Headlights in the Fog

Detectives are on the case!

We all went to a birthday party and in the goodie bags were many wonderful things... but the one the kids took a real shine to was the magnifying glasses. They were detectives on the case... solving mysteries and looking for clues. Unfortunately, the magnifying glasses got broken... so Thom took the kids out to get new ones. They are a big hit, as evidenced by Jack's willingness to pose for a picture.
Yesterday when we were in the car on the way to the party, a woman pulled out in front of me with out stopping when she should have. In situations such as these, I pretend I am the woman and say in a high voice, "I don't have to stop for ANYONE!" or the like. Thom chimed in with, "I'm driving my lexus, so the rules don't apply to me." Then, from the backseat Jack chimed in with his own high pitched voice and said, "I'm confused... does red mean go and green mean stop?" Thom and I laughed and laughed and laughed. I guess you do absorb your parents' driving styles... I give people advice all the time out loud in the car just like my dad does... things like, "Okay sweetie, time to YIELD!" or "That's right, you can turn right on a red light... you can do it... come on, come on." One thing that has changed since I've become a parent is how fast I drive. I used to be much more aggressive than I am now. I'll be driving the kids home from school and realize I am going 5 miles below the speed limit. I've become the type of driver that used to really aggravate me... slow and cautious.

Happy Easter!

We're celebrating Easter this year by going to the Star Wars exhibit at the Franklin Institute. I had no idea it was Easter when I bought the tickets. Luckily, my friend Renee invited us to an egg hunt yesterday in her neighborhood. Jack got off to a slow and upsetting start, but in the end he had a basket full of goodies. Kitty wasn't really that interested in hunting for eggs... after she had a few, she wanted to stop and open each one.

Playmobil birthday

Jack's birthday was almost entirely playmobil presents. I had offered to purchase what he wanted for relatives that wanted me to... it made for a day filled with, "I always wanted this!" Above he is playing with the castle my parents gave him. He has had his eye on it ever since playing with it months ago at his friend Rowan's house. He was so excited to unwrap it... below is his expression when he realized what it was:

I used my noggin and had him open a present every couple of hours... that way he had time to play with whatever he just opened as well as have genuine enthusiasm for the next present. Even so, I have not given him the 'Pirate Island' that my sister's family bought for him. I figure I'll keep it as an ace up my sleeve for tomorrow, which is supposed to be rainy.
He had soooooooo much fun on his birthday... it was playmobil-pretend-o-rama. He was very happy to play cops and robbers with his Aunt Karen and Uncle Ed, who gave him a police van and police car. One of the coolest things he got was a playmobil tree house from his grandma... his favorite part is a trap door that you can trigger when someone is standing on it.
The other big present he got was from his Obahchan and Ogeechan... tickets to the Franklin Institute's big Star Wars exhibit.   

Happy Birthday Jack!

My little boy turns 5 today! We had a HUGE party (26 kids) yesterday at a local kids gym and it was lots and lots of fun. Above is an action shot of him blowing out his candles.

A few days ago... both kids were playing in the kitchen sink. You might notice Jack's pants are on backwards... well, he took them off to go to the bathroom and then put them back on by himself. When it was pointed out that they were on backwards, he said, "They are comfortable like this!"

Lollipop Joy

My sister-in-law and future-brother-in-law came over Sunday to watch the kids. Thom and I went to IKEA and bought a bed for the guest bedroom and a mattress for Kitty's upcoming big-girl-bed transition. The kids had such a good time with Karen and Ed. Karen used her inherent aunt rights and brought the kids rock candy lollipops and chocolate in the shape of small rocks (I guess it was a rock theme.) After dinner, the kids had their lollipops and they were in states of pure bliss. I noticed Kitty's tongue was blue, so I had them stick them out for a picture. They were very enthusiastic. Kitty had a drooling-blue-sticky-drool everywhere issue, so right after this picture was taken she was detained in her chair at the table to minimized contamination of the kitchen.

Overheard

This morning I overheard this exchange:
J- Hi cargo ship!
K- I not cargo ship, I Kitty!

Last night while Thom and I were eating dinner, Jack said to Kitty, "Do you want to go upstairs and come up with a secret plan?" To which she replied, "Okay." They then left the room and went upstairs. I have to say that moment made me giddily happy.

Stan and Tooter

Jack and Kitty really enjoy playing with each other. Not all the time, but a great deal of the time they see eye to eye on what is fun. Like pretending a laundry basket is a boat, as an example.
I was thinking yesterday how Kitty's interests really are her brother's interests... the firetruck shirts, playing with playmobil, watching the Backyardigans. Recently, she has adopted another lovey. This time a dinosaur named Tooter. So now Stan has a buddy in lovey-land. The only thing about this is that now when you lose one, you've usually lost both. Yesterday I was combing the house high and low looking for them. I finally found them in Kitty's room, hanging out together by the bookcase. Thom commented that they were probably trying to hide the evidence of whatever they were doing when they heard me coming up the stairs. You know, fanning the air to dissipate the smoke or something like that.
Kitty has become quite the opinionated toddler lately. You have to play a subtle game of reverse psychology with her to get her to do anything remotely in line with what you want. She's also taken to throwing minor tantrums. Yesterday at the end of the day, I handed her the entire bag of pepperoni because I just couldn't stand another argument about how much pepperoni she could have. She was surprised and said, "Whole bag of pepperoni... my favorite!" Thom got home soon after and having more parenting energy in that moment took on the challenge of getting at least some of the pepperoni back for future use... Kitty was quite unhappy about it. The other tactic that sometimes works is the abrupt change of topic. She'll be upset about something and then you interject with, "I'm going to sing 'Baa Baa Black Sheep." and she'll say something like, "No. Sing 'Our House!'" Thus making her forget about the circular conversation we were previously having about not being able to draw with sidewalk chalk when it is raining. I remember this stage with Jack, and Thom is really the master at redirection of topic/energy changing. I'll have to observe his techniques closely to brush up on what I've forgotten. Jack is just so amazingly reasonable about everything. I forget and think that he's always been that way.

Harder on Adults... Easier on Kids!

This is Kitty... happily playing outside the day after Jack had been diagnosed with Strep. Later, I would be diagnosed with Strep. To say Jack's recovery was a piece of cake compared to mine... well, it was/is. My throat was killing me all day Tuesday... so after Thom got home I went to a 'Minute Clinic' which is a small office in a CVS staffed by a nurse practitioner. I went there because the idea of taking the kids with me anywhere and having to wait while I felt so crappy just wasn't what I wanted to be doing. The minute clinic did a strep test and *Bingo* I was a winner. With my prescription of penicillin in hand, I went home and crawled into bed. I was in bed all day Wednesday. I thought by Thursday I should be feeling better, but I actually felt worse. Thom and myself were both worried about me... I thought maybe I wasn't reacting well to the penicillin but couldn't tell because of my strep symptoms. Thursday I went to see my regular Dr, who said that while my penicillin would probably do the trick, he gave me a stronger antibiotic because I had some weird grey patches in my throat. Lovely. I went home, got back in bed and stayed there all day Thursday and Friday. Today is the first day I can sit upright for more than 5 minutes. Thom is taking a well deserved sleep-in. He and our babysitter managed to hold down the fort for the last 3 days... I am truly thankful to them.

Thom had a lot of fun with the kids. I could hear them laughing and playing while I was surfacing in and out of sleep in my sick bed. They had a great deal of fun watching old Sesame Street clips on youtube of Grover as a waiter and Mr. Blue as his hapless patron. Then, Thom and the kids would act out the skits. Thom was primarily Grover, making the kids giggle and laugh.
Happy Birthday to my mom, who turned 18 on 2/29!
Sorry I missed it... I'll try not to be bedridden the next time 2/29 comes around!