messy eater

i thought that having a girl would be easy. she would be dainty and delicate. she would be neat and not like messes. well as of right now, gilly is not dainty, delicate and enjoys messes. she makes the biggest mess when she eats. she ends up with food in her hair, down her shirt, stuck in her ears and under her nails. i don't remember john being this messy. below is a small sample of my messy eater.

imaginations

during bath time tonight, john said to me "mommy can we play with the boxes tonight?" i love requests like that. sure, you can use your imagination to play with your sister. i know that i have a previous post about them playing in a box, but i just can't help it.  i love that something so simple can be so amusing to them.  i also love how quickly gillian learns how to do something by watching john. 

we didn't get it on video, but daddy covered john with the blanket.  and then gillian stood up and said "me too!"  at least that's what it sounded like to us.

playin hooky

daddy had off today because he worked on saturday. he picked up john early from school. they went over to the lincroft learning center. john and gillian will be going to school there starting on thursday. daddy got to dream builders academy during nap time. john does not nap. apparently he lays by the window and watches outside and talks quietly to himself. they went to the new school. john was a little shy, but he got to see his new classroom and gillian's classroom too. the new school also has cubbies ready for the kids. all john said to me was "the cubby has 4 shelves!" after their little tour of the new school they paid me a visit at work. my co-workers were very excited to meet the little guy i constantly talk about. john was excited because i told him there was a cupcake in the kitchen. after stopping by my office, the boys stopped at a park to play for a little bit. not a bad day for a little guy.

i was putting him to bed tonight and he he said to me "mommy, why can't we go to the new school today?" thats just what i needed to hear. i am very worried about the kids starting this new school and i want him to be excited about it. i hope the excitement lasts until thursday.

football

daddy has introduced john to football. he enjoys watching it with daddy on the weekends. on thanksgiving john was rooting for the dolphins while everyone else in the house wanted the cowboys to win. today john asked daddy if the giants were playing today. john has learned that uncle t loves the giants. I think that's why he keeps asking about the giants. the boys were watching a game today and john says "daddy who do you want to win?". daddy says the chargers. without hesitation john says "i want the broncos!" he simply wants to root for whatever team is against daddy's team. should be interesting on monday night when daddy wants the giants to win.

marshmallow shooter

the kids and i went to manasquan to visit grandma, grandpa, uncle bob, aunt betty and justin today.  automatically the boys started to play.  they decided to go outside and play with justin's new marshmallow shooter.  after a few minutes of being alone outside, justin came in and said "do you want to see john shoot the marshmallows?"  i ran out and watched john.  he had a hard time at first, but after a few seconds struggling with the shooter and justin giving him a few pointers he was able to get a couple rounds out.  he was so excited to be able to play with justin.  i went back inside and played with gillian.  gillian played with her dolls and her stroller.  then we heard the boys come in the house, they go back to justin's room.  about a minute later, we see justin and he says "we needed shields."  justin is carrying a homemade shield made out of cardboard.  john is carrying a storage container lid that had a handle on it.  the boys continued to play outside and as we watched out the window we noticed that john was eating the marshmallows off the ground.  they say that over a lifetime you eat a pound of dirt i guess he is getting a head start.

muppets, projects & hiccups

i am truly thankful to have off the friday after thanksgiving.  i always had that day off while working at fleetsource, so i was very excited to see that we got it this year at mss.  normally we join all the crazy people and go black friday shopping.  the past two years, we went to walmart with my in-law's.  this year, we stayed at home for thanksgiving and really didn't see the need to run out and go shopping.  plus, i really didn't see any fabulous deals that were worth either staying up late or getting up early.  this year, we went to see the muppet movie.  we decided to go at 11, figuring that gillian would fall asleep during the movie and we would be able to enjoy the show without running around after a one year old.  in the beginning, gillian started to drift off to sleep, but that didn't work out.  she stayed awake for three quarters of the movie and then started to get fussy.  i rocked her to sleep and she slept in my arms for the remainder of the movie.  i have to say that i truly loved the movie.  i grew up with the muppets and kermit and the gang will always have a special part in my life.  i am a sap and i did cry during two parts.  but that's to be expected.  kermit was a favorite of one of my very good friends and i always think of jami when i hear "the rainbow connection."  

gillian watching the muppets

since john was a good boy in the movie theater and the quick trip into old navy, i promised that we would do an art project.  we decided to make crowns.  he made one for himself and i made one for gillian.   

john & his crown

it may be hard to tell, but the crown has his name on it along with dinosaur stickers and fish stickers.  i made a pink crown for gillian.  she cried when i put it on her.  and john said "she's a drama queen."  then she took it off and ripped it into little tiny pieces.

right before dinner tonight i got the hiccups.  i occasionally get the hiccups and they are pretty violent.  it takes a long time for me to get rid of them.  i kept hiccuping, and john kept saying "mommy, why do you have the hiccups?  mommy, why do you have the hiccups?"  he must have said it ten times.  it finally got to the point where i couldn't stop anymore.  then kyle turns to me and says, "seriously, why do you have the hiccups?"  and that's what i started laughing.  that doesn't help to get rid of the hiccups. 

cookies

i have a great mom that always made homemade cookies for christmas or birthdays. since john has been in daycare (or school as we call it) i have been making cut out cookies for the class parties. i am no expert, but i know i can please four year olds. john is my best helper. he does help with the rolling or the cookie cutters. and he is an expert at adding sprinkles.

my assistant and i made three batches of cookies last weekend for thanksgiving. we knew we wanted to bring some to school, some to mommy's work and some for thanksgiving. the cookies were a big hit at work. john said that they had a little party at school on wednesday. i asked what did you have at the party. he replied "my cookies." after much discussion, i discovered that we were the only ones to bring in a treat.

john is not the only one in the house that loves the cookies. gillian loves them too. she prefers the chocolate turkeys. i turned my back and found gillian on a kitchen chair trying to get to the container of cookies.