Chit chat

Nolan was playing with a rocket mirror and counting backwards, 3….2…..1….. blast off!
D: Nolan, did you know that 50 years ago today John Glenn circled the Earth 3 times in a space shuttle?
N: YOU DID?
D: Ah,(internally-What do I say to that?) no…

D: Nolan, pick out two books that you’d like to read before bed.
N: Mmmm, let’s see (with his pointer finger up to his lips while he views his bookshelf)
D: Did you pick them yet?
N: One second please.
(At least he has manners!)

N: Dad, I have to do my homework.
D: Homework? Well, what do you have to do?
N: Dad, I have homework, so I’m going to go do that now (walks over to his easal and picks up the chalk).
D: Sounds good, let me know if I can help…

We continue to watch the boys grow like weeds. Kale ate three bowls of Honey Nut Cheerios yesterday morning and today he had two. Nolan’s average breakfast is either a packet of oatmeal or two bowls of cereal. This morning he ate two bowls of dry cheerios…I don’t question it. I shudder to think what our grocery bill is going to turn into! Kale is wearing the clothes that Nolan wore when Kale was born…it’s weird seeing all of these clothes make a return trip-it doesn’t seem like too long ago Nolan was the one running around wearing them.

Kale is quickly outgrowing his crib. He is bonking the sides of his crib in his sleep, so of course it wakes me up in the middle of the night, but he doesn’t seem to mind. He’s also chatting up a storm, so Tricia and I are doing the best we can to understand the pointing and words coming out of him!

As for Nolan, he now has 10, yes 10, stuffed animals keeping him company in his bed. We also switch between tucking in either his motorcycle or Tow Mater in with him on a nightly basis. He’s doing really well with his potty-training, and other than one mishap two weeks ago, he hasn’t had any accidents in a long time!

We’re headed up to St. Cloud this weekend to hang out with Tom and Paula, and we’re looking at getting some more snow Sunday afternoon-should be fun!

Yoga

Nolan and I attended our first Yoga story time tonight. It was a riot! Nolan didn't want to participate right away, but he came around on the second pose. The instructor read a story and for each page we did a different fun pose based on that part of the story. It was only a half hour class, which was about the time span of most of the kids. The class ended a little after 7, and Nolan told me he was tired on the way home. He also told me not to crash, and that we need to be safe!

Tuesday was Valentine's Day. I spent the day with the kids on Tuesday because we didn't have daycare. We let them open a few small gifts before Adam went to work. Nolan opened a new shirt Adam had picked out for him and said "it's my special shirt". It's good to know that he listens when we talk about the special things he gets! We went grocery shopping in the morning and then I took them to get a new brother picture taken. Nolan did really well, and Kale did good through the first pose. He just didn't have the patience for the rest of the poses. At one point he was throwing himself against the backdrop and sliding down, just for fun. I had to call it at that point! Luckily one of the first pictures turned out. After nap Erica came over with cupcakes for the kids. It was the first time Nolan really noticed that she's pregnant. After he finished his cupcake he went to play. Shortly after he walked over to us and said "look at me!". He had put a basketball in his belly so he could look like Erica. It was pretty funny. Adam was gone that evening for archery. I was getting dinner served up in the kitchen for the kids, and they were sitting at the table.

N: Mom, look at my nuts.
M: What?
N: Look at my nuts.
M: What are you saying, Nolan?
N: Look at my nuts!

I looked over and he was showing me the "knots" in the string on his pants! I feel like I dodged a bullet with that one!

I'm looking forward to spending time with the kids at the zoo on Saturday morning. Nolan has been talking about it almost every night, so I know he's going to have fun. The last time I was at the zoo I was 9 months pregnant with Kale. It will be fun to see Kale's reaction to all the animals at his first trip!

The great escape

When I picked up the kids the other day I was surprised to find the door locked. Low and behold Jane has had to start using the deadlock so Kale doesn't keep opening the door, trying to escape! Jane was excited to tell us that Kale said her name for the first time today. We've been practicing with him, so it's good to know that our practice pays off!

Two funny Nolan stories:
Nolan informed us that his pinwheel is actually a flower on a stick.

Nolan turned off his light and was tucked in bed. I gave him a kiss and said goodnight.
N: Mom?
M: Yes, Nolan?
N: My birthday's in March.

He's been paying special attention as we start to talk about his birthday!

Quick thinker

Kale surprised me tonight by saying please and thank you - and using the sign language for both. Jane is so good about teaching the kids a variety of things. Today she texted me a funny story about Nolan: "We were going on a bear hunt and were pretending the bear was coming through the hallway. I stood up and said what do we do? Nolan shouts out call 911!" Jane said he is a very good listener.

Nolan and I were cuddling before bed tonight and started talking about all the fun things we have planned in the next few weeks. I told him we're going to the zoo in a few weeks, so we started talking about the animals we'll see at the zoo. I told him we'll see dolpins, fish, and monkeys. I asked him what he wanted to see at the zoo, and he said a moose, giraffe and dinosaurs!

Laundry baskets aren't just for laundry

I was putting a few things away in the basement and when I came out of the laundry room this is what I saw:

Kale also took a turn trying to pull Nolan around. He was able to move him a little, but Nolan got a little antsy waiting for his ride. Someday when they're arguing I'll show them how well they got along when they were little!

On the way home from daycare today I asked how their day was. Nolan responded with his usual "good". I asked what he did today and he responded with his usual, "play". Jane had told me they played London Bridge, so I asked Nolan about it. He asked me to sing the song, so I did. He then requested the lamb song (Mary Had a Little Lamb), Twinkle Twinkle, Chuggington and Thomas. He was really disappointed when I had to tell him I didn't know the Thomas song!

Tonight at dinner Nolan pointed his elbow at us and announced "Look at my knuckles!" Adam did a quick anatomy lesson to remind him that his knuckles are on his hand. After dinner Kale was reading a Ladybug counting book in the living room. He loves pointing to the lady bugs and pretending to count them. The last page of the book says "home" - and he eagerly shouts it out when he gets to that page! It's amazing how much they pick up by just listening to us talk.

Our little chatterbox

Kale gets more and more vocal every day. He LOVES to imitate the things we say and picks up words quickly. His newest this week is to bring us a toy and say "on", for us to turn it on for him if he can't get it. He's also saying water and home. He's picking up this really annoying habit of screaming at the top of his lungs when he doesn't get his way, in addition to going in to his downward facing dog yoga move. There were a lot of laughs and sympathetic looks at church today when I had to pick him to go up for communion, and he loudly announced that is not what he wanted to do!

Yesterday we watched a 4th grade basketball tournament. A nephew of a friend of ours was playing at the high school in town, so we thought it would be fun to take the kids. I wasn't suprised that Nolan sat nicely on the chair, but was shocked that Kale did the same! I'm sure it helped that we were in chairs along the side of the court, so there was lots of action to watch. Nolan payed really close attention, and yesterday afternoon and today has been practicing dribbling a basketball in the house. It was fun to watch the kids and think about our boys playing sports in the not so distant future. What's not fun to think about is the cost that is associated with all these fun sports! Our friends said that based on the build and temperment of the kids they think Nolan will play soccer and basketball and Kale will be in football. I just hope they want to play sports, because I love to wathc! We also enjoyed lunch at the newly remodeled Carbone's in town. The place looks so much nicer than it did before, and the pizza is amazing. I think this was the first week it's been open since the remodel, and you could tell that their servers need a little work.

I took the boys grocery shopping after nap yesterday. Once again muliple people stopped to tell me how well they were behaving and to ask how old they are. We were only there for about a 1/2 hour, but by the end it was close to 5 and Nolan was hunched over a little in the cart, sucking his thumb because he was tired! Luckily they held on until we got home, had dinner, took baths and bedtime at 6:40 for Kale and 6:50 for Nolan.

I spent some time last night switching out the clothes that are too small for the kids and replacing it with new sizes. Kale is in all 18-24 month clothes and Nolan in a mix of 2T and 3T. What struck me was that there were a few shirts in Nolan's closet that I just moved to Kale's closet. It won't be long before they're in the same size!

Imagination

Tonight between dinner and bedtime Nolan took Adam and Kale fishing (on the couch), to church (in the living room), and for a ride on a school bus (they followed him around the circle from the kitchen through the living room). The last thing they did before bed was ride a horse (Adam). I love that Nolan is getting an active imagination, and likes to include his brother!

My tummy is getting bigger!

Kids say the darndest things! Nolan understands that his tummy gets full when he eats, but isn't quite sure how to express it. Most nights at dinner he sticks his belly out while eating, pats it and says "My tummy is getting bigger!".