Conway Week-end Update

This week has been full of yummy birthday leftovers, and on Monday night we had a nice dinner at home with Maggianos carry out and Baskin Robbins ice cream cake. Everyone had lots of fun getting spaghetti all over their faces (though we had to remind Joseph that yes, he does like spaghetti and meatballs) and in typical Conway Family Fashion, Hannah dove right into her plate of cake and gobbled it all down without a thought. Joseph carefully picked off all the candy pieces and ate them, and then said he didn't like the rest and refused to finish. Leah sat there for a while contemplating the cake, and then slowly and carefully dissected it to completion. Joseph had fun opening my presents (which we made sure to explain were presents for Mommy and not for Joseph) and commented on how very really cool my new brown slipper shoes are. Hannah played with the tissue paper while Leah was still making her way through her plate of cake. Jay also brought home gelato, which I tried to save for another time but he was just too excited about his flavor selections. Pistachio (a good old favorite), Tiramisu (which he new I'd like) and then, the surprise flavor. Black Pepper and Olive Oil. Not quite sure how to react to that one are you? I like that he went for something new and daring, but my rating on this one is that these are flavors best had on bread, not gelato. The rest of the week flew by, and yesterday I took Joseph to swim lessons and to Jump Zone with a friend while Jay hung out with the girls and gave them baths (they were squealing with glee in the tub when I got home with a very tired and crabby Joseph. A little too much activity for one morning I suppose). Jay is at the gym playing volleyball now, while Joseph is enjoying his movie pick of the day, Toy Story 3. The girls were watching at first but now they are riding around on their little vehicles and speaking in a language that I am not quite sure I understand. They are actually getting much more verbal, and use the words up, down, more, bear, bunny, cup, shoe, and NO quite a lot. Sometimes there is even a little head shake to accompany the NO. It's a word that all of us are quite familiar with, and Joseph uses it quite a bit with his sisters as well. "Hannah NO" and "Leah NO" are frequently said when he has caught one of them picking up one of the remotes or trying to take his grover. The girls don't say "Joseph NO" yet, but I imagine that is not far off in our future. Perhaps if we found another language that made NO sound a little bit more fun and fresh, we could teach everyone to say that instead. Do you think if I started saying Nashi (Japanese) or Meiyou (Chinese) that I would get more compliance to the word? Doubtful, but perhaps I should consider this for other uses.....