totally how it works

Q: "i have a boo boo on my big toe. it's bad. i think i need a new one."

vocabQlary

yarn: what you do when you're sleepy and your mouth opens wide

a glimpse of years to come

today was a crazy parenting day. both kids had their gym classes this morning. then it was time to divide and conquer, as the dogs had a vet appointment at the same time Q had a birthday party to attend (in delaware.) we then reunited for an evening t-ball game. not surprisingly, Q fell asleep in like 2 minutes tonight.

you say tomato...

if you call it "fluff", he doesn't want it. if you call it "marshmallow", he will eat it by the spoonful.

siblings

oh my goodness. the antagonizing has begun. the kids love to torment each other. if Q gets the last cookie, instead of eating it quietly, he will get in his sister's face and show her that he got it, usually resulting in pickle tears. she will dish it right back to him. she will mess with him. if we are trying to pick a movie to watch, she will pretend to support his choice but then abruptly change her mind in order to drive him insane. this is what the next 15 years are going to be like, huh?

they learn young

caroline, handing me a freshly-picked dandelion: "here you go mommy.  it's a yellow flower for you.  we're all out of the white ones.  maybe we can get some more at target."

(fyi - "the white ones" are just dandelions that have already reached puffball stage)

eagle eye

caroline watched me bring the mail in the house today. i hadn't even started flipping through it and she shrieked, "gimme the pretty dolls pleeeeeeease!" in the middle of the stack was the american girl catalog and she recognized it in an instant. i am doomed once she realizes that the dolls can actually be purchased.

happy anniversary aunt becky and uncle jay!

angry birds

Q is obsessed. we own every single version of the game... for both iPhone and iPad. he is better at it than most grown-ups. we were grocery shopping this morning and Q saw a pack of angry birds dog toys. he begged for them and i eventually gave in. i figured this was one of the best kinds of toys, because when he grows tired of them, they can actually be dog toys. he, of course, insists they are not dog toys (because as he claims, "dog toys are shaped like bones. dogs play with leashes and treats.") they have proven to be a great rainy afternoon diversion, as he has been building increasingly more complex angry bird levels out of megablocks and relishes in hurling the not-dog toys at them.

really?

jeremy took the kids to the grocery store tonight. someone asked if they were twins... ummmmm. no.

i think my kid is on something

conversation as Q is laying in bed:

Q: how are we going to get rid of the mega germs?
me: ummm, i don't know
Q: pickles!
me: huh?
Q: superman pickles! batman pickles! really big pickles!

hat day

yesterday was hat day at school. pickle apparently also believed it to be shades day, as she insisted on wearing her sunglasses for most of the day.

getting better

Q had another t-ball game tonight. he played shortstop the first inning and right field the 2nd inning. he was much more engaged in the game this time, actually remaining standing, wearing his glove, and even trying to get the ball. one time he wandered from right field to the pitcher's mound area and actually got the ball. he jumped up and down, excitedly shrieking, "i got the ball! i got the ball!" he told me at the end, "baseball is hard. but i like the snacks."

a whole new kid

after this, i swear i am done talking about this. but it's been two weeks since Q's former teacher left the school and he has not had a bad day since. i never really blogged about his bad behavior because i was so frustrated and trying so hard to fix it in anyway i could think of. but it was bad. he was terrible at school every day - hitting, kicking, spitting, throwing things, smearing poop (oh yeah), things he's NEVER done - and then a depressed lump of kid at home. all he wanted to do was lay on the couch and play angry birds on the ipad. he barely even played with his monster trucks. he didn't interact with the other kids at school anymore - i always found him in the corner playing by himself at the end of the day and he didn't participate in any of the activities throughout the day either. we had several meetings with the director, trying to understand what was causing the change in him and brainstorming on how to fix it. we were even looking for a kiddie shrink to bring him to, since we never had any luck with getting him to talk to us about what was going on inside his head. i was also looking for new daycare because i didn't think the situation was fixable. but now... holy cow. he smiles again. he doesn't fight us every morning because he doesn't want to go to school. he's not counting down each day to the weekend. he has an imagination again. he interacts with the other kids in his class again. he's back to being himself. it's truly amazing to me how quickly he bounced back and shocking how toxic one stupid daycare teacher can be.

whip my hair

apparently Q has a new favorite song... his classroom has a smartboard in it and sometimes during freeplay times the teachers will play kids' zumba videos at the request of the kids (mostly the girls) and they all dance. this is Q's favorite. his teacher told me he asks for this one all the time and is always singing the song. but today, for the first time, he actually got brave enough to dance. and his friend temi showed him all the moves. and now he's a dancing machine.

happy little birds

while reenacting angry birds with duplo blocks and her brother: "my angry bird is not angry! he's happy!"

don't look now, the threes are here

i think i had blocked the threes out of my mind. but it's all coming back now. my sweet caroline is still mostly sweet. but boy oh boy does she have a whiny/bratty streak, as evidenced by this conversation this morning:

...........................................................................

(the part of caroline should be read with the whiniest 2-year-old voice you can imagine)

• me: would you like cereal for breakfast?
• caroline: nooooooooooooooooooooooo. (brief pause) i want ceeeeeeeeeeeeeeereeeeeeal.
• me: ok, how do you ask nicely?
• caroline: pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease. i don't want ceeeeeeeeeeereeeeeeeeeeal.
• me: ok
• caroline: (starting to cry) i am huuuuuuuuuuungry. i want ceeeeeeeeeeeeeeereal.
• me: you really want cereal?
• caroline: nooooooooooooooooo. (brief pause) yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees.

the critic

Q just told me that the mini-bagel pizzas and goldfish i served for lunch were "too boring to eat."

play ball!

Q had his first t-ball game on tuesday. I hesitate to call it a game, more like two sets of similarly dressed children standing around for an hour and a half. most of the other kids on the team seemed to at least get the basic throwing/catching concept. Q not so much.

.....................................................................

daddy tries to play catch

first attempt at fielding

banished to the outfield

it's t-ball. nothing is coming deep.

first at-bat

and he's off. too bad he didn't know where to run and headed up the middle of the field.

the ultimate in baserunner-readiness

benched

2nd at-bat

i don't think he enjoyed it too much. though it got way better for him when the post-game snacks and drinks were busted out. we will try again tomorrow.

more easter

after the morning activities at home, we got all dolled up for easter dinner with the norcrosses. you may recognize caroline's dress as the one she wore a year ago in aunt becky's wedding. (but only if you were there, because as i just realized when i tried to put a linky in, i never posted any pics from then. oops. also, i accidentally deleted most of the photos i took at the wedding. double oops.)

..................................................................

an attempt at a nice sibling shot

i give up. show me "scared face"

and "angry face" learning to ride

sulking because someone was on the bike he wanted

3 girls. all smiling. it's an easter miracle.

lilly must be spouting crazy

more riding - this time on the vintage mickey

ready for the hunt

Q's haul

pickle's turn