Stubborn

March 30, 2005, 8:02 am

About a month ago Noah was playing in the tub and started splashing Lily and me. I gave him a warning, and he gave me a dirty look and splashed us again. So I took away the toy he was playing with in the tub (his Spiderman). Noah sobbed in the tub. He yelled out, "Spiderman, I need you! Bring back my Spiderman!" So I explained that he had to say he was sorry and then he could have his toy back. Noah set his jaw and refused to apologize. He went over a day without his favorite toy and then finally gave me a knowing smile and apologized.

Last night we were eating dinner, and Noah was going on and on about how he doesn't like vegetables. He admitted that he likes carrots, green beans, and peas, but he stated that he would not eat the stew I made because he "hates" potatoes (although I pointed out that he loves French fries). So I told him that he had to at least try the stew, or he had to go to bed right then (it was 6:30). He refused to take a single bite. Nathan put him in bed, and he sat in there crying. I went up and told him again that just one bite and he could get up. A few minutes passed and we heard him snoring in his bed.

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Showoff

March 27, 2005, 8:34 pm

Lily is no longer the youngest in the family. On March 7th, her cousin Huck was born. Lily takes her job as older cousin (by 6 1/2 whole months) very seriously.

Lily and I just returned from NYC where we spent a week with Huck:


and with my sister:


and her husband (I don't have a picture of him...sorry Troy)

During this week in New York, Lily decided to teach Huck a thing or two about being a baby. She started crawling on March 23rd:


Huck looked at Lily and yawned, so she started to pull up to a standing position on March 25th:



Then she decided to dazzle him with some verbal ability. She started saying "da da", clicking her tongue, and even spitting (I think she was trying to be the rebellious older cousin).

All in all Huck didn't seem too impressed although he did sleep sweetly in my arms. He became less fussy as the week went on, and he flashed his big beautiful eyes at me a lot. Coincidence?

I had a wonderful visit, but I'm glad we left when we did. Another few days and Lily would have been running around the apartment speaking in full sentences...

[ 6 comments ] ( 55 views )

15 YEARS!!!

March 18, 2005, 2:00 pm

I know this is a blog about my children, but where would they be without me and Nathan? Not born, that's where. Noah has a hard time accepting that there was a time when it was just me and Nathan. He thinks he was either "born" or in my tummy. But in reality there were years before Noah (over a decade). Nathan and I started dating 15 years ago today. That's right, March 18, 1990.

Let's reflect back on our sweetness. Here we are on my 16th birthday:




We look so innocent and well rested. And here we are fighting in my room:



We don't fight anymore. We're too tired.

And look, here we are holding Kayla and Megan. They are now teenagers. They were approximately Noah and Lily's ages in this photo.



Wow, time does fly. Stay tuned for pictures in 15 years. Nathan and I will look very rested and serene.

[ 4 comments ] ( 39 views )

St. Patrick's Day

March 17, 2005, 10:11 am

Noah is at school. We survived the dreaded St. Patrick's Day morning. There were some tears shed, but I won. Mama: 1 Leprechaun: 0. HAHAHAHAHA! (Maniacal laugh)

How did I do it? Well, I really had no game plan. Noah started crying right after he woke up and said that Papa told him he could do whatever he wanted today. He said that he wanted to stay home. So I called Nathan and confirmed that Nathan never said this (which I knew of course). Then I shifted focus to the fun of wearing green. I became very excited about dressing all of us in green. Then I remembered that Lily has a green jumper that used to be mine, and I went crazy with excitement over her wearing it today.

Noah fell for it. I let him pick out my outfit as well. He was disappointed that I didn't have a full green jumper (dear lord), but was happy with a green sweater he found.

Here are some pictures of my St. Patty's Day kids:



What next? Bullies? Alcohol? Drugs? Sex? Bring 'em on. If I can get a 3-year-old scared to death of Leprechauns to attend a school that pushes Leprechauns for weeks, then I CAN DO ANYTHING.

[ 5 comments ] ( 48 views )

Noah's work

March 16, 2005, 6:42 pm

3-year-olds (almost 4-year-olds) are weird. I mean really really strange. Noah is at the height of his imagination. Or at least I think he is. He is constantly making things up (some call lying) and talking to himself and inanimate objects.

My favorite part of his imaginary world is his work. He takes it very seriously. He has set up a workstation that is quite impressive. He has papers, pens, books, stickers, post-its, pencils, buckets, his Bible, etc. covering the bed in our basement. My favorite item is a piece of asphalt that fell off our roof. I threw this prized item (I thought it was trash) away one day, and Noah immediately noticed that it was missing. He asked me in near tears where his special black holder was. It turns out he had a post-it stuck in the asphalt. He told me there was an important list on the post-it in the holder.

So every day Noah wakes up and says very dramatically that he needs to go to work. He spends hours making phone calls on pretend phones (he calls many of you who are reading this right now), making lists, writing in books, putting stickers on papers, and other stressful tasks. If you really call Noah on the phone he may interrupt you to say that he must return to his work.

His obsession with his work has been helpful to me in a few situations. Last week we were at Noah's friend's house, and he didn't want to go home. I reminded him about all of his work piling up, and he quickly said his good-byes and headed for the door. He mumbled to himself all the way home about all of the tasks he had to get done.

Noah listens to Nathan and I talk about our work, and now he feels that he should be included in these conversations. He often interrupts us and says, "Talk to me about your work!" He asks Nathan every day, "So how was work?" and he expects to be asked the same. I hope the kid doesn't get an ulcer.

[ 4 comments ] ( 28 views )

Eyes for Papa

March 15, 2005, 6:54 pm

Lily has developed a crush on her Papa over the past few weeks. This is the look she gives him whenever he enters a room:

He loves it...

[ 4 comments ] ( 37 views )

I hate leprechauns

March 15, 2005, 10:43 am

I never really thought about leprechauns. I usually wear green on St. Patrick's Day and that’s about the extent of the festivities for me. But this year I curse the leprechauns every day.

Noah goes to preschool, and he loves it. His teachers comment that he is one of a few students that has fun every day and has no problem when Nathan or I leave him in the morning. He loves playing with his friends and making crafts each day.

But 3 weeks ago this all changed. Noah started telling us that he wasn't going to preschool. "WHAT?!" we would exclaim. It was so strange to hear that from a child who loves preschool.

One morning 3 weeks ago I force him to get dressed and go to school. He talked to his teacher and agreed to stay. His teacher reported back to me that he had a great day except at circle time when she brought up AGAIN that on March 17th a leprechaun was visiting the classroom. Now apparently this leprechaun is very nice and visits while the children are at home sleeping. He brings pots of chocolate candy. He's funny and colors the milk green and leaves green glitter everywhere. He looks something like this:


But I think to Noah he looks something like this:


Because ever since Noah's teacher has brought up this mischievous leprechaun, Noah does not want to go to school. Today was the worst. He would not get out of bed. I kept asking him why he didn't want to go to school, and he would say that he was scared. But he won't actually admit to me that he's scared of the leprechaun. Frankly I am a little scared of the leprechaun myself.

So I forced Noah out of bed. I dressed him while he kicked and screamed. I carried him to the car. I got him into his preschool, and he cried and sobbed to his teacher until she convinced him to stay. I left him, and he was playing happily with his friends.

If I let him stay at home then Noah will learn that he just has to refuse to do something (going to school, going to the Dr.'s office), and I give in. So instead I had a headache all morning as I forced my child to attend his frightening preschool.

I am already dreading March 17th when Noah will have to dress up in green and face his fear. Sure, the leprechaun comes at night, but there will be talk about the leprechaun all morning long. Hopefully he will have fun and no longer fear the leprechaun.

But I have one thing to say: DAMN THE LEPRECHAUNS.

[ 6 comments ] ( 51 views )

Girl ham

March 14, 2005, 6:19 pm

I'm a vegetarian, and Noah is very intrigued by this. He thinks that girls are vegetarians and boys eat meat. In our house that's true. Lily and I are vegetarians (Lily now for obvious reasons), and Nathan, Noah, and Jack eat meat.

Due to this gender separation, Noah is getting a bit confused. He loves the Dr. Seuss book "Green Eggs and Ham." He asked me one day, "Mom, would you eat ham if is was GIRL ham?"

We were eating out last weekend, and Noah suddenly put his fork right up to my mouth. I backed up to look at what he was force- feeding me. My very observant son said, "Don't worry Mom. There isn't any meat on my fork...not even turkey."

[ 2 comments ] ( 27 views )

Took my breath away

March 13, 2005, 6:18 pm

Nathan and I have been together for a LONG time. My crush on Nathan started when I was 13 years old. I would get chills when he would walk in a room. I still do.

I had to work at the hospital today. It's easier for me to work on Sundays sometimes because Nathan is home with the kids. But I miss staying home and having fun with them.

I had a busy day today, and I decided to take a lunch break around 12:30. I walked down the 7 flights of stairs to my office, and when I stepped out of the stairwell I saw something that took my breath away. Nathan, Noah, and Lily were sitting by my office waiting for me. It was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen. I don't know if I'm the only one, but I think my family is gorgeous. My handsome, muscular husband, and my beautiful children--all three with big blue eyes and long eyelashes.

Nathan had brought the kids to the hospital to surprise me, and we all had lunch together and I fed Lily. I had great taste as a 13-year-old.

[ 4 comments ] ( 36 views )

Jesus

March 12, 2005, 2:24 pm

Noah loves Jesus. He believes Jesus was one of the nicest people ever. Noah attends a Christian preschool, and the pastor meets with the children once a week to share stories about Jesus. Noah is especially interested in Jesus on the cross and coming back to life. He points out crosses every where he goes and tells me about Jesus.

He came home last week from preschool with a very excited look on his face. "Guess what, Mom?!" he shouted. "Jesus used to wash his friends FEET!!! And not in a bathtub! In a BUCKET!" This story really touched Noah. He can't believe how nice Jesus was to wash his friend's feet.

So I have given Noah the Bible that I had as a child. It is filled with pictures of Jesus. He calls it his "Jesus book." He carries it everywhere. Yesterday he spent the day at Emily's house and had to take his Jesus book with him.

What I love about his pastor is his emphasis on how good Jesus was. Noah was telling me about Jesus one day and then mentioned the Wiggles. He said, "Well, the Wiggles are very nice Mom, but Jesus was nicer than the Wiggles." I asked, "What about Papa? Who is nicer, Jesus or Papa?" Noah thought about this for a while and then said, "Well, I think Papa is nicer."

[ 4 comments ] ( 39 views )

Cousin Huck

March 8, 2005, 10:43 am

My sister Janelle gave birth to a baby boy yesterday. His name is Huck William and rumor has it he looks just like Janelle. I couldn't be more excited. Noah and I spent all day yesterday in our p.j.s waiting by the phone for updates. Noah spoke many times to Aunt JJ on his play phone.

On a seemingly different topic, Nathan and Noah are obsessed with fishing. They have fishing names which were given to them by Nathan's brother Preston. Nathan's fishing name is Hookset, Preston is Fishslayer, and Noah is Splitshot. Noah calls his uncle by his "fishing name" exclusively.

When I told Noah that Janelle has a baby in her tummy and his name is going to be Huck, he looked at me very seriously and then got a huge smile on his face.

He said, "Mom, that's a FISHING name!"

[ 4 comments ] ( 56 views )

Indian Restaurant Experience

March 4, 2005, 8:32 pm

We often let Noah decide which restaurant we should go to on Friday nights. Tonight he picked my personal favorite, India House. He calls it "Mango Lassi" because that is his favorite drink off their menu.

Noah said some funny things at dinner. We were sitting near a table with a fancy dressed man. He was eating alone, and Noah was watching him. Then Noah said in his booming voice, "That man eats everything with a fork! Even his BREAD!" Oh, Nathan and I worked hard to keep from laughing and of course told him to turn around and talk quietly. But I did glance over at the table, and sure enough the man was getting some bread from a basket with a fork. You have to admit that is a little strange...

Then the waiter came to fill up our glasses of water. He filled up Noah's glass, and Noah pointed to it and said, "No, more water!" So the sweet Indian waiter filled it to the rim.

I ordered an entree for Noah and I to share, and I asked for it to be medium spicy. It ended up being too spicy, and I was concerned that Noah couldn't handle it. After eating a few bites Noah looked at us very confused and asked, "Why does my tongue hurt?"

And people say eating out with kids is tough. I say it's very entertaining. (At times).

[ 6 comments ] ( 47 views )

Yoga Master

March 2, 2005, 9:38 pm

Lily is very talented for a 6 month old. She has perfected the yoga pose "downward facing dog." Every time she is on the floor, she ends up in this pose multiple times. She can't help herself. She's really quite a showoff.



I had Lily's 6 month pictures taken today at Sears, and she couldn't stop showing off for the photographer. She didn't want to sit up and smile. She wanted to get into her yoga pose and look dramatically at the floor.

[ 5 comments ] ( 41 views )