Abbie & Ian & Tory Update

Friday, July 31, 2009

Oh, you're Wakko all right

One of the joys of parenting is sharing the things you loved as a kid with your own kids. Now that everything is on DVD, it's easy to share my childhood cartoons with my children. Looking back on them, I realize most of them were garbage (the new Transformer movies helped me realize just how vacuous that series was). In my quest to select a higher class of cartoon, I stumbled upon Animaniacs. I remember enjoying that show as a child, and I remember that it was pretty smart for a kid's show. So I picked up the first season on DVD to see what the kids think.



The problem that I now realize is I enjoyed Animaniacs when I was, oh, 13-years-old, not 3-years-old like the boys. Most of the show's dialog goes right over the kids' head, so never mind the smartness factor of the show. They do enjoy it, though, they just enjoy different things than I did. Mostly they enjoy the slapstick nature of the show. That, and saying "hello, nurse." They also enjoy the fact that there are three Animaniacs, just like there are three of them. They even identify with individual Animaniacs. Abbie is Dot. Tory is Yakko. Ian is Wakko. It works out well. There's also a lot of music, which the kids enjoy. Sometimes the songs are quasi-educational, so maybe they're learning something from the show.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

@#%$

While riding in the car the other day, the kids were fighting in the backseat. They had discovered a couple toy cars buried in the wasteland of fast food toys covering the backseat floor, and were grabbing at each other trying to control the brightly-colored plastic toys.

"Give me back my damn car!" Abbie screamed.

Mommy and I were instantly concerned about this. We asked where she heard that word (probably daycare). We told her that word is very rude to use. We did our best to be calm so as not to encourage her to use that word just to get a rise out of us. Abbie, almost in tears, kept screaming that she wanted her "damn car" back,

Finally mommy grabbed the car. When the kids fight over something, the best thing to do is to take it away; that way everyone can be unhappy together. Mommy held the car, looked at it, and found the word "Dan" written across its back bumper. Apparently this car was named Dan.

"Abbie, do you want your Dan car back?" Mommy asked.

"Yeah," Abbie whined, still fighting back tears.

Mommy threw the car back to her. It's easier to tolerate their fighting when we know they're not cussing.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Bad Idea

We took the kids out for ice cream after supper tonight. It's currently 10:30pm, they've been locked in their room for over an hour, and they're still bouncing off the walls. Ice cream might have to be a mid-day treat from now on.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Properly Motivated

(While getting ready for bed tonight)

Abbie: Should I wear underwear?
Me: Yes.
Abbie: Why should I wear underwear?
Me: Why do you think you should wear underwear?
Abbie: I should wear underwear so I can get a treat.

(Maybe we should speed up the timetable for weaning her off the potty treats)

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Gone-Gurt

I bought the kids a box of those yogurt tubes today. They're like a non-frozen yogurt popsicle, except apparently much more delicious. The box contained eight tubes, and the kids ate six of them this afternoon. All were taken without my permission while I wasn't looking. I think that's the last time I buy those for a while.

Monday, July 20, 2009

Bitey

Abbie (screaming): Ian bit me!
Matt: Why did Ian bite you? (Ian usually has a pretty good reason)
Abbie: Because I put my toe in his mouth!

Sunday, July 19, 2009

I'm a Big Girl Now

Abbie seems to have taken the last step toward being fully potty trained (and at age 5 it's about time). Abbie has been wearing underwear during the day for over a year now, but she insisted on wearing a pull-up at night. I had encouraged her to wear pull-ups while she slept because she wasn't staying dry, but for the last few months she's been waking up dry most mornings. I tried talking her into trying underwear overnight, but she refused since "Abbies wear pull-ups at night." I tried laying the big girl guilt trip on her, but that didn't work. I tried bribing her with candy if she would try underwear because I'm desperate and too tired to think of other rewards, but that didn't work either.

A few days ago, though, she spontaneously said, "I'm going to wear underwear at night." I guess she's finally ready. Of course she added, "I'm going to get a sucker in the morning!" She's been wearing underwear at night for three straight days now, and has woken up dry every morning. It's good to see her giving up the pull-ups. Now if I can just get the boys to start doing the same.

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Bring Me the Head of Moopie

The boys have countless stuffed animals and blankets. The most beloved of these is their cow blankets. It's a soft, furry blanket with a cow's head sewn onto it, kind of resembling a cow version of a bear skin rug. This is their security object, the thing they cry out for when they hurt physically, or when they need to sleep.

The head on Ian's cow blanket is starting to tear apart from the blanket. Even though the blankets are otherwise identical, I know this is Ian's because Tory insists and Ian accepts that he gets the broken one.

My mother visited us today, and as part of her grandmotherly duties she felt obligated to sew the ripped cow head back onto the blanket. Now Ian's cow blanket is good as new, and there's no worries the head will fall off and his blanket will break. Of course Ian was furious that his cow blanket had been repaired. "I don't want a fixed cow blanket," he cried as I shut his bedroom door tonight.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

He's Speaking Spanish, I Swear

Thanks to Dora, Diego, and preschool, my children know basic Spanish words. They can count to ten in Spanish, and they know basic colors in Spanish, and they can say a few other basic Spanish words. The boys especially love shouting the Spanish colors of things they see. Red things are rojo. White things are blanco. Black things are negro. That last one makes me a little nervous, but as long as they continue enunciating clearly (NAY-grow) we should avoid awkward situations.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Ahh, Butterfly!

We took the kids to Reiman Gardens this morning. It's a botanical center on the Iowa State campus about 40 minutes north of our home. While a botanical center might sound like a poor choice to keep three toddler entertained, we had our reasons for visiting. Reiman Gardens has a butterfly center, which Abbie should like, and a temporary exhibit with several dinosaur statues, which the boys should like.

The butterfly center was impressive. It was a small, circular, indoor room that would probably take about two minutes to walk through if you were in a hurry. They crammed about 800 butterflies and a bazillion plants in the room, though, so butterflies were constantly flittering about. We were able to stand and watch for several minutes. Tory had a butterfly land on his back, which he didn't notice, and I had one land on my face, which I definitely noticed. That's the benefit of wearing a yellow or orange shirt to a butterfly center.

The dinosaur statues were interesting. They were positioned in plant displays to create a natural appearance. The boys' favorite was probably the giant sea scorpion, which is a strange favorite prehistoric creature to choose, but that's what they like.

These are some of the adorable things Abbie said today:

"I'm afraid of butterflies!" (spoken as we walked into the butterfly center)

"I want to do something fun." (spoken as we walked through the garden looking for dinosaur statues)

"I don't want ice cream." (spoken as we tried to bribe Abbie into eating her lunch. We eventually got ice cream, which she did in fact want)

Monday, July 13, 2009

Pac Man Fever

I broke down and bought Abbie a Pac Man video game, the kind that's just a joystick that plugs directly into the TV. I found it used on eBay, so it was cheap. I guess I'll see if this will go in the pile of worst purchases I've ever made for the kids. That toy work bench with 100 pieces that have been scattered all over the house is probably the leader on that list.

Sunday, July 12, 2009

iTrouble

Abbie has discovered mommy's iPhone. Mommy put a few kids apps on her phone, and now she has to fight Abbie to get her phone back. Abbie is especially fond of Pac-Man. She doesn't seem to understand the purpose of the game, but she loves watching the ghosts catch Pac-Man.

Abbie has figured out how to text, which is a problem since mommy is not on a texting plan. Abbie somehow sent a text to a random person one time, and now that random person's number is in the recently dialed list and she keeps sending gibberish texts to the same random person. Random person is not amused.

Friday, July 10, 2009

Trip Advisor

When I picked Abbie up from daycare today, her class was outside. All of them were flushed and sweaty. A couple of the children were screaming in the corner in time out. The worker supervising the class said everybody was too hot, too tired, and too sweaty from the field trip. It was a warm day likely to wear out the children. Abbie just had a dazed look for most of the night.

So I guess it was a good field trip.

Thursday, July 09, 2009

Yellow

Abbie's daycare class is taking a field trip tomorrow. They're visiting a state park where they'll see animals and get their faces painted and do all sorts of things that a 5-year-old should enjoy but Abbie will probably whine about the whole time.

I picked up the special t-shirt Abbie is supposed to wear on the trip. It has the daycare's logo, and it's bright yellow, so it'll be easier to re-unite her with the group when she wanders into the woods. I showed Abbie her new shirt and asked her if she liked it. She said "no." I told her she has to wear it to go on her fun field trip tomorrow, and all of her friends will wear yellow shirts too.

"I don't want to wear a yellow shirt," she whinedly replied. It could be a rough morning tomorrow.

Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Boy/Girl

We visited the big box store tonight. Among many other things, we bought a present for a birthday party for this weekend. One of Abbie's daycare classmates is having a party and inviting the whole class without realizing that we'll descend en masse with three small children.

When we started looking at toys, we realized that we couldn't remember if the party was for a boy or a girl. I thought we needed a boy toy, mommy thought we needed a girl toy. We settled on a nice unisex sidewalk chalk toy and moved on to other things, such as dragging our three small children out of the toy aisles.

Later we checked the invitation. The party was for Reese.

"I was right," mommy said, "it's for a girl."

"I thought Reese was a boy's name," I said.

"No, it's a girl's name" said mommy. "Wait. Abbie, is your friend Reese a girl or boy?"

"Girl," Abbie said.

I'm sure other parents will have similar debates in the future when we invite their children to Tory's birthday parties.

For the record, Reese is a girl's name. Reece is a boy's name. So I was kind of right. The boy version was more popular until a few years ago when the boy version lost popularity and the girl version became much more popular. Thank you Reese Witherspoon.

Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Mystery Bump

Tory has a huge lump on his head. When I gave him a bath tonight, he had a lump that stuck out at least two inches on the left-rear side of his forehead.

The horrible part is I have no idea when or how he got this lump. Mommy discovered it when she came home from work tonight, so it was probably some time late this afternoon. I was watching them all day, and you'd think I'd notice if one of my children fell and smacked his head, but apparently not. I should at least be able to find a dent in whatever his head hit, but I can't find anything. My only clue is Abbie said he fell out of the closet. That's entirely possible, so that's the story I'm telling daycare tomorrow.

Monday, July 06, 2009

Floater

Safety is important to me when I let my kids into the pool. I know I'll barely be able to watch them while they swim, so they need to have proper safety gear. That means everyone must wear floaties to hop in the pool. The boys have nifty surf suits with floaties built in, so they can wear that as a swim suit, stay protected from the sun, and remain on the surface of water. Abbie has a life vest that she slips on over her swim suit. The vest is nice because it goes on easily. Unfortunately it also comes off easily. Tonight I caught her in the water right after she took the vest off. Much to my pleasant surprise she was treading water and not sinking to the bottom like a stone. Why do kids have to be so curious?

Sunday, July 05, 2009

Ooh...

We shot fireworks last night. It was mostly tame stuff, sparklers and smoke balls, but we had a few noisy and sparky things too. Tory was brave enough to hold a sparkler. Ian was brave enough to watch Tory hold the sparkler from a safe distance. Abbie would only watch the sparklers from behind the corner, but when we lit a noisy firecracker she hid inside the house. Abbie was at least brave enough to watch the show from the upstairs window.

Later that night, Abbie was still terrified of the loud fireworks being shot by our neighbors. She could clearly hear the bangs from her bedroom. She believed that, because she could hear them, they could hurt her inside her bedroom. I told her that she was completely safe inside her bedroom, but she didn't believe me. Then I told her that I would put the fireworks in timeout if they hurt her, and that calmed her down.

Friday, July 03, 2009

One Up

I baked a batch of M&M cookies for the kids today. Not satisfied with that, Abbie found a carton of lemon frosting while I wasn't paying attention to her, opened it up, and started eating it with a spoon. She didn't seem hungry for dinner tonight.

Thursday, July 02, 2009

Squirrel!

On the car ride to daycare this morning, Ian picked up a little toy squirrel. It was a simple plastic fast food meal toy that the kids had barely noticed before this morning. Of course it was instantly the most popular item in the car.

Tory threw a tantrum in the car because he didn't have a squirrel. I tried to soothe him with other fast food toys in the car such as elephants and cars, but no luck. The daycare has a no outside toy policy, so the toy had to stay in the car when we arrived.

I figured when we got out of the car he'd calm down. Nope.

I figured when we got to his room at daycare he'd calm down. Nope.

I figured that when Ian started playing with the train set that every toddler boy in the preschool loves he'd calm down. Nope.

I know he calmed down at some point because he wasn't screaming when I picked him up, I just don't know when.

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

I Wish I had Someone Yelling at Me to Go to Sleep

Abbie keeps sleeping less and less. Tonight I estimate she fell asleep about 10:15, which is about an hour after I first shut her door and told her to go to sleep. I'm guessing she's averaging about 9 hours of sleep per night. If she sleeps any less she'll start approaching zombie status.