No, William, 5:00am is not morning-time!

William had a rare bad night last night. Usually he's asleep at 8:30pm and we don't hear a peep from him until the next morning at 7:30ish. So it was very alarming to hear him screaming "Mommy!!!!!!!" with some urgency at 4:30am. Anne went and tended to his needs (he though he saw a bug in his book basket) and came back to bed. Then again at 4:45 with the bug thing, this time in his laundry basket. Dozing off around 5:00am and the screaming resumes! So I got him and brought him into our bed.

Unfortunately, the sun started coming up which in William's mind means it's time to get up. So he laid there restlessly for about 15 minutes before I finally got up with him. Let me remind you that there's not a lot to do at 5:15am. He played some games, drank some milk, then started distracting me (I was trying to do some work remotely)

So I got dressed and we took a trip to Wegmans to get some groceries, then came back and unloaded, then ate a donut. OK... 6:15am. :(

So we went back to the games and some TV and some tinkertoys. That stretched things out until I was finally able to go to work.

Unfortunately for William, today is an action packed Seabreeze with friends day. Anne and I were taking bets on when exactly he would conk out. I predicted before lunch, she said just after. So at about 1:30pm, he started getting really whiney and impatient, followed by a need to "rest" in the stroller, immediately followed my sleep.

Racquetball or Whack-a-mole?

William has always had a hard time saying "whack-a-mole" and I thought it sounded like he was saying racquetball. So whenever he said that word, I would reply with the other word. This has gone on for quite some time now, and now that I'm actually playing racquetball again, it's gone into high-gear.

I overheard Mary Grace say today "Mommy, I love you just as much as you love me." They're both starting to say some really cute things lately. We can tell that William is processing a lot more, then coming up with new things to say. It's so interesting to hear the things that the kids come up with.

First amusement park trip of the year!

We got another season pass at Seabreeze this year and took our inaugural trip there last week. This year is extra special because the kids are tall enough for two new rides; the teacups and a really high airplane ride. We had a great time although we ran out of cash at the end and had to bypass all the games in favor of ice cream!

Daddy and the kids on the teacups.


Mommy and the kids posing pretty

Overnight Trip to Buffalo

This weekend we decided to take a trip to Buffalo and spend the night at a hotel with the kids. It was their first time at a hotel so Anne and I were in full observational mode. They seemed to both do very well with the concept of a bunch of strangers all sleeping in different rooms of the same building.

We checked in and immediately decided sleeping arrangements; Mary Grace wanted daddy and William wanted Mommy. So far so good. Next, we decided to take a dip in the pool. When we got there, we were surprised at how big and nice it was! The shallow end was 3' deep, so the kids required a parent each. They had such a good time in that pool! I don't think either of them stopped smiling ear-to-ear the whole time we were there!

We left the pool to have dinner with my brother's family (yum, thanks guys!), then decided to all go back to the hotel to swim some more! Again, very excited and happy kids, especially since we brought back some pool toys with us.

William and Mary Grace generally are in bed by 8:30, so it was quite a shock that they were still going strong in the pool at 9:30pm! We decided not to push our luck and risk a tantrum and left the pool for our room. William climbed right into bed, he was exhausted. He was asleep by 10. Mary Grace, on the other hand would-not-go-to-sleep. She was up past 11, whining and complaining about this or that, but finally the power of sleep overcame her reluctance.

The next morning, we got dressed and had breakfast at the hotel, then proceeded to our other destinations.

All-in-all, the kids took the whole "not sleeping in their own beds" thing in stride and had an outstanding time in Buffalo. I kept thinking about how much fun it would be to stay at a hotel with a pool in the dead of winter. So hopefully we'll be doing that.

Eating habits

I was thinking about how those two kids eat and wanted to jot down some notes for posterity.

Mary Grace refuses any and all vegetables, except for corn (on the cob and off) and she will open up sugar snap peas and eat the peas inside. She used to eat "ronis" with sauce but now will only eat them with butter. She does eat ravioli with sauce though.

She loves french fries and potato chips but won't eat any other potato (fried/mashed)

William will at least try new things and enjoys broccoli, peas. He tried mashed potatoes the other night and seemed not to hate it too much. I think he had a consistency issue with them. Tonight he tried baked beans. Consistency problem again.

Their agreed favorite food? Mommy's special recipe mac&cheese. Also hot dogs, ham/turkey roll-ups (especially with toothpicks), and believe it or not, they both LOVE Garden Burgers.

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!"

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.