William learns to pedal his bike!

William has been only slightly interested in riding his tricycle so when we go for walks, he usually opts for a wagon ride instead. But yesterday, he decided to ride his bike to the playground. I walked with Mary Grace and Mommy walked with William. Since he hasn't been practicing, I was surprised to see William doing so good pedaling! (click the image below for a video)

From 2009-05-30

We played at the playground for about an hour and on the way back, we stopped to chat with some friends. I could tell the kids were getting tired as we had gone swimming at Midtown earlier, gone to the library and just ran for almost an hour at the playground. Here's proof that William was one tired puppy! (click the image below for a video)

From 2009-05-30

Flip-flopper and chatter-box

Lately William has taken on a family trait. Here's the scenario. William, do you want a pancake for breakfast? "No, I don't want a pankpank". Then once the pancakes are all prepared and served to his sister, he says, "I want a pankpank too!".

This is IDENTICAL (except for the pankpank part) to the what my brother Chris did when we were growing up and which I'm certain drove my mom nuts!

Anyway, he also flips back and forth. William, want some fruit? "Yeah, I want an apple. No, I want strawberries. I want to have some grapes. Oh, I want to have an apple". All in one breath. So many choices, so little time.

The kids spent the evening at Didi's last night, while Anne and I went to a fabulous wedding (congrats, Rich and Mel!). We picked them up around 10:15 and William was conked out but had been crying that he wanted his mommy just before sleepytime. Mary Grace on the other hand was wide awake and having a snack when we arrived. We listened to her chattering away most of the way home, but she also succumbed to the sandman.

Two sleepers when we got home made bedtime a treat for mommy and daddy for a change!

Pool fun

From 20090521

Wiping off my kiss! Hmmph!

Today, mommy was taking William and Mary Grace to Lollypop farms for a little afternoon fun. I was home from work at lunchtime and helping get everyone into the car.

After buckling William in, I asked him for a kiss and he gave me the forehead. I said I wanted a kiss on the lips, so he leans forward and kisses me, then promptly rubs the back of his hand over his lips, wiping away my kiss!

I got Annes attention and tried for a repeat performance and he did the same thing. I figured the third time is a charm, but sure enough, he kisses me and wipes his lips a third time!

Little stinker!

I had one of those moments with Mary Grace this morning. She was SO HAPPY about nothing really; she was just glowing and smiling from ear to ear while eating her breakfast before I took her to school. I just looked at her and thought I will remember this moment and that smile for the rest of my life!

Sassy boy!

First, William was playing on the new mini trampoline and was not following the rules that Mommy was laying down. As mommy was explaining the rules, William turned to her and said "Leave me alone, go in the kitchen, whatever!".

Later, William was stalling at bedtime by hanging out in Mary Grace's room. Mommy was calling him to come into his own room, then resorted to the dreaded "count-to-3". William's response? "Be quiet; I'm trying to pick out a book!".

While both of these situations were not exactly positive, all Anne and I could do was to laugh. We expect more of the same...

... as soon as his head hit the pillow

Little boys seem to have an on/off switch.

William had a very active day of playing both inside and outside. Towards the evening, there was a lot of crying going on, telling Anne and I that he was pretty tired. So when bedtime came around, he was the one telling us he wanted to go to sleep!

So we read a book, then be climbed into bed all snuggly with his two favorite blankets. And he lays down his head on his favorite pillow. I offered to sing him a song and I swear, before I got in the 5th note he was asleep.

Mary Grace on the other hand is laying in bed singing right now...

Peeling crayons and Q-cumbers

Anne and I were reminiscing about Mary Grace and crayons when she was 2-3. Every time we pulled them out for her to color with, she would sit there and peel the paper off the crayons! She preferred that over coloring with them. So we ended up with an entire bucket of crayons with no paper.

Oh, and last night, William came running into the kitchen to inform us that cucumber starts with a "Q". I guess that's logical for a 3 year old, so we just went with it.

Q-cumber it is, William!

Who's the mommy around here?

Lately, Mary Grace has taken it upon herself to try to play the parent role. She helps him out all the time, but she has been occasionally disciplining William. When I hear this happen, I remind Mary Grace that she is not William's mother and should be going to Anne or I when William does something naughty.

Today I was working on some laundry upstairs while William and Mary Grace were watching some TV downstairs. When I returned downstairs, William suddenly had no diaper on. I asked where the diaper went and Mary Grace responded, "I put it in the garbage". Huh? "Yeah, William pooped in it, so I changed his diaper" she adds.

To be fair, earlier in the week, Anne noticed that Mary Grace hadn't done a good job of wiping after going #2 on the potty and mentioned it to Mary Grace. Her response was that it was William who didn't do a good job of cleaning her up! We had to remind both of them that it wasn't the responsibility of the other to wipe.

Here's a recent photo of Mary Grace and William enjoying a cool morning on the back deck.

Ma'daddy!

William, having been calling Anne "mommy" all day long takes some time to get used to saying "daddy" when Daddy gets home from work. So I'm known as "ma'daddy".

For example, "Look at this, ma'daddy!" or "Come over here ma'daddy" or "Can you help me with this ma'daddy?"

This usually goes on for an hour or so, then he adapts. But he never says "da'mommy". Hmmmph!

Random items.

Some funny things lately...

William responds to calling his name from another room in a very unique way, one that Anne and I have no idea where he got it from. Example

Anne: William?
William: What is it?
Anne: How you doing?
William: Good.

Neither Anne nor I use the phrase "What is it?" when responding to someone calling our name.

Yesterday, Mary Grace was sitting at the table coloring while I was helping Anne make some chocolate pudding (from scratch; you gotta try it!) While I was stirring the pudding, William came running in the kitchen saying he made a poop in his diaper and wanted it changed. So I'm telling William he'll have to wait and we go back and forth a few times on the poop thing. Meanwhile, I'm done stirring the pudding, so I hand the spoon to Mary Grace and ask her if she wants to taste it.

Now, Mary Grace had been focusing on her coloring and only heard the word "poop" being thrown around. She looks at the chocolate pudding covered spoon and gets completely grossed out because she thought it had poop on it! "Ewwwwww, I don't want any of that!"