trim), short like Daddy's (a buzz cut) or a Mohawk." John said "I don't know what a Mohawk is shaped like!" Daddy showed him a few pictures online and John emphatically said "A Mohawk! Super spiky!" Daddy cut John's hair. Truly a test of Daddy's patience and John's ability to sit still. As Daddy was making his final touches, Gillian saw her brother's hair for the first time. She said "You make him bald like Daddy? Can I touch it?"

I tucked Gillian into bed tonight. Part of our nightly routine is snuggling in each kid kids bed for a little one-on-one time. She normally just babbles about her day. Tonight she made circles out of her hands and fingers and put them against her eyes. She said "These are 'noculars! You can see really far. In the jungle! Wanna try?" As she asked me, she shoved her 'nocular hands into my eyes and had me look around the room.

Daylight savings, harmonicas & pillows

Daylight savings normally comes and messes with my kids schedule. We kept the kids up last night watching movies and thought that would help. John woke up regular time. He found us in our room wearing his Batman armor and carrying his Captain America shield. He said "I thought you guys would attack me! I'm prepared!" Gillian, on the other hand, slept in. She didn't wake up until ten!

John asked us today, "Is anyone coming to visit?" We told him no and asked him why (thinking he would say he wanted to play with friends). He said "Because I want to play my harmonica for people!"

One of Daddy's pillows has a super hero pillowcase on it. Gillian came to visit me today while I was folding laundry. She saw Daddy's pillow and said "That's Johnny's pillow!" I told her it was Daddy's but she disagreed with me. Before I knew it she stole the pillow and brought it into John's room. Before bedtime, Daddy notices his pillow was missing. He asked what happened. Gillian said "Not yours. It Johnny's pillow!"

Movie critic

After dinner we decided we would have family movie night. John immediately said "Let's pop some popcorn." I guess I didn't jump up quick enough because he said "Mom! Let's get popping!" Daddy gave us a couple of options and we decided on a double feature of Monsters vs Aliens and The Muppets. John's pick was Monsters vs Aliens and Gillian has never seen that movie. So John told her, "It's ok. It's not scary, it's about nice monsters. And aliens. Like the aliens that are our neighbors!" John insists that the neighbors behind us are aliens because they have one room that is painted bright green. When the light is on in that room it glows. He thinks the glow is from the aliens. We only watched half of Monsters vs Aliens. John kept getting scared (yes, you read that right) so we stopped it and put on The Muppets.

Faster than...

John told me tonight "I am faster than all the animals in the world! But you know what? There is one animal that I am not faster than. Do you know what animal? Come on, you know!" I insisted that I did not know what he was talking about. He said "Duncan. Duncan is faster than me! Duncan is so fast." I love his logic. He first says that he is faster than all the animals but contradicts himself by saying that his dog is faster than him. He also told me "I'm as strong as a lion! Well maybe a fire ant. You know why they call them fire ants? Because they are red!"

At bedtime tonight, he told me "I'm as brave as an ant. I don't like the dark and I get very scared." I explained to him that ants are very brave. They are so tiny but they still leave their house everyday to find food and shelter for their families. And that he should be proud to be brave like an ant! I hope our little talk helped him to be brave in the dark.

Funnies

Here are a few quick funnies from this week:

Yesterday, John wanted to wear his sunglasses to school. Well, he thinks they are sunglasses. They are actually tinted safety glasses that Chuckie gave him. Anyway, he wore them to school and he told his teacher "I wore my glasses today! They are black!"

Gillian counting her babies tonight, "Two, five, six!" There were three babies.

On our way to school today, John noticed that the moon was still out. He said "Mom! The moon and the sun are following us! Go faster! We gotta get away!" Gillian didn't hesitate either. She yelled "Mommy! The sun and moon gunna get us! Oh no!" I asked them how I would be able to get away from the moon and the sun because they are so big. John said "And they are so far away. And you know what? We can't go near the sun! Because its so hot. Maybe they aren't chasing us!"

At dinner tonight, I told Gillian that she needed to eat more chicken. She said "Aw shucks. I not going to eat it." And pushed her plate away.

Super hero secrets

John thinks that our family has super powers. Daddy is super strong. John is super fast. Gillian has super whining power. According to John, "She can break glass!" And Mommy can see thru walls. For more information on my powers check out my post on February 18th called Superheroes.

Last night while John was in the shower, I said to him, don't forget to wash your hair. He said "I'm washing my hair now! How did you know? Oh that's right! You can see thru walls!"

Today I was dropping the kids off at school and John ran down the hallway super fast. He stopped turned to me with a serious face, and said "Mommy. You can't tell anyone about our powers. It's a secret! No one can know!"

Daddy's Clues

This weekend John went into our art supplies and started to pull out blue paper. He drew something and then started cutting. He got frustrated because the three sheets of paper were not staying still. I asked him what he was doing. He said "I'm making hands for Blues Clues!" if you read our blog regularly, you will remember out Betty's Clues post.  I thought that John would come up with something for Daddy and I to solve. But no. Once he was done cutting out his hands, he handed them to me and said "OK. I'll close my eyes when you put out the clues." I asked Daddy to set up the clues. John waited patiently downstairs while Daddy set up the clues.  Then he came upstairs got his notebook ready and pencil behind his ear and he was ready.  Here's John solving "Daddy's Clues"

 

The first clue: he found one of the hands on some of Daddy's tools. John quickly drew a picture of the tools and went to find the next clue. 

The second clue: John found a bag in the loving room with the next hand print. The bags had wires in it. John scratched his chin and drew a picture of the wires. 

The third clue: John was very confused. He didn't know where to look next. He wondered around the living room looking high and low. Luckily, Gillian pointed out the next clue. "it's right here!" she proudly said as she pointed to a big box. 

 

 

John had all of his clues. So he sat in a chair and scratched his chin and tapped his pencil on his forehead. "Hmmmm. I wonder what Daddy wants to do? Tools and wires and a box." Daddy gave him a little hint and said "What's in the box?" "I know! Daddy wants me to help him set up the new TV! I knew it!!!"

My Babies' Back

Last week Gillian had a rough week. She had quite a few "accidents" at school. Daddy and I know that these are not accidents and that she is intentionally pooping her pants. In an effort to motivate her to go on the potty like a big girl, we have taken away her favorite toys (her baby dolls). Saturday night after the party, Gillian had her first success! She was able to pick one toy and she got her favorite baby back. She was so happy and so proud.

All day today she played with her baby. She took baby for rides in her stroller and by late morning she had her second success! She ran upstairs to tell Daddy. "Daddy, I get baby back! I go poopy on the potty!" He didn't believe her and asked me to confirm. After I confirmed her statement, Daddy gave her another baby. Gillian found me and said "I get this baby back!" Hopefully we are back on track and we will have no more "accidents" this week.

16 hour trip

Today we went to Lorenzo's birthday party. Lorenzo is Daddy's cousin's son and today was his fourth birthday. They live in south Jersey about an hour and half from our house. We told the kids that we would be in the car for a long time and to pick some toys for the trip. They were good in the car for awhile, then John got antsy. "Are we there yet? We have been in the car for like 16 hours!"

The kids had a great time at the party. John made friends with the other kids while Gillian stuck to Mommy's side. There was a couple of musicians that came and played music for the kids. They played freeze dance. John came in second. He was so disappointed that he didn't win. It was so close. He also answered a question for the musician and got a guitar pick. He then seemed to think that it would be appropriate to ask the musician "Can I play the guitar?"

It was almost time to leave and I told John "Five more minutes and then we are going home." He replied "But I didn't even get a party bag!" And then he went back to play with the kids. Don't worry. The kids both got goodie bags. The bags were a great distraction on the car ride home. Daddy carried Gillian in the house and took off her coat. As he pulled off her shoes, he noticed that she had something stuck in her leggings. It was a box of crayons from her goodie bag. She said "I have no pockets." She had no pockets so it seemed logical for her to stick her new crayons in her leggings.