George Washington

Last night before bed we let Nolan take out some money from his piggy bank for the first time.  There's a book fair at school and I'm taking him to it tomorrow morning.  Adam was helping the boys sort through the money and was teaching them about the bills and coins.  I heard him ask Nolan if he knew what president's picture was on the dollar bill.  I was shocked to hear him say "George Washington".  He must have picked that up at school when they talked about President's Day!

It was fun to watch Nolan look through all the books to decide what he wanted to buy. He brought $10 with him and studied each section of books very carefully.  He ultimately decided that a Planes book with 3D glasses was his book of choice. He also bought a pen with a football attached to a string.  He thought it was so cool because there is a button to push and the football gets "throw" in the air.  He came home with $1.02 in his pocket.  So far he's read the book once, misplaced the 3D glasses and completely lost the football pen.  We had a little talk about responsibility!

Jane's helper

Nolan has been having a terrible week.  I'm not sure what's going on, but he is being quite defiant and throwing a lot more tantrums than normal.  It probably has something to do with the fact that he hasn't been able to burn off much energy lately because of the cold, and also because of all the attention that Elsa is getting from us.  Today Jane texted me a picture of him helping get lunch ready for the kids. I love that he helps at Jane's, but I think deep down he knows he needs to start behaving better and he wanted me to see that he is.  I hope he keeps it up!

First trip to urgent care

Elsa had been developing a cough/cold over the course of the last week.  She was super irritable and quite tired on Sunday, so we decided to just take her in to urgent care to rule out any respiratory issues.  I was surprised to hear that she has an ear infection.  She’s on a 10 day prescription, so hopefully that will knock it out.  They weighed her with her clothes on and a wet diaper, and she tipped the scales at 10.0 lbs!  It’s good to know she’s heading in the right direction.

Hot and cold

Grandma and Grandpa B taught the boys how to play the game hot or cold.  We were playing the other night and Nolan kept saying, “you’re hot, Mom, you’re hot!”  Talk about making a girl feel good about herselfJ

Baby Elsa

At the end of church today a few of the members came over to talk to us. They asked the boys what their little sister's name was.  Both boys announced proudly, in unison, "Baby Elsa".  I think no matter how she gets, she will always be the baby to the boys!

Snow, snow and more snow

This has been one heck of a winter.  On the way home from Jane's today I told the boys I wanted to take a picture of them in front of the snow banks.  Nolan, the peach that he is when he doesn't want to do something, replied "fine, mom, but I'm not smiling".  I didn't really care if he smiled or not, because his gator was covering his face!

Winter artwork

Both of the boys are becoming little artists.  Nolan really likes patterns and can free hand draw lots of cool things.  

Kale is currently obsessed with monsters.  He loves to draw them but doesn't like it when I put them on display in the house!

The bunny Easter

Last night Kale started talking about Valentine's Day (or Balemtime's Day, as he calls it). We are still using the heart plates, Vday cups and placemats, so Kale asked if it was still Valentine's Day. I explained to him that Vday is over and he kept arguing with me that it's not because the Vday picture frames were still out. I explained that we would celebrate it again next year, and that the next fun holiday is Easter. Yes, I know, I forgot St. Patrick's Day.  Kale responded with an excited "ohhhhh" and said, "then the bunny Easter will come to give us chocolate and then we'll get dirty". Smart kid.

Goodbye Elmer

Yesterday we had to break the news to the boys that Grandma and Grandpa B's cat, 14 year old Elmer, died.  The craziest thing was that on the way to daycare/preschool the boys were talking about animals getting hit by cars and dying.  Both Nolan and Kale commented that animals are buried in the ground and then they go to heaven.

When we broke the news to them at dinner Nolan was pretty sad, he kept his head down for a little bit and didn't say anything.  Kale, on the other hand, started talking about, saying that Elmer will get buried in the ground and then go to heaven.  He then went on to say that if Leinie, the other cat, dies there will be no more cats at Grandma and Grandpa's house.  I guess we'll take whatever simple math he wants to do, even it involves cats dying!

I mentioned to Jane this morning that Elmer died, in the event that Kale talked about it.  She said that was so weird, because at lunch yesterday they were talking about pets and Kale said that Elmer and Leinie were his pets. Jane said she talked about a dog she used to have. Kale asked what happened to it and Jane explained that Toby had died and gone to heaven to live with the angels and God.  Kale told Jane that Toby must have gotten wings to fly up to heaven.

3 months old!

Hard to believe but yesterday Elsa turned 3 months old.  We did an unofficial weight and length for her – 10.2 lbs and 23.5 inches long!  This actually puts her back on the percentile chart for her age at 4% for weight – hurray!  Her length is at 37%, which is a huge jump from her 2 month appointment if it’s accurate.  She is starting to fit better in to the 0-3 months clothes. She loves her activity mat, bouncy chair and any opportunity she has to watch her big brothers play.  She is still obsessed with her hands and is by far the drooliest kid we’ve ever had. She just started eating 4 oz. and has been sleeping through the night since the end of January.  She is actually turning in to quite a content baby!  She still has some horrid crying spells if something isn’t just right, but I think we’re figuring her out.  She seems to really enjoy her time at Jane’s house and is smiley at drop off and pick up.  We need to figure out tummy time for her, as she still hates it with a passion.  At this rate she will never be rolling over or crawling!  The up side of that is we won’t have an early walker like Kale.  10 months was too soon!

I'm not smiling

I asked the boys to take a picture with Elsa. No surprise to me when his response was “I don’t want to.” So I take the picture of Elsa and Kale - you can see in the first picture that Nolan’s feet are in the background, right behind Kale’s ear.  A screaming fit ensues as soon as the picture is taken – “I want to take a picture!” I tell him to get in the picture. Nolan continues to scream for a few more minutes.  He decides to finally get in the picture but is upset that his knee is touching Kale’s leg.  His final words before I took the picture were “I’m not smiling”.

No smiles

Elsa got her 3 month pictures taken yesterday. I try not to get frustrated, but it is a little disheartening that she will not cooperate all that well for professional pictures.  She didn’t cry until we brought the boys in to try and be in the pictures with her.  We got a total of 1 picture with the 3 of them, and Elsa is crying.  The photographer did a great job of capturing Nolan and Kale and they were really well behaved.  As a treat after the pictures they got to go play at the play area at the mall – what a special treat is what Kale told us!  Kale also got new shoes (size 10), which he keeps telling us make him “really fast”. 

On the way home from the pictures we told the boys that Grandma and Grandpa B were going to babysit them that evening.  They asked why and we told them we were going on a date night.  Kale said something about boys not being able to go on dates. I explained to him that boys go on dates, just not until they’re bigger. I asked Kale who he would take on a date and he said his bunny Peanut Butter, because he’s a good dancer. I asked Nolan if he had anyone in mind he would take out on a date and he initially said no.  A few seconds later he piped up and said, “but if I go out on a date I would take you, Mom”.  He is so thoughtful!  I had to document this so I can show it to him when the day comes when he doesn’t want to hang out with me!

Happy Valentine's Day!

We had a great time celebrating V-day with the kiddos.  We started the day with heart shaped waffles and strawberries, along with the opening of their gift.  Both of the boys were so excited about their plate/bowl/cup set – Nolan got a Spiderman set and Kale a Monsters University with Mike Wazowski on it.  Nolan kept saying “it’s so awesome, Mom!”. I love that they’re so easy to please!  Elsa also got her first set – and of course it’s from the movie Frozen and has Anna and Elsa on itJ  Someday she will love it.

In preparation for the big day I spent an entire week working the kids on their valentine’s. Nolan was actually quite cooperative and he had to write out the most cards – 17 for preschool, 10 for adventure club and 12 for daycare.  Kale struggled a little bit but we managed to get them done.  It was interesting to see what kind of treats Nolan came home with from school.  We received an email that very clearly stated that there weren’t supposed to be any “naughty” treats given out to the kids. Nolan and I made a special trip to the grocery store and decided that individually bagged popcorn and fruit snacks would work for school, and a bag of small chocolate candy bars would work for daycare. I was a little surprised when Nolan came home from school with 8 pixie sticks and a bag of fun dip!  This is probably terrible, but we haven’t let him have any of them yet.  However, he hasn’t asked about it, either.  I’m not sure I want him eating straight up sugar quite yet! 

911

Last Thursday Adam and I surprised the kids by picking them up together - Adam had been gone since Monday in Detroit for work.  Sidenote: I couldn't believe how smooth things went with all 3 kids.  We'll see what happens now that I'm back to work!  On the way home last Thursday Kale was telling us all about how to call 911.  We didn't think much about it at the time, other than Jane must be working with all the 3 year olds on it.

Fast forward to this morning when Adam received a phone call from Jane.  Jane told him that she has been teaching the kids about 911 and how/when to use it.  She said one of her examples was if she was sitting on the couch and not moving.  She told Adam that while she was in the restroom Nolan, Logan and Kale decided to call 911.  She was surprised to get a call from the dispatcher when she came out.  She said she was pretty sure it was Kale or Logan who did it, and that she was going to have to teach them about not crying wolf.

During dinner tonight Adam brought up what happened.

M: Which one of you called 911 at Jane's house today?
K: I did.
M: Why did you call 911?
K: Because Jane said we should.
D: Kale, you can't just call 911.  When do you think you should call 911?
K: In an emergency.

Adam did a great job of talking about why you just can't call 911 whenever you want and that it's never funny to call if there isn't an emergency.  Hopefully it will stick with them!

Back to school for Mom

I spent yesterday morning with Nolan at preschool. He knew all week that I was going to be visiting and couldn't wait - all his teachers knew and so did Jane!  He gave me a big hug when I showed up in the classroom.  I love that he still thinks it's cool to hug his mom in public!  It was so much fun to be with him to see what he does every day.  Nolan doesn't always want to tell us details about his day, so this was a great way for me to understand the routine.  I  had the most fun being a part of his small group as they went from station to station. I shouldn't be surprised by this, but Nolan is a great listener.  He was always one of the first to sit criss cross applesauce with his hands in his lap, and he stood completely still in line.  The teacher probably tells all parent's this, but she said Nolan is one of the favorite friends in the class.  I could tell when they had to do group activities - he was the kid all the other kids wanted to be paired up with!  I left the classroom feeling very proud of him.  I also got to spend 10 minutes before lunch with him in Adventure Club.  The teacher invited me to read a story to the class.  Nolan even got to pick the book - Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten.  After that I was a participant in the Tootie Tots song!  After that I got to experience lunch time.  Nolan did a great job of showing me what to do - even telling me to make sure I took a tray from the top of the pile!  It was fun to get to meet and visit with the friends he talks about every day.  I told Adam that he needs to visit Nolan before the end of the year, too.  I appreciate his day so much more!

Great job, Kale!

Nolan is the most positive big brother.  He and Kale were kicking around the soccer ball last night while I was making dinner.  Kale must have kicked it really well, because the next thing I heard was, "great job, Cal (Kale)! You did really good!" Kale responded with "thanks, Nowan (Nolan)!"

The last first day of daycare

Elsa officially started daycare on Monday.  So far so good.  Jane actually said she has adjusted a lot faster than she thought she would.  Hopefully she'll keep it up!  We've been working  hard to get her to bed earlier in the evening - and she actually started doing just that on January 25th!  Her new routine is in bed no later than 8, dream feed at 10:30, and up sometime between 6 and 7:15.  It took her longer than the boys, but she is coming around to appreciate all the wonderfulness of a routine.

Nolan and Kale just love having her with them, I think the other kids are starting to come around, too.

Cold winter's night

Nolan crawled in to bed tonight and said he was cold.  He followed that up by stating "it must be because of the cold winter's night." Where does he come up with this stuff?

Best friends

Adam took the boys to a playdate at Edinborough yesterday afternoon, to the "playground in the sky", as Kale calls it. The last time I had him there we didn't stay long because Kale missed Nolan and was too scared to climb up to the top by himself.  This afternoon Kale kept asking Nolan if he would take him to the top.  Sure enough Nolan did that, and Kale was thrilled.  On the way home Adam asked the boys what their favorite part of the day was.  Nolan said playing - he likes to keep things general. Kale, on the other hand, said that his favorite part was Nolan taking him up to the top of the play area.  I am so proud of how well our boys get along. They are a perfect fit for each other!

It's been cute watching the boys together at church.  They started a new thing a few months ago where they hold hands to walk up together for the children's message.  Today I walked them down to Sunday school after the message was over.  Nolan held Kale's hand the whole way to the classroom.  It's not like they aren't familiar with the surroundings, so I'm not sure why they do it.  People sure do notice, though, and give compliments about what nice boys we have.  I have to say that lately I 100% agree with that!