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!"

My little boy

Tonight, when getting ready for bed, we were talking about William wearing his undershirt to bed. We decided to take off the undershirt and put on his pajama top instead. William starts talking about undershirts and how they scare him because they wake him up at night. When he started saying the word understorm, we realized that he has confusing the words undershirt and thunderstorm. Funny.

After the jammies were on and all the goodnights were done, we were sitting in his glider reading. He snuggled right in and pushed back to a recline position. I sensed exhaustion, so capitalizing on the moment, I started humming a lullaby. Sure enough, he was asleep in short order. I know that the days on the kids falling asleep while we hold them are probably coming to an end, and this was such a good opportunity that I had to take advantage for as long as possible. So I held him tightly and kept humming songs while glided away.

Good night, sleep tight little boy.

William turns 3!

William had a great day today on his third birthday. William responded to everything saying "Happy Birthday" to him by saying "Happy Birthday" back. He was treating it like "Merry Christmas"... :)

It started with a beautiful day weather-wise; sunny and 70s. Because it was so warm outside, we decided to let him open one gift at lunchtime. He got a nice water table with a little pump in it so that it works like a sink. That boy LOVES playing with water, so it was a perfect gift. He and Mary Grace played with it on the deck all afternoon.

We had DiDi, John and Mary Jo over for pizza and cake and ice cream. We had an appetizer on the deck in the sun while the kids played with the water table some more. We went back inside and had dinner. At one point the adults were all talking and William was trying to say something but nobody heard him, so he yells "I....WANT....MY....CAKE!" We all stopped what we were doing and went for the cake, afterall, it is his birthday!

He got some great presents, which Mary Grace was most than happy to help him open.

At the end of the day, Anne asked what his favorite parts were and he said with a big smile on his face, his cake (a bug-themed cake) and his water table!

He had a really good day; a perfect birthday for a 3 year old.

William and his godmother	William and Mommy	William and his sister

"Last Day" and William's birthday tomorrow!

I was just IM'ing with Anne and I used a phrase that Mary Grace has been using for some time and I wanted to document it, so here goes.

At some point, Mary Grace started using the term "last day" as a replacement for yesterday. We both found this very cute, so we've adopted it into our vocabulary. Everytime MG says it, Anne and I share one of those "that's so cute" glances.

William turns three tomorrow! He's started on his potty training and even goes all by himself now. He's doing great and we're really proud of him. He's also started saying his "L" sounds when we work with him. Previously he used the "W" sound. For example, Mary Grace's lovie was "wovey". Last night I was explaining it to him and click, he got it! I was saying it over and over. Today he's reverted so I guess we'll have to keep working on in.

He's also a fast talker (like Daddy) who doesn't have time to sound out all the consonants when he talks. For example "i-a-do-that" rather than "I want to do that" and "i-a-milkey" for "I want some milkey". Also "maa-gwace, you wanna pway w'me?". The later is one of my favorite lines from William to Mary Grace.

Heartbreaker? William Dangerously?

While watching some TV, Mary Grace heard the word "heartbreaker". Not knowing what it meant she asked Anne "Is a heartbreaker a tool, Mommy?" Containing her laughter, Anne explained what the term meant.

William has taken a turn to the dangerous side. He climbed on top of his toy box and then was standing on the window sill. Seeing this, Anne told him to get down. He asked "why do I have to get down?", to which Anne responded "because it's dangerous!". William came back with "I like dangerous things!"

A slight misunderstanding

Tonight, Mary Grace announced to Anne that when she is 6 she can wear the clothes that Frank gave her. Anne replied, "The clothes that Frank gave you? Frank who? Frankie didn't give you any clothes." Mary Grace replied,"No, not Frankie, Frank who drives the CVS truck!" Anne said, "Do you mean the UPS truck?"

After a little analysis, Anne figured out the misunderstanding. We buy a lot of stuff online, so the UPS guy comes to our house probably once a week. He's very friendly and knows the kids now and the kids know him. His name is Frank. So Mary Grace thought that when Frank brings boxes to the door and the box has clothes for her, that it's a gift for her... from Frank!

I think Anne straightened her out.

Fun at the pool in Arizona!

Here's a few photos and a video of how much the kids enjoyed Uncle Jack's pool in Arizona. Seeing the perma-smiles on their faces while in the pool really made the trip worthwhile!

This is William splashing his cousin, Nate.


Here's William lounging poolside.


And finally, here's Nate and Mary Grace.


And a fun-in-the-pool video



Unfortunately, cousin Johnny was sick while we were there. We know he'll have a better time with the kids at the beach this summer!

Oh yeah... that's right.

During our vacation, William started saying a new phrase: "Oh yeah, that's right". We're not talking saying it once or twice, but over and over again. Asking questions that he knew the answer to, just so that he could say again "Oh yeah, that's right". "Daddy, Where's Mommy?". "Upstairs, William". "Oh yeah, that's right". It was very cute and everyone got a big kick out of it.

Today, Mary Grace and I watched Beauty and the Beast (thanks Uncle James...) and we both really enjoyed it. At the end, Mary Grace said she wants to see "Sleeping Beauty", "Little Mermaid", "Aladdin" and "Cinderella"; essentially, all the Disney Princess movies. I got to thinking and wondering if she's deprived since she's 4 and hasn't seen them?

Brothers and Sisters

William, while being a very mischievous little kid is also quite a lover. He enjoys hugging and kissing mommy and daddy and even his sister. He REALLY enjoys kissing his sister... because she dislikes it! Yesterday, after a big hug and kiss from William, Mary Grace got mad and standing there with her tiny index finger pointing at him, she said "William, I don't ever want you to hug or kiss me again!"

His response? More kissing, of course.



This picture was taken at the Phoenix Zoo in front of the Macaw exhibit. Look how you two are holding hands...

Fun with a led light and a slow shutter

Mary Grace swinging the led light while Daddy takes a picture with a 5 second shutter speed.

 

You're in our thoughts and prayers, Sarah

Wishing and praying for a successful surgery and a quick recovery for my niece Sarah, who is having corrective surgery for scoliosis today.

And also wishing for strength and peace for her parents as they support her through the surgery and recovery.

Time for a new Christmas list!

Today, Mary Grace announced that she wanted to write her Christmas list. Mommy's reaction was that Christmas is a long time away, but Daddy remembered that we had almost no idea what to get her, since what she wanted changed on a daily basis! So we encouraged her to start her list... on Google Docs!

Doing her dooty as promised

Mary Grace has been stalling on her potty training for at least 6 months, as the regular readers no doubt know.

Anne set up a deal that Mary Grace would not be provided any more pull-up diapers once she turned 4. In Anne's own words "I will NOT be changing the stinky diaper of a 4 year old". Mary Grace agreed to these terms, and we all waited for that fateful day.

The day after her birthday, she kept her word and went on the potty all by herself. We're so proud of her and how quickly and easily and independently she's doing her dooty now!


Here's Mary Grace and her cousin Emily at Mary Grace's birthday party

Potato Chips

Since this was Superbowl Sunday, we had stocked up the house with all kinds of junk food, including potato chips. Mary Grace LOVES potato chips, and we've tried to get her to eat mashed potatoes using that as leverage, but it didn't work.

Tonight I asked Mary Grace to guess what the ingredients are in potato chips. Her guess, while logical, was a little off. She said: Potatoes, Salt and Chips.

Anne's valiant attempt to get Mary Grace to eat a vegetable

Relayed from a story Anne told me.

Anne was trying to get Mary Grace to try some glazed sweet potatoes that Anne had made for dinner. Mary Grace wasn't interested. So Anne resorted to bribery. "If you eat one bite, you can have anything you want".

Mary Grace replies "Anything? Can you name some things that I could have?"
Anne replies, "Well, a new doll, or a toy from the Strong Museum gift shop, or ..."
"OK! What do I have to do?" asks Mary Grace.
"Just eat some sweet potato".
Here's the kicker: Mary Grace replies "Well, that won't be happening."

William impersonating Mr. Nut Cracker

When we took the Christmas decorations out this year, William was all about the Nut Cracker. He just loved to hold it and make the mouth move. It became his new favorite toy. Then one day, he gave it a voice!



Other things to note. Mary Grace making her breakfast, and William repeatedly slamming the Nut Crackow into the washing machine at the end. He's a boy.

Mary Grace and William dancing.

The kids spontaneously started dancing last week. Luckily we were there to catch it on video!

Daddy the non-blogger.

Santa brings Daddy a new digital camera for Christmas and daddy hasn't blogged any photos since. Naughty daddy. Hope this makes up for the recent lack of photos!

Here are a few from Build-A-Bear. William and Mary Grace each got a Build-A-Bear gift certificate from the Tobins for Christmas. Of course Mary Grace made hers a Cinderella bear, and William's is a Spiderman (but without the mask thank-you-very-much, because the mask makes him scary).




Next, we have William sitting pretty on the pillow with his blankey watching TV. Mommy liked how he had his head propped on his folded hands.


A little wrestling action in the kitchen. It's so fun to see them playing together!



William playing firetruck with his fireman hat on. Great toy, thank you Sarah, Aunt Lori and Uncle Chris!



Sledding at Cobbs Hill Park with Mickey; who "is not at all like Micky Mouse, she's just a normal lady". (quote from Mary Grace this past summer)





Mary Grace's first baby shower. She was a perfectly behaved little angel and she was a great helper, not only bringing presents to her cousin Lindsay, but opening them too! :)

Hoe-dozer

How William says "bulldozer". Maybe he's combining back HOE and Bull DOZER? He woke up this morning and told me a long story about colors and hoedozers and robots. He was just rambling in his half-intelligible speak. It was very cute. I wish I had recorded it.

Mary Grace is off the wagon.

My excitement about Mary Grace's progress was premature. We're back to pullups.

Also, William lately has been running up to mommy and daddy saying "I made a poopy". There's hardly ever actually a poopy, so I had a little talk with him explaining the difference between poopy and peepee... He seemed to get it, but it didn't take.