Hide and Seek with a Sneeze

Joseph now thinks that when you hide for hide and seek, you say "Ah Choo" so that the person who is seeking can find you. (Uncle Patrick used this technique to lead Joseph in the right direction after many minutes of seeking, so Joseph naturally thought he should do the same for Uncle Patrick) Joseph also thinks the best way to hide is to find a random spot and cover up with a blanket, even if the blanket doesn't cover your legs. He is such a funny little man. This morning he saw that the girls had opened one of the kitchen cabinets and taken out some pots and cups, and said "Daddy look at this mess. Who did this?" After we told them it was Hannah and Leah he asked "Is that naughty?" He tries so hard to be a big boy. And today he is going to try very hard to be good at school. Which means listening to his teachers, not screaming, and as he added, no poking anyone in the eyeballs or picking your nose.

Disturbing Oddly Cute Random Things

• Joseph can open doors, including the one on the refrigerator
• Hannah and Leah think that clumps of dog hair are a delightful snack
• Joseph crumpled a picture I gave him because he said I didn't listen to him
• Leah now wakes up to the sound of footsteps in or near her room
• Hannah puts her hand up to tell you "stop" when feeding her something she doesn't like
• Hannah and Leah can eat an entire can of peas in one sitting
• Joseph sometimes tells me he's "just sweaty" when he's clearly peed his bed
• Leah frequently bruises her head by ramming it into random objects while crawling
• Hannah rips her bib off like the incredible hulk if she's not in the mood to wear it
• Joseph will only wear his beat up raggity sandals and is not interested in switching to gym shoes (though he could easily be convinced to wear his rain boots instead)

I'm limiting this to the kids. Though I'm sure there are many disturbing oddly cute random things to say about Jay and I as well.

Ode to Dad

Jay is in India for work until Friday, but before he left we had a brief photo opp with the kids. He called us in the morning one day before work and the phone was on speaker while he talked to Joseph. The girls came flying over to the coffee table (their fast crawl) and started jibber jabbering in excitement (may have even heard a few sounds resembling da da). Jay always likes to tell Joseph at the end of each call to "listen to mommy" and "be good". I'm sure it has some effect. I mean just think how terrible things could be if he didn't say that. :)

Frenetic Fun from the Weekend

The word frenetic was used in a communication at work, which I still find amusing. I suppose that would describe our pace from last weekend. Joseph had fun playing outside Friday night with a friend, Saturday morning we went to the Children's Museum with another friend, I think we played outside again Saturday after nap, and then Sunday morning was State Fair, and then after nap Jay took Joseph to the pool, and THEN Sunday night for dinner Joseph got to go out to dinner with his cousins. Is that frenetic? If not it is at least a very long run on sentence. (and should I be concerned that I am not quite sure what we did on Saturday evening?) I am a bit wordy. Chatty even in written form. And apparently my short term memory not quite so sharp. Good thing we take a lot of pictures.

Couch Comber

What do you call a vertical Hannah moving from one end of the couch to the other using her hands? (other than CRAZY?!?!?)

Our Cow at State Fair

I don't know how this cow became the symbol of the Wisconsin State Fair for us, but we now feel as though we have to go each year just so we can capture this moment. Though if it had been as hot and humid as it had been all week, I think I would have been ok with skipping a year. But this morning was perfect, so we packed everyone up and headed out in search of food on a stick and our first trip down the slide. Jay and Joseph went down together and it was of course a big hit. We enjoyed the usual cream puff, I tried out the fried pb&j on a stick (positively delightful), Jay had the more traditional deep fried snickers (which amazingly we'd never had before), and Joseph decided that he wanted some fruit. Thankfully I recalled seeing a fruit stand amongst the sea of fried foods and beer stands. And would you believe he even drank half a glass of chocolate milk? (we're lucky if he drinks that much milk in a week, hence the "gummy bears" at breakfast each morning.) We left the grounds right around lunchtime just as the people watching was starting to get more amusing. I should have worn my darker sunglasses.

The Usual

The usual scenes at our house on any given weekend. At ten months old the girls are quite interested in anything that Joseph is doing, or at eye level. They have loads of fun in the basement which is quite timely, as football season is approaching. Hannah's first tooth is coming in along the bottom as of a few days ago, and it would appear that both girls are getting ready to do sideways walking while holding on to things. They are just about ready to shimmy their way around the coffee table. (remotes have all been stowed away in secure locations) I'm sure many puzzle pieces will fall victim to the land of the lost (where many socks, earrings, pacifiers, and even a pair of black stretch pants and a slipper have wandered off to).

The Face

This is the face. Kind of hard not to laugh when you see it. But when there is screaming, look out. (or more importantly, plug your ears and ask for SERENITY NOW!). This morning, Joseph screamed almost the entire way to daycare, and had it not been for the policeman behind the van he probably would have made it the entire way. (He became very quiet when Jay told him there was a cop behind them that could probably hear him screaming. He knows cops go after the bad guys. And even he knew that he was being bad). I assume he had a relatively good day at school, but horror of horrors in an unprecedented move, he decided not to take his nap. Which brings us to tonight, ahhhhh tonight. Let's see what was more fun, when he screamed bloody murder after having his plate refilled with broccoli (the first serving was somehow fed to the dog) or when he went completely bonkers in his bedroom after not being allowed to play outside with his friend (after having yet another round of the game we like to play called "not listening")? (I would have preferred Chutes and Ladders.) He and Grover are sleeping quietly. (And bunny, and shark, and Yurtle, and nightlight) I am enjoying the silence and looking forward to everyone being happy in the morning (ok well maybe I don't wake up overflowing with jolliness and sunshine but fortunately everyone else in the house usually does).

Double Trouble

One morning while Jay was on his way down the stairs with Joseph this is what the girls were doing! They are quick to spring to action when a door opens or an opportunity appears. This morning when we put Rosco's food bowl down, after he had started eating Leah crawled her way in front of him and grabbed a few morsels. I reached her just before they made it into her mouth. I am speed. Kachow!

I Have a Good Idea

Joseph has been sounding more like Jay and I this week, telling us all about the "good ideas" he has, and commending us on our manners (the other day Jay said please and Joseph responded with "good job Daddy I like your manners") Tonight his good idea was to finish his puzzle, take a bath, and read three books. We were short on time since we had fun grilling burgers after the girls went to bed, and then having dinner together with the little man, so we compromised on just the puzzle and bath. But Joseph was being so good that we ended with a "bonus book" (amazing how special something sounds when you put the word bonus in front of it). I think he was even convinced tonight to give some of the board books to his sisters (of course with the reward that he could go pick out a few new ones.) We'll see if he remembers that this weekend! His memory is pretty impressive at times. The other day he told Jay that he was three. And then he would be four, and then he would be five, and then he could go on the big kid playground at the zoo. (he was recalling our explanation from 10 days ago when we were there!) Now if only we could get him to understand that yesterday is not last year, and later is still today.