Reprimanded

Nolan continues to insist that he wear underwear all day long. Even during nap time. This makes me nervous (because I hate to change his bedding any more often than is necessary), but I've been letting him do it, and he's been staying dry. He even more underwear to preschool yesterday! That's the longest he's been in underwear and not under the direct supervision of a parent or grandparent. Go Nolan!

Right before bedtime tonight, I put him on the potty, even though he said he didn't have to go. He knows it's mandatory at bedtime. I was sitting on the stool in the bathroom, waiting for him to go. Bill wandered by and he and I talked briefly about his schedule for the next day. As he walked away, Nolan climbed off of the toilet.

I picked him up, put him back on the toilet, and told him that he HAD to go potty before we put his pajamas on.

Nolan got very indignant. He said, "I did go potty! You just didn't hear me! You talk too much!"

I probably should have been offended, but I laughed. Our talking did drown out the sound of his going potty.

Rare form

This morning, my three-year-old calmly picked his nose, and wiped it on his mother's hand.

Um. Gross.

Later, during the Children's Message, Miss Cookie was discussing how the church is the people, not the building. She asked if there was anyone in the service this morning who was 90 years old. Nolan nodded excitedly, pointed a finger at my Mom, and "Grandma is!"

Nolan also insisted on wearing underwear to church. I was nervous, but agreed to let him do so. He stayed dry. He's been so inconsistent with potty training that this is a huge step forward. It turns out that threatening to take away his iPad privileges is a big motivator.

Now I just need to teach him how to use a Kleenex.

Trailer hitches and germs

Sam is still on his trailer kick. The chiropractor sent him home with three old issues of "Trailer Life" (Seriously? Who subscribes to that??) and Sam has been examining them carefully.

Sam has also resumed his habit of checking to see which vehicles have trailer hitches and which ones don't. He knows that a lot of people remove their trailer hitches in the winter, since they aren't being used and they don't want them to get stolen. Ours is always off. We can't close the garage door when it's on the van. Anyway, Sam likes the vehicles that have covers for the spot where the hitch goes (if there's a technical term for that, I don't know it). He really likes the decorative ones...we've seen a few Michigan State ones around town.

Sam would really like us to get one of those covers. He says they have a very important job. They keep the germs out.

Nolan's Sisters

When I was unpacking Nolan's backpack last night, I discovered his teacher had sent home a few pictures of Nolan. There was one of him at circle time and two snapshots of him at the Children's Museum with his class. One of those pictures showed Nolan standing next to a cute little girl. I showed him the picture and said, "Nolan, who's this?"

Nolan glanced at it and said, "My sister." I laughed and said, "No, Nolan. Who is this?" He professed he didn't know, but when I reminded him that it was Madeline, he said "I KNOW that!"

So then I asked, "Well, do you have any sisters?" Nolan gave me that why-are-you-so-dumb look and said, "Yes. Charlotte." I laughed again and told him Charlotte was his cousin and not his sister.

Then I switched the question. I asked Nolan if he had any brothers. He immediately replied, "NO!"

Some Valentine's Love from Sam

Since everyone has winterized their sprinklers for the time being, all Sam can do is look forward to warm weather. He has been talking incessantly about trailers and camping. I feel bad for the little guy...camping is still five long months away.

It does help that my parents took the boys to a trailer store to browse while Bill and I were in Hawaii. And Bill (along with my parents) took the boys to the RV & Camper Expo at DeVos Place last weekend. Sam could spend all day wandering through campers and talking with salesmen. He came home with a whole bunch of flyers and layouts of different campers that are for sale. He spends lots of time pouring over them and trying to decide what we can buy. He knows exactly how much weight our van can pull and he wants to make sure we get the biggest one we possibly can.

After Bill informed him that we weren't buying a camper until after our outbuilding was finished, Sam started pestering him to get started on that project. Said project is still at LEAST a year and a half away.

And this seems to be news to my parents, but according to Sam, they will be making a rather significant purchase in June. He has it all arranged for them to purchase a very nice, rather pricey trailer.

Here's a few pictures Sam drew at church last weekend (yes, those are pop-up campers):

(I believe the 1585 represents the lot number at the campground he says we are going to)

His placemat from his Valentine's party at school. Yep, you guessed it. More campers.


And finally, a Valentine he made for me. It says, "I love you", but he didn't feel he had enough room for the word "you" at the bottom, so he moved it up. He had to leave enough room for my very own trailer artwork.


How can you NOT love this sweet child?

Core components

At lunch today, Bill gave the boys some leftover pizza and bread sticks. He opened up a can of pizza sauce so they could use it for dipping purposes. Most of the sauce was leftover, so he put it in a container in the freezer. We always label containers in the freezer so that I don't have to play 'guess that sauce'. After lunch, I pulled the freezer open and noticed that the container on the top was labeled 'Pizza Core'.

Now, I know I'm married to a strange guy. Half the time, I pay no attention to him when he does stuff like this, but curiosity got the better of me this time.

I held up the container and said, "Pizza core? Would you care to explain?"

Bill gave me his best innocent look and said, "Well, sauce IS the core ingredient of pizza. What else would I call it?"

Please, remember stories like this when you try to figure out why my children are so unique.

Love, shopping, and other experiences with Sam

Last Sunday, I took Sam with me to the grocery store. He LOVES to come to the store with me, but I find it to be a rather exhausting experience. Not because he misbehaves or wanders off. On the contrary, he stays right with me and rarely asks me to buy certain items. It's exhausting because he TALKS THE ENTIRE TIME. And he's not just talking about typical five-year-old things. He's asking deep questions and he keeps making me think. My brain is worn out by the time I'm done shopping.

And I had the brilliant idea to take the Cruze through the car wash before we went to the store. This meant Sam had even more time to sit, think, ponder, and expect me to have answers to everything he came up with. He's a little apprehensive of car washes, but got through this experience by having me show him where all the cords and hoses were hooked up in the car wash. If you've never looked at the ceiling in a car wash, do it some time. I've never studied it much before and it's rather interesting. At any rate, after the car wash, we went to Meijer. We started out at the produce/bakery section. Meijer gives kids a free cookie if you request one at the bakery, so we headed right over there. An employee saw Sam coming and brought him a large heart-shaped cookie covered in red sprinkles. Sam was so thrilled he was speechless. I am sure the look on his face was thanks enough, but I still wanted Sam to remember his manners. So, I quietly said, "Sam, what do you say?" Sam held the cookie up at the girl, gave her a huge smile, and said, "This is a Valentine's cookie. And I love you!"

His mother managed not to humiliate him by quickly stepping away before she burst out laughing.

Toward the end of our shopping trip, we were near the toy department. It suddenly occurred to Sam that when Meijer gets the spring items back out (some of them are already making an appearance!), that sunglasses will be out as well. He remembered the display of children's sunglasses that they had near the toy department. I bought him a pair just last summer. But that wasn't good enough for Sam. He turned on the drama. "Mom, you NEVER buy me sunglasses. And I would really like a pair."

I reminded him that wasn't true and that I had just bought him a nice pair last summer. Sam didn't even pause. He responded with "Yes, but I have giant noggin and I probably need a new pair."

Again, more laughter. He got that term from me. I love to tease him about his big head, which he gets from my side of the family. He's very proud to have a 'giant noggin'. I always tell him, the bigger the head, the more brains you have. And yes, if his sunglasses don't fit his giant noggin, I will certainly get him a bigger pair. But I'm pretty sure he can get at least two summers out of his old, unworthy sunglasses.

Learning to share

Last April, I got an iPad. I had asked Bill if I could get one, since the desktop was being monopolized more and more frequently by my children (TJ in particular). So, being the obliging guy he is, Bill let me get an iPad. I ordered a pink cover for it in hopes of keeping the boys away from it. I also put a passcode on it so that the boys couldn't use it without my knowledge and permission.

Well, that didn't last long. Bill punched the passcode in while TJ was looking. TJ's a smart kid. I told him as long as I never caught him using the iPad without permission, I couldn't change the passcode. Then the boys figured out how easy it was to remove the offending pink cover. THEN the boys discovered there were games on the iPad. In particular, Angry Birds. Nolan loves Angry Birds. He can spend hours playing it, if his mean old mother lets him. He starts every day with, "Mom, you NEVER let me play on your iPad. Not today, anyway. Can I play on your iPad?" So now, I have one or two kids playing with the iPad and another on the desktop. This leaves me with my phone if I need internet access. Sigh.

The other day, Nolan asked me if he could use the iPad. I informed him that I needed to use it for something and that he was going to have to wait. Nolan got very indignant, put his hands on his hips and said, "It's not just YOUR iPad, you know." WOAH there Buddy! I informed him that in fact, it IS just my iPad and I will share it when I choose to share it. I told Bill what Nolan had said, and Nolan got a similar lecture from his dad.

I certainly want my kids to learn to share. But they also need to respect the fact that some items are special and they aren't necessarily entitled to them. We had to save up for that thing. I'm not going to let my 3-year-old claim it for his own, just because he thinks his mother doesn't share enough.

Today, however, that 3-year-old was sick. Bad cough, fever, no appetite. He basically sat on the couch all day and did nothing. He didn't eat, run, laugh...poor little guy. Late this afternoon, I handed him my iPad. He gave me a weak smile and said, "When you are sick, you get to play with the iPad." I agreed.

But 20 minutes later, he called to me. I walked in the living room, he handed me the iPad. He said he didn't want it any more and closed his eyes. That's confirmation I have a sick little boy on my hands. I hope the Angry Birds enjoy their break.