the graduate

when i picked caroline up today there was a note waiting in her cubby. she's moving up to the happy herons room on june 13. i really like the teachers in her current room, but they start potty training in the herons room, so yay! any bets on when caroline is 100% potty trained? my bet... before Q.

under the weather

Q isn't feeling well. he has a low grade fever and is not interested in eating. i feel bad for him, but he is so sweet when he's not feeling 100%. at school today he told his teacher that he missed his sister and that caroline is his best friend. mrow.

quentin sings

quentin takes on the litterbug song and rain, rain, go away

an interesting choice for slumber

giraffe cake

for baby bard!

Q was sad because we couldn't eat it! but he was very proud that he helped "bake" it. and by "helped" we mean he didn't destroy it all week.

let's go!

RV trip. Q's driving. who's in?

big girl bed fail

the kiddos and i are in MA this weekend. the nursery here now has two toddler beds and no crib. pickle thought she should get to sleep in a big girl bed instead of a pack n play. she fell out (on to a strategically placed pile of blankets) before i even left the room. needless to say, she's in the pack n play now. her choice. thank goodness.

the drama

Q pooped on his pants this evening. as is the new custom, he had to put 10 trucks in a bin to be earned back at another time. like water off a duck's back. but we also told him no cuddles tonight. omg. bedtime was a disaster. he was more worked up than I have seen him in a long time, wailing and pleading and trying to earn cuddles back by sitting on the potty. we didn't cave, though we were tempted and eventually he crashed on his own. but oh the drama.

your baby can read!

when I picked pickle up at school today, she pointed to a sign above and said, "E! X! I! T!"

girl knows letters!

it's not raining!

holy cow!

cheese!

memories

a few moments ago, Q asks: "mommy, where's our blue car?"

ummm. we sold that like a year ago.

a musing

Q, while holding one of his big toes: "i don't want a big toe here. i want a little toe here."

lilly also does fine tattoo work

she is a one stop shop for all your hair and body needs.

diva

hair bow!

means hair!

hair, by lillian

this is what happens when one toddler does another's hair. with sunscreen.

a picture worth a 1000 blog posts

i love these kids.

nine-hundred ninety-nine posts on the blog...

nine-hundred ninety-nine posts!

cuddles are too important

after a brief day of potty pooping success a while ago, Q has reverted back to stubbornly refusing to even sit on the toilet. we have been losing patience and have started taking things away from him if he won't try to go. we started by taking away YouTube at bedtime. we used to let him watch 3 videos before bed. but he didn't seem to miss that at all. so tonight, we decided to take away cuddles. ever since we moved here, he has insisted that one if us lay in his bed with him and cuddle until he falls asleep. he refused to sit on the potty so we tucked him in and left. i waited outside his door. a few moments later he tried busting out. unfortunately for him it's very humid so his door stuck. through the door, he meekly agreed to sit on the potty in exchange for mommy cuddles. in the battle of cuddles versus potty-sitting, cuddles wins.

weirdo

not ear infections. also not strep. who knows! caroline is fever-free today, but she still had to stay home due to the 24 hour rule. it's good thing though, because she's sleepy. we woke her up so we could take Q to school. she slept in the car both ways and then continued on in her crib until about a half an hour ago. i was changing her diaper after she woke up and she said, "want this!" while pointing toward the end of the changing table. i thought she may have been pointing to her sparkly red dorothy shoes. but that wasn't it. i couldn't figure out what she wanted. she sat up and grabbed the rectal thermometer and handed it to me, saying, "this!" and after i took her temp and put the thermometer away, she did the sign for "more" - what a freaking weirdo! (i really, really, really hope it is because of the ridiculous amount of praise i heap on her to calm her down when that thing is jammed up there and not because she likes having stuff up her butt.)

my lunch date

hot blooded

"well I'm hot-blooded, check it and see. I've got a fever of one-hundred and three"

for real. 103. so pickle is home from school. you know she's not feeling well when she sleeps through a pizza party and then refuses the pie upon waking up.

pediatrician at 7 tonight. my guess... ear infection(s).

1-9

that's now how pickle says her own name...one-nine.

the aftermath

of a preschool sleepover.

rainy day fun in the land of candy

Q's new favorite activity at school. he couldn't BELIEVE we have it at home too! he's kicking our butts too. must be all the practice he gets.

this is totally how everyone watches TV

right?

Fwd: Thank you for reporting inappropriate videos

just got this email from YouTube. i guess Q flagged a video as inappropriate when he was in charge of my phone.

please be the justin bieber video. please be the justin bieber video. please be the justin bieber video. 

From: YouTube Service <service@youtube.com>
Date: May 13, 2011 10:41:00 PM EDT
To: kappad11
Subject: Thank you for reporting inappropriate videos

	help center | e-mail options | report spam
We just wanted to send you a quick note to say we appreciate your help and vigilance in keeping the YouTube community safe. It's the dedication from users like you that have helped make us the successful online destination that we are today. Please continue to flag videos you come across that violate the YouTube Community Guidelines and keep up the great work! - The YouTube Team
© 2011 YouTube, LLC 901 Cherry Ave, San Bruno, CA 94066

a load of cute

Q is hauling an interesting load in his dump truck. at least they play nicely with each other?

recognition (not so much)

in Q's class they have a family wall. on his lily pad we have some photos from my mom's birthday party last year. there's one of the two kids, one of our family, and one of all my siblings, their spouses, children, and us. pickle noticed them today and pointed out mommy, daddy, and tenten, but she just called herself, "baby." i don't think she recognized that it was actually her.

there's only so much you can do when you don't have much hair

it's crazy hair day at school!

and we were the only ones who seemed to participate. oh well.

now this is a sweet pickle'

conehead (and arms)

being silly in the gym at school

just a phase?

really hope so. Q insists on making hideous faces whenever he sees a camera or a mirror.

sneak peek

need to post more photos and updates from the recent beach/wedding adventure, but enjoy this beautiful beach bum for now!

welcome cousin wren!

Q and Caroline are very excited about their new cousin:

wren eloise
may 10, 2011
8 pounds 12 ounces

i. don't. get. it.

this is Q's new favorite youtube video. i don't get it. he not familiar with super mario or justin bieber. so why the heck would he LOVE this video??

sweet pickle?

caroline has been the best baby/toddler in the world. she's always been a good sleeper, a good eater, and overall just a well-behaved kid.

but the twos are coming and she is getting sassy. she LOVES the word no and testing her boundaries. she is learning the fine art of the tantrum from her brother and is not ashamed to lay on the floor, kicking and screaming.

we are so in for it.

see...

noodles.

growin

Q and daddy planted a "garden" today. i asked quentin what they planted and he told me, "noodles! and green vegetables!"

happy mommy day

sunflowers from my son and pretty roses from my pretty girl

so sweet

when Q is tired he is either a devil child or the sweetest thing ever.

cuddling in his bed tonight he said to me, "mommy, you a good best buddy" and gave me a hug.

irrational fears

Q has developed irrational fears of both sweatshirts and button pants.

what? you don't know what button pants are? pants with buttons. like jeans or khakis. unlike sweatpants. duh.

cozy couping

turn and pull

if you have seen "bolt" as many times as we have, you get it.

he's got his melon stuck. yup, that is one stuck melon.

you pigeons are useless.

follow me!

there's this obnoxious radio ad we hear in the car all the time for forman mills, a local discount department store.  it's one of those really loud, shouting ads with the announcer using his best growly, wrestling-match-promoter slash furniture-store-going-out-of-business voice… "designer men's shoes ten dollars, ladies' hats five dollars, and kids' socks just one dollar!"

 

Q loves this commercial.  he giggles when it comes on.  over the course of the commercial, the announcer probably shouts, "forman mills!" about fifteen times.  Q mimics the guy each time, but he thinks that the dude is saying, "follow me!"

 

so even when we are not in the car, like if we are out for a walk or if Q is standing on something tall, he will shout, "follow me!"

all smiles

over the past few weeks, Q has been acting out a bit at school.  not really sure what's been causing the behavior, but he's been driving his teacher crazy.  to try to drive it into his head that bad behavior isn't acceptable, miss diana started tracking his day and rating each portion of the day with a smiley face, a frowny face, or a meh face.  she shows him the face she is drawing and talks to him about it as she's doing it.  he's consistently had 2-3 frowny faces per day, mostly centered around the times of day where he is expected to sit and participate in structured activities (circle time, etc.)

 

but yesterday, he got all smiley faces!

 

and they made a big deal about it too.  she made him a certificate to commemorate the occasion and gave him a prize (bubbles!)  he was very proud.  now to see if any of it sunk in. my guess… no.

red light, green light

Q is big-time obsessed with traffic lights these days.  he announces the color of every single traffic light we encounter (and on a 45-minute each way commute, that's a lot.)  but not only does he announce the color of each light, he also tells me what to do (even if i am not the one driving,) "red light, mommy. stop."  "green light, mommy. go."  but the thing is, he doesn't realize that traffic does not work exactly like the red light green light game.  because when the light is red, he wants me to stop immediately rather than pull up behind the line of cars.  and when the light turns green, he reprimands me over and over, "green, mommy, GO. GO" even when the cars in front of me haven't started moving yet.

this disposable straw belongs to quentin

last week, we got an email from daycare reminding us of the rules about labeling your children's personal belongings.  i immediately dismissed it, knowing i am a super-star of labeling, having spent a bunch of dollars on semi-permanent sticky labels and such for all their lunch containers, sippy cups, etc. (i refuse to comply with the labeling of clothes both out of laziness and thriftiness – can't resell clothes if they've got Q's name sharpied on them!)  but then, when we arrived at school friday, miss diana audited Q's lunch box and clarified that everything needs to be labeled, not just Tupperware.  everything – yogurt cup, string cheese, applesauce cup, box of raisins… all need labels.  first and last name.  it was still early and my brain-filter wasn't exactly turned on yet.  I may have said, "are you f-ing kidding me? That's so fricking obnoxious."

 

because it is.  i guess it is to help the teachers ensure that the kids are only eating their own food and not sharing amongst each other, food allergies, blah blah blah.  not sure why i am so fired up about it, but it is really pissing me off.  don't i pay enough money to send my kids here already?  so not only do i have to pack my kids' lunch (when many similarly-priced and even lower-priced daycares PROVIDE meals) now i have to waste even more money and time labeling everything??  if the place wasn't so damn conveniently-located, i would be looking elsewhere.

 

it took me 16 labels to make the two kids' lunches today.  that's 80 labels a week.  they each had a whole, unpeeled clementine in their lunch box today.  i stuck a label on them too, as an expression of my feelings about this absurd policy.  too bad they probably won't get the joke.

quotable quentin

car ride conversation this morning:

 

Q: mommy, i have a good day at school today i watch your phone tonight.

Me: ok, if you're good at school you can watch my phone.

Q: it's a good deal.  you got that?  ok.  good.

 

i'm not really sure what i am getting out of this deal, other than sticky fingers all over my phone screen.

spring is here!

since the weather has finally turned nice, we are trying to put pickle in these cute summer dresses before she outgrows them without ever getting to wear them. i assumed she would be able to wear this size last summer but she remained peanut-sized and didn't graduate to 18 month clothes until the fall. we're almost ready to bust out the 24 month and 2T stuff, so it's now or never!

fashionista

daddy, i mean the easter bunny, got caroline a tutu for easter. here she rocks the tutu with pajamas look. note the pink jelly shoes over the jammie feet. her choice, not mine. and she really wanted to go outside in this attire. she was not pleased when i wanted to put her in "real clothes" to go to her gym class.

Qtube

quentin is totally obsessed with youtube. he can't poop on the potty but he can wield an iphone and search youtube like a pro. this "excabator" video is one of his current favorites:

may blogapalooza

april was a weak posting month in a thus far weak posting year. but we got a shiny new laptop this week, so we now finally have an actual functioning computer connected to the internet. to make it up to the three of you who still read this, i am going to attempt to post every day in may. i'll probably fail miserably, but we are so far behind. must catch up. so many pictures to post!

please touch (and if you'd be so polite, don't steal my stuff either!)

we took the kids to the please touch museum today. we had gotten a membership for christmas and hadn't been yet. after a slight detour involving going to their old location several miles away(thanks GPS!) we found it. quentin was very concerned about the purple boy being upside down. he said, "that boy going to get hurt. he get a boo boo."

driving the septa bus

caroline was not as amused with the current selection and made a mad dash for the other side

quentin "extabates" some playground balls with the digger

where's the car keys?

splashing in the water table. there was a kid who kept sticking his whole head into the water. even pickle thought that was odd.

turtle!

we had to give mr. turtle a kiss

crawling through the tunnel (there's no pics of Q at this point because he and daddy were elsewhere in the museum, not because i don't love him.)

swan needs a kiss too. she also molestered a goose and a cow, not caught on camera.

sea cruise! she was cool with the boat until it started to rock and then she was out.

seriously, where are the keys?

dude. keys. now.

she really loves planting and harvesting (and planting and harvesting) these carrots

kid swap! Q spent a long time wheelbarrowing foam bricks into the back of a dump truck.

paging doctor rupon

and then we found the grocery store. they both loved the grocery store. we we in here forever.

clearly, Q is not on a low-carb diet

the good stuff

i love how Q's cart is full of junk and pickle only has fruit... for now

whoa. clean up on aisle 3!

and this is where it sucked for a few minutes. we were trying to put the food back on the shelves and we looked up and Q was gone. jeremy ran around to all the other close exhibits but he was just gone. jer took caroline and ran to look everywhere. i found someone with a walkie talkie. i have to give them credit - within 10 seconds of them radioing to look for an orange-shirted Q, they had him. he had pushed his entire shopping cart (full of pretend tea bags btw) into a separate room with toy trains. scared the crap out of us.

so we decided it was time to head home after that scare. jer went back to get our stroller and our backpack was gone. there wasn't anything in it except diapers and a couple of monster trucks, but it still sucks. obviously we left it unattended but it still sucks that people at a kids museum would steal from you.

there's a cool statue of liberty torch in the atrium made of discarded toys, street signs, etc. pretty cool.

and an elephant too!

and the good news - we got our bag back with contents intact. we checked in at the desk and they had found it ditched in one of the bathrooms. sorry Q, i guess the backpack bandit(s) didn't value grave digger as much as you do!

tired, tired babies.