Baby boo-boo

Gillian loves her baby dolls. She has about twenty different babies, but she has a favorite one. This baby is dressed in pink and you can't take her clothes off. We actually have two of these babies, but she clearly favors one over the other. Today Gillian went upstairs to get her baby. I was waiting in the kitchen and I could hear Gillian scream "Oh no!" It wasn't a cry that she was hurt, but I went running to her anyway. I found her at the top of the stairs holding baby's blanket and baby was about halfway down the stairs. I asked Gillian what happened. She said "Baby fall down!" I ran to baby and picked her up and gave her kisses and hugs. Gillian came down the steps, whispering "Oh no! Baby fall down!" When she got to the bottom, we decided that Daddy should help us make baby feel better. We gave Daddy baby. He held baby, and asked what happened. Gillian said "Baby fall down and her crying!" Daddy shook the baby and said "stop your crying baby!" Gillian yelled at Daddy and took her baby back. She held baby super tight and kissed her on the head. Gillian rocked her and loved her. Poor baby had a rough day, but she is lucky to have such a good mommy!

sNOw day!

Gillian woke up this morning and looked out the window.  She said "There's snow on Daddy's car!"  We had to find Daddy right away so she could tell him about his car.  John was already awake talking to Daddy about going "snowboarding."  We told the kids that we would go outside and play after Daddy cleaned up the driveway and the cars.  John was very concerned that we wouldn't get outside before the snow melted.  He hasn't had a good track record this winter.  So far this winter we have only gotten a small amount of snow and it has been melting before he remembers that he wants to go outside and play.  There was no way the snow would melt too fast today.  We got about 6 inches by us. 

We got the kids dressed in their snow gear and we headed over to Holmdel Park.  There is a huge sledding hill there and it is well worth the drive.  We brought two snow tubes and John's snowboard.  John and Daddy went to the big hill first on the big snow tube.  John loved it.  Gillian and I waited in line for the little hill and I sent her down on the small snow tube.  She loved it when I pushed her down, but when Daddy caught her at the bottom, she was not happy.  Next we all went to the big hill, I went down by myself in the small tube.  The tubes are fast.  You fly down the hill.  I ran into a couple of kids, but luckily no one got hurt.  I quickly got off and looked for John.  He was the next to go down.  He went down on his snowboard, and only got about halfway down the hill.  I had to run and find him.  We were very smart and told him that when he stopped in his sled, he needed to get off and move to the fence.  That's where I found him, at the fence.  Next Daddy and Gillian went down on the big tube.  Again, she wasn't too sure about the ride.  She like the first half and then cried at the bottom.  We decided maybe we should stick to the small hill for a little bit.  John went down a couple of times on his snow board and we got Gillian to go down once.  We thought that if we told her Mommy would catch her at the bottom, it would help.  Daddy pushed her down the hill, he said she was laughing and smiling.  But by the time she reached me, she was crying.  Poor little lady did not like it! 

 

Finally, we decided to go back to the big hill.  Gillian and I went down on the big tube.  Again, I am thankful that we had a tube.  It made for a fast ride, but I didn't feel guilty when we bumped into a few people.  We did bump into like six people on our trip.  Everyone was so nice and understanding.  Gillian loved the trip down the hill, but again was crying when we reached the bottom.  I didn't have time to console her, I had to look for John.  John wanted to go down on the small tube by himself.  He did great!  Like I said, the tubes went fast and John collided with another kid and flipped out of his tube.  I caught the tube and then found John on the hill.  He was smiling ear to ear.  He loved it! 

They boys did another run by themselves while Gillian and I waited at the bottom of the hill.  They went so far in the big tube.  They ended up almost to the end of the hill.  They even ran into a group of kids that thought they were safe hanging out at the bottom.  The kids were safe until Daddy and John got into their tube! 

We got home, and John wanted to play outside more.  I joined him for a little bit and he told me that he was looking for "ice sticks."  I guess he found a couple of icicles hanging off of the jungle gym and thought they were super cool.  So he was searching for more.  I pointed out all the icicles hanging from the roof of the house and he said "But we will never reach all of those ice sticks!"

In the car on the way home, we asked Gillian if she had fun.  She said "No!"  We asked John if he had fun, and he said "It was awesome!"  Overall, a pretty fun day for everyone.  Well with the exception of Gillian!

The Experiment

John had a Mad Science class on Tuesday. When I picked him up he questioned me, "Mom did you get the stuff in my cubby? The stuff from Mad Science?" I explained to him that I didn't see any stuff in his cubby. "But I know we got stuff that grows!" We we didn't get it in Tuesday or Wednesday. Finally on Thursday John brought home a fish and a turtle. He was so excited. "We got to put them in water and then they grow super big!" We put them in water last night.

This morning I was having a hard time waking up John. I said, you know we need to check on our experiment and he jumped out of bed. "Ok, but I don't have to get changed first." His logic did not work with me, and I made him get changed first. We found the turtle and fish in their bowls in the kitchen. "They got so big! They are going to get even bigger. We need bigger bowls!" While the fish and turtle got bigger, they do not need a bigger bowl. I think they are as big as they are going to get. John still thinks "they are going to get super big!"

Telephone

Gillian found her toy phone tonight. She held it to her ear and said "Mommy, pick up your phone! I not here!" She was sitting right next to me, but she kept telling me that she wasn't there. We talked on the phone for a little bit. I got to ask her a few questions.

What's your favorite color?
Blue
Who's your best friend?
Dora
What's your favorite song?
Santa song
What's your favorite food?
Cookies
Who's your favorite princess?
Rella
What's your name?
Gillian Beanie
What's your brother's name?
John-John
Who's best ever?
Dora and Grandma and John and Daddy

Years from now I can't wait to ask her the same things to compare her responses.

Yo Gabba Gabba!

John and I were invited to go to see Yo Gabba Gabba with Aunt Betty's class today. John and I arrived at Aunt Betty's school. He was so nervous to be around all the big kids. As we got closer to her classroom, his cheeks got redder and redder and he walked behind me. The kids in Aunt Betty's class were super nice to John and it only took John a few minutes to relax and start talking to the kids. John made fast friends with Paul and they stuck together for the rest of the trip.

We got the kids piled into the bus and we were on our way. John was sitting with the other kids and we only occasionally heard his voice over the other kids. We were dropped off right in front and found our seats quickly. The kids were super excited! I was very thankful to be with a group of people because I got out of buying any souvenirs! The show started and the all the kids stood up and danced and clapped along with the music. John loved it. But then they took an intermission. Honestly I don't blame them. It must be really hot in those costumes, but John was not happy about intermission. It took too long! He wanted it over. The second half of the show was more singing and dancing.

Again we piled all the kids back into the bus. Thanks to the great ushers at Count Basie. They helped block traffic so we could stick together! Again the kids were great on the way back. Once we got back to school, John started taking off his jacket. "I want to stay!" I told him that the kids parents would be picking them up soon, but we could stay for a few minutes. "How about an hour?" he tried to negotiate. Betty and I explained to him that we couldn't stay that long. He got Aunt Betty to ask the principal if he could come back another day. Tonight when he was telling Daddy about our adventure, he said "And I can go back! They promised!"

Jinxed

While I was giving Gillian a bath, the boys were downstairs playing. When they came upstairs and Daddy was very quiet. I kept talking to him, but all he did was nod. Finally he pointed at John and then made a motion with his hand. That's when I figured it out. I asked John if he jinxed Daddy. He said "Yes! We was downstairs and we both said 'shower' at the same time. And I said jinx!" I was a little shocked. I didn't know that John even knew what it meant to jinx someone. Johnny and I giggled about how Daddy couldn't talk to us. I asked John how he knew about jinxes. He said "Chipwrecked!" And he explained the entire scene and then he also repeated how he jinxed Daddy. Finally I called Daddy by his real name and broke him of the jinx. I talked to Daddy and he said that he was surprised to hear John jinx him. But he said that John seemed even more shocked that the jinx caused Daddy to stop talking. But that didn't stop John from trying to jinx me.

Funnies

Busy weekend here. Daddy rearranged the living room while Mommy was busy baking, shopping, and cleaning. Today the kids kept themselves busy by playing and basically just staying away from Mommy and Daddy. I went food shopping and Gillian greeted me at the door when I came home. She took a bag from me and I went back to the car to get the rest of the bags. Daddy found her rummaging through the bags. She told Daddy, "I can't find bananas! I look everywhere!"

Gillian was playing a Mickey Mouse game on Daddy's iPad. She was doing pretty well, but I guess she got stuck and asked John for help. He says "Sure. I've won this game lots of times!"

While I was baking, John was running around the kitchen. I stopped him on one of his laps and asked him if he could stop. "But Mom! I'm doing an obstacle course!"

Gillian has been potty trained for awhile now. But she has been having a lot of poopy accidents. We are trying everything to encourage her to go on the potty. Today we showed her nail polish and new dress up jewelry and told her that they would be hers if she went poops on the potty today. At some point she went in you the bathroom and after a few minutes called for help. Finally! She made it to the potty! After Daddy and I congratulated her, she said "I open presents now?" We painted her toes and told her that if she does it again tomorrow that she will get her finger nails painted too!