those were the days

Last weekend, that is. Both days were sunny and warm--because the mid-30s counts as a veritable heat wave after months of seemingly endless winter. Liam earned his 15 stickers, so Saturday morning I set out to give him his reward. The boys, Klaudia, and one of her friends piled into my car (a tight fit for the five of us plus two car seats!) and we headed off to Brookfield Zoo.




I'd like to say that the boys were good, but that would be a blatant lie. They fought constantly, threw fits, had meltdowns, and generally made life unpleasant for me. But they had a great time. We saw bears, elephants, rhinos, hippos, a tapir (which got Liam excited because they're featured often on Diego), an alligator and other swamp creatures, lions, tigers, dolphins, and a sea lion. Afterward, we came back to the Hoosier State and visited with my sister, then headed over to my mom's house so the boys could regale her with the wonder of their zoo visit.



Mike, meanwhile, had the day off--a rare commodity lately. He really enjoyed himself doing whatever it is he does when we're not around. I hope the good feeling lasts, because it may be a while before Liam earns another reward. We told him that now he can earn stickers by wearing underwear and staying dry all night. We know he can do it because he's done it once already. When he earns 15 stickers, we'll give him a super prize: a trip to the Indianapolis Children's Museum. And the best part is that we'll make it a special trip just for him (Max will hang out with my mom for the day). So far, he's chosen to wear pull-ups every night and hasn't earned a single sticker toward the goal. Maybe we're pushing too far, too fast?

Oh, and did I mention that our spring-like weather has abruptly ended once again? We got about 8 inches of snow last night, which I spent an hour shoveling this morning. The past few days, the birds have all come back, and I could hear their songs the whole time I was shoveling. Poor birds, tricked by Mother Nature!

family portrait

Liam shows off more of his budding artistic skills:


Meanwhile, Max is still in his abstract period:

could necessity really be the mother of invention?

Liam's been working on earning himself a trip to the zoo. He gets a sticker for every night that he doesn't poop in his pull-up (i.e. uses the toilet the way he's supposed to). He's currently got 14 of the 15 stickers he needs to earn the trip. [Side note: Yeah, it was a brilliant idea to let him pick the venue! The zoo that's only 30 minutes from us doesn't open for the season until March or April, so to keep our promise, we'll have to haul our little family back to Chicago.]

But tonight there was trouble. That's right, he pooped in his pull-up. Not once, but twice. Which caught me on the hop because we only had two pull-ups left. So after I cleaned him up, I put him in one of Max's diapers (a tight squeeze, but it'll do in a "pinch"). Liam immediately commenced sticking his trembling lower lip out as far as it would go (at which time he looked a LOT like Max!), proclaiming, "I'm not a baby anymore! I don't wear diapers!"

So I gave him a choice: wear a diaper, or wear underwear and go all night without wetting or soiling the bed.

Oh, the way his little face lit up! "I can do it, Mommy! I can wear underwear and get up and use the bathroom when I need to! I'm a big boy!"

This, from a boy who informed me not three hours ago that he's tired of being a big boy because it means you have to stop to go to the bathroom all the time. But he's wearing the underwear, so we'll see how it pans out. I asked Liam, "Won't Daddy be surprised when he comes to get you ready in the morning and sees that you're wearing underwear?" What I didn't add was one way or another, he'll be surprised all right. Heh.

Update: He was dry all night! Repeat, he was dry all night. I really didn't think it was possible, but maybe there's an end to pull-ups in sight!

welcome to the circus forticus infirmary

The boys have picked up a nasty virus. Fevers, chills, coughing, runny noses, refusal to eat, the works. The cough part has developed into croup for both of them as well. Over the weekend things seemed manageable, but Monday turned out to be abject misery for Liam, and Max followed hot on his heels by Tuesday. Neither of them would eat, so by Tuesday morning we resorted to serving ice cream for breakfast in a desperate bid to get them to have something. Seriously, have you ever seen a kid look more miserable while eating a bowl of ice cream?


We did take them to the doctor, and luckily they don't have strep or ear infections. If there's a down side to those diagnoses, it's that there's no medicine we can give them to help them feel better. It's just a lot of waiting, humidifying, and over-the-counter cough suppressant. The doctor did suggest that we take them outside because the cold air would be soothing to their coughs and help the swelling in their throats go down. It's really cold out! But Tuesday afternoon, after Liam spent a solid hour coughing (It went something like this: cough, cough, drink the liquid my mom has forced on me, cough, cough, drink.), I decided it was worth a try. On came the snow pants, coats, and assorted winter gear. And guess what? The cure worked, at least for the 15 minutes we were outside. As soon as we came back into the warmish house, the coughing started again.




By Wednesday, fighting had resumed between the boys, so we knew they were on the road to recovery. This morning they seemed fine, if argumentative, so we sent them back off to daycare. We'll see how that goes.

what a pair of heartbreakers!

max discovers a new talent: somersaults!

valentines

happy birthday, loni!

Today Miss Avalon turned 17! And she got her driver's license! (Well, not today, but I just saw it for the first time since she got it Saturday.) And of course, the boys helped her celebrate. After a delicious taco dinner, we had the BEST DQ peanut-butter-cup blizzard ice-cream cake. Yes, really. It was good. As were the boys (check out Liam and Klaudia in their crazy clown wig!), until it got to be an hour or so past bedtime, then the crankiness started. We snuck out while everyone was in the dining room to avoid a full-blown scene, and made it back home with relatively few tantrums. Whew!

uncanny

As the students filed in Tuesday morning to see me instead of their regular teacher, there was a lot of the typical grumble, grumble and rabble, rabble going on. Sidelong looks were cast my way, followed by swift looks at the board where I'd written my name, and then back again. More whispers and looks than usual, despite my pleasant greeting for each of the second graders as they entered the class. Hmm. Finally, one little boy mustered up the courage to speak.

Almost accusingly, he informed me, "You look like one of the third-grade teachers."

Ah. Things were becoming clearer. "Which one?" I asked.

"I don't know her name."

"Are you thinking of Miss P?"

"Yes! That's the one! How did you know that?"

"She's my sister."

In a burst of great timing, said sister poked her head into the classroom and we exchanged greetings: "Good morning, Mrs. F." "Good morning, Miss P." The children looked on in awe, then must have promptly abandoned whatever plans they may have had for mischief, because they were really good the whole day.

Funny, I never thought Bethany and I looked that much alike, but I guess if random second-graders can see it, there must be a resemblance.

return of the ball pit

Did I mention that we took the occasion of Max's birthday as an opportunity to finally get out the dreaded Diego ball pit? The kids loved it, but now we've been finding little plastic balls all over the house, and the boys have started arguing over who gets to fill the top part with balls. Thanks, Mom!

happy, happy

Friday night was birthday eve for Max, and Trivia Night for the adults. We got a little worried because Max was running a fever when we picked him up that night, and we were worried that the poor boy would never have an illness-free birthday. He woke up Saturday running a fever of about 103, but some medicine brought it right down and he seemed like his normal happy self, so all systems were go for the party.

The day was cold but clear, and we had plenty of guests to help us celebrate. For Max, that meant one great-gram, two grandmothers, two great-aunts, one aunt, one uncle, eleven cousins (most technically my cousins, but still), and three friends (Mark, Katie, and Linus). Just the right amount of people to fill the house without it being too crowded. We had brunch, which included some things I'd never tried to make before, notably scones. I think they turned out well, and everyone seemed to get their fill of brunchy goodness.

At the moment of truth, clutching his beloved flashlight, Max seemed to really enjoy everyone singing to him, and with Liam's help he had no trouble blowing out his candles. Afterward, he had plenty of help opening his gifts as well.





It was a fun day, and wonderful to see everyone. Even better, it was worth all the cleaning, cooking, and preparing to be able to watch Max actually enjoy his birthday for the first time. We were all pretty tired by evening, but the boys perked up enough to watch an episode of Dora while sitting in Max's birthday wagon.

happy birthday, kelsey!

Birthday Week got off to a great start last night as the boys and I swam through the fog to Aunt Laura's house to have cake and ice cream for Kelsey's birthday. Some temper-tantrum issues (ahem) nearly prevented us from going, but in the end I'm glad we did. The boys were well-behaved and had a whole different roster of toys to keep their attention. They loved singing "Happy Birthday" to Kelsey (and it's good practice for Saturday!) and, of course, eating the cake and ice cream. It meant a late bedtime, but I think they would say it was worth it. By the way, check out how close Jimmy is to that candle as he "helps" his big sis blow out the candle. I'm not sure how, but he didn't even get singed!

oh yes, i'm crafty

So I mentioned that last week I made some curtains. Well, this weekend I made some things to really tie the playroom together. My mom found some great fabric on her recent Indy quilt-shop adventure, and I repurposed the old brown herringbone curtains that were in the room. Using them (and with much guidance from my mom!) I made a border for the curtains on the back door and covers for the three accent pillows that tie together both wall and couch colors. But that's not all! I also took apart the vintage TV cabinet and replaced the gold acoustic fabric in the speaker compartment with some of the new fabric. AND I covered the light-switch plates with the new fabrics as well. Check it out!

foot snack!

Max is so hungry, he's eating his feet...

out of the mouths of babes

Sunday morning, a cry erupts from the playroom: "Max, I'm tired of cleaning up your messes!"

Nope, it wasn't me. Or Mike. It was Liam, complaining about Max's new habits of breaking crayons and ripping the paper off of his easel.

cooped-up kids

We've all been going a bit stir-crazy lately, waiting for the winter to end. The snow just keeps coming, and it seems like spring never will. At times like these, even a little change of scenery can be a big relief. So Saturday morning, I packed up the kids and we headed to my mom's house, where cousins Kelsey, Emma, Jimmy, and Gracie were already in residence enjoying Loni's babysitting talents. I wish I could say that the kids greeted each other like long-lost...well, cousins...but it didn't quite happen that way. Max had a wonderful time playing with Jimmy, and he got along well with the girls too, but Liam was just having a bad day. He did a lot of yelling, and a lot of crying for no real reason (his newest, most irritating thing is to cover his mouth with both hands and gasp repeatedly as he starts crying, clutching his face as if someone had just punched him in the mouth). I was downstairs trying to work on some projects with my mom (more on that later) and I could tell that Liam was making life rough for the other kids, so I gave him a few chances and then eventually called Mike to come and get them. Oh, well. At least they got out of the house for a few hours!