Underwear

For the past couple years, TJ has had six pairs of Thomas the Tank Engine underwear. He's gotten taller, but has stayed so thin there was no need to purchase the next size up (he's currently still in a size 5!). Earlier this year, my mom was at the Carter's outlet store, and I asked her to pick up a 3-pack of the next size (size 6/7). They looked huge, so I set them aside and forgot about them.

Yesterday morning, TJ was mysteriously out of clean underwear. I'm not sure how he ran out, but I was just starting the laundry and the boy needed a clean pair so he could get dressed for school. I dug through his top drawer, found the Carter's package, opened it up and handed him a pair. TJ looked skeptical. He commented on how big they were, and how he wasn't sure he wanted to wear a pair of underwear with dogs on them. But he put them on, and I forgot about the incident.

This morning when TJ was getting dressed, I heard loud complaining coming from his room. I went in there and he informed me that he did NOT want to wear the Thomas pair I had laid out. He wanted to wear another new pair. Why? Because "they are so soft and cushy". I laughed and handed him a new pair. I don't do laundry enough for him to wear the new undies every day, but he agreed that he wouldn't complain if he had to wear Thomas underwear if the new pairs were in the wash.

What an odd child....

Little gardeners

Last week, Sam made a pumpkin out of construction paper. On the front, his teacher had written "What's inside?". You lifted the top flap of the pumpkin to reveal some pumpkin seeds Sam had glued inside. Sam was VERY proud of his pumpkin. In fact, it's still sitting on the front hall table. It's one of those items that I'm not allowed to throw away.

The artwork isn't in its original condition, though. It has two fewer seeds glued inside. That is because TJ and Sam peeled those seeds off and planted them out in the garden on Saturday. I knew what they were up to, and let them have their fun. On Sunday after church, they hurried outside to see if any vines were growing yet. I don't have the heart to tell them that it's way too late in the season to grow anything.

Bill didn't want to have much of a garden next year. But I think two little people will be convincing him that the garden needs to include a pumpkin patch.

TJ's observation (rated PG-13)

Thursday night, TJ walked up to me and very seriously informed me of the following:

"You know, Mom, the penis is just like a straw. Only...it is attached to your body."

I swallowed a shocked laugh, said "Oh, really?" and then changed the subject. Because how else do you respond to that??

Monday in a nutshell

My Monday started at 4:40 a.m. when TJ woke me up by saying, "Mom, I think I peed in my pants a little." A little? Nope. It was a lot. On the plus side, I got a load of laundry started before 5 a.m.....

At dinner tonight, TJ asked what the function of your uvula is. Neither Bill or I knew. I had to google it (it helps with speech articulation, in case you were wondering). TJ then proceeded to make lots of strange noises to give his uvula some exercise.

When he wasn't staring in fascination at Bill's old reel-to-reel player (which he just put in the living room for everyone to see, oh yay!), Sam was wandering around asking about the chance of rain for the rest of the week and sorting all of my candles by color and scent.

Nolan kept coming up to me and saying, "Mom! Nose running again!" Ugh . When will he ever NOT have a cold.

I told the boys I was moving to Tahiti. I then realized I wasn't entirely sure where Tahiti is. I need more sleep.

Nolan's knock-knock joke

The boys are really into telling knock-knock jokes. They laugh themselves silly when they are telling these jokes. Bill and I usually don't 'get' the joke. Nolan is even getting in on the routine. Yesterday when I was changing his diaper, he told me this joke:

Nolan: Knock-knock
Me: Who's there?
Nolan: Sam
Me: Sam who?
Nolan: Sam poopie head

Hysterical laughter.

Uh. Nope. Don't get it.

My little students

Very early yesterday morning (around 1:30 a.m.), all five of us were up. It started out with a very loud thud. Sam fell out of bed. I think he's only done that once before. I hurried in there to comfort him and tuck him back in bed. He was crying pretty hard and it woke TJ up. He decided he needed to go to the bathroom. Nolan, the world's lightest sleeper, heard the commotion and started crying too. Just as I was starting to feel frustrated (Sam still needed me, and Nolan was getting himself worked up), Bill got up and went to check on Nolan, who just wanted a drink of water. Finally, everyone was settled down and back in bed.

The next morning, Sam got up and I noticed he had some red marks above and below his left eye. I am pretty sure he hit his head on the dresser when he fell out of bed. I kissed him and told him to try and stay in bed from now on.

Last night, I asked him if he told Mrs. Stegenga what happened to his eye. He said, "Yep. I told her I damaged it when I fell out of bed." I don't know if he used those exact words when he was explaining the incident to his preschool teacher, but if he did, I'm sure she had a good chuckle.

Then there's TJ. Every week, he comes home with a small packet of homework. There's a short story he has to read through, and then answer a few questions. There is also a short math assignment, and spelling words to practice each week. This week, there was no math sheet. He is in between units, so the teacher gave the class the week off. TJ was disappointed he had less homework! He finished his reader and the questions, went through his spelling words, and then asked for more work! He finally settled for reading through his library book, with some assistance from Daddy. What an odd child. I was always a good student, but I don't think I ever once complained that I didn't have enough homework!

Not much of a motivator

There is a campaign being waged in this house. Everyone (Bill and Sam in particular) want a cat. Everyone but me, that is. It's not that I don't like cats. I still miss Aria, and sometimes I even miss Cadence. But I don't miss the work, the cat hair on everything, the smell coming from the litter box, the scratches on my wood floor, the cat standing on me in the middle of the night... So I've been holding out. I keep saying I'm not ready. Because I'm not!

The other day Nolan decided to try and go potty (he goes poopie on the potty once a week or so for my mom, but he never does anything for me). While he was sitting on the potty (not producing) I said, "Nolan, if you stop wearing diapers and start wearing big boy underwear, and go potty on the potty, we can get a cat."

I expected him to get excited. Instead he thought it over, and said, "No. I don't want a cat." Guess that means he won't be potty training any time soon.

Milk DUDS

I usually have candy in the house. Partly because I'm a sucker for candy, and partly because the boys can earn a piece if they do a good job eating lunch or dinner. I try to buy small things, like Tootsie Rolls and small suckers. TJ got fed up with the lack of variety the other day and asked if I would buy something new. So, I picked up a bag of Halloween candy that had a variety of items in it (small boxes of Milk Duds, mini packs of Whoppers, small bags of Reese's Pieces, and some lollipops). The boys were really excited. Sam had a hard time deciding what to try after dinner the first night. I suggested Milk Duds, because they are one of my favorite candies (how can you possibly go wrong with chocolate AND caramel??) Sam took a box of Milk Duds, opened it up, and was pretty excited to see four small Milk Duds inside. He popped one in his mouth and stayed seated at the table while I washed the dishes and cleaned up.

I was so busy, I really didn't notice Sam's progress, or lack thereof. After about 10 minutes, Sam quietly said, "Mom, you may have the rest of my candies." I took the box and saw 3 Milk Duds inside. I looked at Sam's face and started to laugh. He was exhausted from chewing on one Milk Dud. He has absolutely no interest in ever trying them again. I felt bad, since it was my suggestion, so I traded him 3 Milk Duds for three pieces of candy corn. He thought it was a good trade. I did too. His Duds were delicious!

My Little Charmer

As of today, Nolan is 2 1/2 years old. My 'baby' is quickly disappearing. In his place, is a very verbal, very opinionated little boy.

He's picked up a few phrases lately that neither his mother or his father taught him. In fact, I can't even blame TJ and Sam for these, as I don't hear them talking like this. I suspect I can probably credit the neighbor kids, or perhaps Nickelodeon (there's lots of sarcasm on "iCarly").

Here are a few examples of Nolan's favorite phrases:

"That is yucky." (Spoken whenever he sees something he doesn't want to eat. A couple months ago, he'd eat whatever was on his plate, as long as it wasn't moving. Suddenly, he's getting picky).

"This is stupid." (I really don't like this one at all, and have been gently reminding him that 'stupid' is not a nice word).

"No. That's my butt." (I love to pat his round, soft little bottom when I'm changing his diaper. Suddenly, though, the term 'bottom' is not correct. Well, I'm sorry. It's too cute to be called a 'butt').

And my personal favorite:
"Get me out of here!" (He tends to use this one when his diaper or his clothes are being changed. He just doesn't have the patience for that).