We watched Home Alone tonight for the first time with the girls as we thought they might like another and slightly different holiday movie. How could you go wrong with a kid who is left home alone and pulls pranks on 2 guys trying to rob the house?
We were asked a lot of questions about the movie while watching, one of which was "how could they forget the boy?" We had to explain that there were a lot of people in the house (multiple families) and they woke up late and were rushing to catch a flight so it was easy to forget someone who was asleep in his own room. This is when Taylor shared with us her thoughts on the matter in relation to our own family. She knew that the boy in the movie was the youngest so she clearly was thinking about whether this could happen to us with Avery and clearly she didn't think it was possible.
"We wouldn't get very far without realizing Avery wasn't with us."
Classic. One might think that it was an innocent comment as if we would have never made it to the plane like they did in the movie but we know better. She was speaking to how needy and loud Avery is a lot of the time!
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Friday, September 28, 2012
Sept 2012 Update 1 - Avery
It has been a while since we posted anything so here are some daddy updates...
Avery's vocabulary has exploded recently. Not all of it is used correctly (e.g. "uppy" means put me down) but she is talking non-stop now. It is worth mentioning that I am using the word talking very loosely here. Most of what she says is screamed all the time especially if you don't listen to her right away when she starts talking. It can go a little something like "Daddy, DAddy, DADdy, DADDy, DADDY, DADDY, DADDY" and it doesn't stop until you acknowledge her. It is pretty funny.
As for her words, I know I'll forget some but here is a bit of a list...Daddy, Mommy, Mama, Car, Kodi, LaLa (Taylor), Uppy, Duice (Juice), baby, nigh night, bouk (book), more (naturally), bink (her binky), woa, out, no, no way (her new favorite phrase) and many more.
It should be worth pointing out that I have been trying to get her to say "I love daddy" for months now and it is not going well. The conversation goes a little something like this.
Me: Do you love Daddy?
Avery: shakes her head yes (most of the time but not always)
Me: Say I love you Daddy
Avery: No, no way
Anyway, Taylor was close to two before I got my first "I lul lou" and I will continue the fight with Avery because when she finally caves (and she will) I'll be very happy. Kendel approaches this very differently than I do. She has always waited until I break the baby in with an "I lul lou" and then just says "say I love you Mommy" and she gets a quick response. I like to tell myself that my I lul lous mean more considering I bagger the children for at least 6 months before I finally hear a proper response.
Avery is a little over 1 1/2 now and she is so much fun right now. I do feel she will be the hardest 2-3 year old of the three of them because she is the most stubborn but right now is a lot of fun. One of my favorite things is watching her walk to the bus stop every morning to get Taylor on the bus. She pushes her baby stroller and baby to the bus stop every day. It is very cute. I am really enjoying watching her grow and how much she loves her sisters and how much they love her. It is great to see.
Avery's vocabulary has exploded recently. Not all of it is used correctly (e.g. "uppy" means put me down) but she is talking non-stop now. It is worth mentioning that I am using the word talking very loosely here. Most of what she says is screamed all the time especially if you don't listen to her right away when she starts talking. It can go a little something like "Daddy, DAddy, DADdy, DADDy, DADDY, DADDY, DADDY" and it doesn't stop until you acknowledge her. It is pretty funny.
As for her words, I know I'll forget some but here is a bit of a list...Daddy, Mommy, Mama, Car, Kodi, LaLa (Taylor), Uppy, Duice (Juice), baby, nigh night, bouk (book), more (naturally), bink (her binky), woa, out, no, no way (her new favorite phrase) and many more.
It should be worth pointing out that I have been trying to get her to say "I love daddy" for months now and it is not going well. The conversation goes a little something like this.
Me: Do you love Daddy?
Avery: shakes her head yes (most of the time but not always)
Me: Say I love you Daddy
Avery: No, no way
Anyway, Taylor was close to two before I got my first "I lul lou" and I will continue the fight with Avery because when she finally caves (and she will) I'll be very happy. Kendel approaches this very differently than I do. She has always waited until I break the baby in with an "I lul lou" and then just says "say I love you Mommy" and she gets a quick response. I like to tell myself that my I lul lous mean more considering I bagger the children for at least 6 months before I finally hear a proper response.
Avery is a little over 1 1/2 now and she is so much fun right now. I do feel she will be the hardest 2-3 year old of the three of them because she is the most stubborn but right now is a lot of fun. One of my favorite things is watching her walk to the bus stop every morning to get Taylor on the bus. She pushes her baby stroller and baby to the bus stop every day. It is very cute. I am really enjoying watching her grow and how much she loves her sisters and how much they love her. It is great to see.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Do you need a Q-tip
So much of life with kids happens by surprise. What I mean by this is that you can walk into a room and see something you were never expecting to see. On the particular day in question, all I had to do was open the shower door and I saw something I never expected to see.
Kendel was out running errands and left me home alone with Taylor who was 1 1/2 at the time. Erin was not yet with us although she due to arrive in a couple of months so technically, she was out with Kendel.
I had locked Taylor and I in the master bedroom while I wanted to take a quick shower which gave Taylor only two rooms to entertain herself but also, and more importantly, limited the damage that she could do while I was showering. I was in the shower for about 5-10 minutes and I could see Taylor on the other side of the door sitting on the floor which I thought was great because she was quietly playing with one of her toys and I didn't need to worry about what she was up to in the other room. The flaw in my thinking was that although we have a glass door, it is a glazed door and you cannot really see what someone is doing on the other side of it. You really only know that they are there.
When I opened the door to grab my towel, what I saw was so amazing and surprising that I immediately went downstairs to grab the camera pretty much still soaking wet because I didn't want to miss the photo opportunity. Luckily, Taylor stayed on the floor playing with her "toys" while I went downstairs so I could take this masterpiece of a photo for record keeping.
Enjoy.
Kendel was out running errands and left me home alone with Taylor who was 1 1/2 at the time. Erin was not yet with us although she due to arrive in a couple of months so technically, she was out with Kendel.
I had locked Taylor and I in the master bedroom while I wanted to take a quick shower which gave Taylor only two rooms to entertain herself but also, and more importantly, limited the damage that she could do while I was showering. I was in the shower for about 5-10 minutes and I could see Taylor on the other side of the door sitting on the floor which I thought was great because she was quietly playing with one of her toys and I didn't need to worry about what she was up to in the other room. The flaw in my thinking was that although we have a glass door, it is a glazed door and you cannot really see what someone is doing on the other side of it. You really only know that they are there.
When I opened the door to grab my towel, what I saw was so amazing and surprising that I immediately went downstairs to grab the camera pretty much still soaking wet because I didn't want to miss the photo opportunity. Luckily, Taylor stayed on the floor playing with her "toys" while I went downstairs so I could take this masterpiece of a photo for record keeping.
Enjoy.
I love the look on her face. It is as if to say, "what, is there a problem?" I have plenty of other photos like this with Taylor that I will post later to add to this story. She has always been quite mischievous!
Towel over the head
This story happened a long time ago and to be honest, I can't remember exactly when it happened but it was definitely when Erin was walking/running and I need to write about it because it was very funny. It was definitely in the early days of the walking/running which probably puts us in the spring of 2009.
And off we go.
Erin has always been more of a goofball than Taylor and has a tendency to put things on her head which is no real surprise for a kid to be doing. The problem sometimes lies when by putting something on your head, you lose you ability to see anything and then try to do something.
One night I was in the kitchen by the fridge getting something to eat and Erin was near me but more towards the hallway so she was on the other side of the island. She had a towel in her hands. Kendel and Taylor were in the other room on the couch watching some TV. Erin was in a very goofy mood and kept putting the towel on her head and taking it off and laughing. She might have been playing peek-a-boo with me or something but that detail escapes me and isn't really important anyway.
As I was getting something out of the fridge and not paying attention to Erin for a couple of seconds she put the towel back on her head but this time decided to run as fast as her little legs would carry her. Did I mention she had a towel on her head which completely covered her face? She was headed into the TV room but the only problem was she was a little off course. If going into the TV room meant she needed to proceed on a straight line, she was headed about 15 degrees off that line to the right. Problem number 2 was that she was breaking land speed records. There was no way for me to catch up with her by the time I realized what was about to happen. The only thing I could do was either to wager on whether she would hit the table or the half wall entering the room and start to warm up the car for the trip to the emergency room.
I did all I could to prevent what was about to happen with the only action that I could take and screamed "ERIN, NOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo". You need to picture this like in the movies and in slow motion because that was what I felt like at the time.
My actions were of no help. Erin ran straight into the wall at full speed which I estimate was 65 mph. It was fast.
The aftermath is a blur. There was some screaming, crying, praying, asking "why me?" and that was just from me. Actually, I honestly don't remember the aftermath but much like whether Erin was playing Peek-a-boo with me or not, it is irrelevant to the story. She was ok after some crying on Mommy's shoulder and no trip to the emergency room was needed. The towel required stitches but was ok after a couple of weeks and some rehab.
As for me, I will never forget seeing her run across the kitchen and straight into a wall. It is one of the funniest things I have ever seen and I can say that now looking back on it :-) At the time it wasn't so funny but the events of that night have helped me realize that as an adult, you can never understand the thought process of a 1 year old or any child of any age for that matter.
And off we go.
Erin has always been more of a goofball than Taylor and has a tendency to put things on her head which is no real surprise for a kid to be doing. The problem sometimes lies when by putting something on your head, you lose you ability to see anything and then try to do something.
One night I was in the kitchen by the fridge getting something to eat and Erin was near me but more towards the hallway so she was on the other side of the island. She had a towel in her hands. Kendel and Taylor were in the other room on the couch watching some TV. Erin was in a very goofy mood and kept putting the towel on her head and taking it off and laughing. She might have been playing peek-a-boo with me or something but that detail escapes me and isn't really important anyway.
As I was getting something out of the fridge and not paying attention to Erin for a couple of seconds she put the towel back on her head but this time decided to run as fast as her little legs would carry her. Did I mention she had a towel on her head which completely covered her face? She was headed into the TV room but the only problem was she was a little off course. If going into the TV room meant she needed to proceed on a straight line, she was headed about 15 degrees off that line to the right. Problem number 2 was that she was breaking land speed records. There was no way for me to catch up with her by the time I realized what was about to happen. The only thing I could do was either to wager on whether she would hit the table or the half wall entering the room and start to warm up the car for the trip to the emergency room.
I did all I could to prevent what was about to happen with the only action that I could take and screamed "ERIN, NOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo". You need to picture this like in the movies and in slow motion because that was what I felt like at the time.
My actions were of no help. Erin ran straight into the wall at full speed which I estimate was 65 mph. It was fast.
The aftermath is a blur. There was some screaming, crying, praying, asking "why me?" and that was just from me. Actually, I honestly don't remember the aftermath but much like whether Erin was playing Peek-a-boo with me or not, it is irrelevant to the story. She was ok after some crying on Mommy's shoulder and no trip to the emergency room was needed. The towel required stitches but was ok after a couple of weeks and some rehab.
As for me, I will never forget seeing her run across the kitchen and straight into a wall. It is one of the funniest things I have ever seen and I can say that now looking back on it :-) At the time it wasn't so funny but the events of that night have helped me realize that as an adult, you can never understand the thought process of a 1 year old or any child of any age for that matter.
Girls Night
Oh where to begin.
Taylor, for some time now, has been spending "girls nights" in Mommy and Daddy's bed on the weekends. I am not sure how this got started but things like this usually happen when the girls are sick, sad, scared or something to that effect and then they don't want to be in their own beds. Anyway, Taylor loves her girls nights and looks forward to it all week. She actually starts asking for it on Monday and every night of the week until the weekend arrives. I have tried to teach her the concept of time in terms she understand like "Girls night will not be here until you go to school twice this week and you haven't gone yet." This approach doesn't really work as I still get the question every night although she is understanding it better now.
The reason that they are called girls nights is because Taylor goes into our bed and watches "Sprout" (a kids channel with terrible shows she loves) and then Kendel goes up later while Taylor is still awake. By the time Daddy comes to bed, Taylor is asleep so the fact that she never sees me means that it is a girls night. I have another names for this night too. It is called Daddy time where I get to veg on the couch and watch whatever I want so I love girls night as much as she does! However, Taylor eventually starting telling Kendel not to come up so girls night turned into girl night which has subsequently affected Daddy time.
Erin never gets a girls night for a number of reasons. First of all, I don't think Taylor would allow it as she sleeps with her door open and would never stay in her room while Erin was in our bed watching TV. I can visualize the tantrum already. Another issue with Erin is that she is a very strange sleeper. We have a video monitor in her room and enjoy watching the party that she will have until 11pm at night or later sometimes. The 2 or 3 times that we have had her in our bed since she was born and in her own room have resulted in massive parties and little sleeping as she bounces around the bed. The only other option would be that girls night would be Taylor and Erin in our bed but that would involve very little sleeping and therefore very cranky kids the next day so that is not an option either.
So, right now, Taylor is the only one getting girls nights. What is funny to watch though is that we tell her she is not allowed to tease Erin about it or really talk about it in front of her. Have you ever seen a 4 year old try to keep a secret? She will whisper to me as we are getting ready for bed upstairs, "Erin is going to go into her crib and then I am going to go into Mommy and Daddy's room for a girls night but shush, we can't tell Erin". The only problem with a 4 year olds whispers at times is that the neighbors can here them. On a side note, Mommy and Daddy's room used to be called "Mommy and Scaddy's room" for a long time. I used to laugh because it made me feel like I was a disease or something.
This brings me to today.
Lately, Taylor feels Girls Nights should be every night. This happened the other night for the first time when Kendel was out enjoying a dinner/movie or enjoying it as much as a 37 week pregnant woman enjoys anything. I was putting the girls to bed and Taylor was insisting it was Girls Night on a Tuesday. All of this was because the prior week she got a Girls Night on a Thursday for some reason I can't remember. All I know is Kendel is to blame for this issue. She allowed Taylor to pick 2 or the 3 days from Thursday to Saturday and Taylor chose Thursday and Friday. Since then when I say Girls Night is not until the weekend, she replies "but it wasn't last week." Kendel got to have this argument for the first time last night and I think realized the monster she created. :-) I think we have weathered the storm but we will see what tonight brings.
Taylor, for some time now, has been spending "girls nights" in Mommy and Daddy's bed on the weekends. I am not sure how this got started but things like this usually happen when the girls are sick, sad, scared or something to that effect and then they don't want to be in their own beds. Anyway, Taylor loves her girls nights and looks forward to it all week. She actually starts asking for it on Monday and every night of the week until the weekend arrives. I have tried to teach her the concept of time in terms she understand like "Girls night will not be here until you go to school twice this week and you haven't gone yet." This approach doesn't really work as I still get the question every night although she is understanding it better now.
The reason that they are called girls nights is because Taylor goes into our bed and watches "Sprout" (a kids channel with terrible shows she loves) and then Kendel goes up later while Taylor is still awake. By the time Daddy comes to bed, Taylor is asleep so the fact that she never sees me means that it is a girls night. I have another names for this night too. It is called Daddy time where I get to veg on the couch and watch whatever I want so I love girls night as much as she does! However, Taylor eventually starting telling Kendel not to come up so girls night turned into girl night which has subsequently affected Daddy time.
Erin never gets a girls night for a number of reasons. First of all, I don't think Taylor would allow it as she sleeps with her door open and would never stay in her room while Erin was in our bed watching TV. I can visualize the tantrum already. Another issue with Erin is that she is a very strange sleeper. We have a video monitor in her room and enjoy watching the party that she will have until 11pm at night or later sometimes. The 2 or 3 times that we have had her in our bed since she was born and in her own room have resulted in massive parties and little sleeping as she bounces around the bed. The only other option would be that girls night would be Taylor and Erin in our bed but that would involve very little sleeping and therefore very cranky kids the next day so that is not an option either.
So, right now, Taylor is the only one getting girls nights. What is funny to watch though is that we tell her she is not allowed to tease Erin about it or really talk about it in front of her. Have you ever seen a 4 year old try to keep a secret? She will whisper to me as we are getting ready for bed upstairs, "Erin is going to go into her crib and then I am going to go into Mommy and Daddy's room for a girls night but shush, we can't tell Erin". The only problem with a 4 year olds whispers at times is that the neighbors can here them. On a side note, Mommy and Daddy's room used to be called "Mommy and Scaddy's room" for a long time. I used to laugh because it made me feel like I was a disease or something.
This brings me to today.
Lately, Taylor feels Girls Nights should be every night. This happened the other night for the first time when Kendel was out enjoying a dinner/movie or enjoying it as much as a 37 week pregnant woman enjoys anything. I was putting the girls to bed and Taylor was insisting it was Girls Night on a Tuesday. All of this was because the prior week she got a Girls Night on a Thursday for some reason I can't remember. All I know is Kendel is to blame for this issue. She allowed Taylor to pick 2 or the 3 days from Thursday to Saturday and Taylor chose Thursday and Friday. Since then when I say Girls Night is not until the weekend, she replies "but it wasn't last week." Kendel got to have this argument for the first time last night and I think realized the monster she created. :-) I think we have weathered the storm but we will see what tonight brings.
Monday, December 6, 2010
You're not my Bes Fwiend
Life with 2 girls has been very entertaining. It has been very interesting seeing where the girls are very similar and where you might think they came from different parents in different parts of the world. A great example of this is their approach to confrontation which happens quite often at this age and some days, it seems to happen almost every 5 minutes.
When Taylor gets upset with Erin, she usually runs to mommy or daddy and rats out Erin for whatever she has done which usually involves taking something that Taylor was playing with or sometimes just thought about playing with. The best days are when they start fighting over stuff they thought about playing with but were not actually in physical possession because when that starts to happen, the day usually goes downhill pretty quickly. The only hope for days like that is nap time or bedtime!
Anyway, Erin has a very different approach to confrontation. It usually involves her going up to Taylor and hitting her in the head and is often followed by "Tawa, you're not my bes fwiend". I think she would give Mike Tyson a run for his money. Anyway, if you follow the logic of Taylor's approach to confrontation, she usually takes the hit to the head and then comes and tells mommy or daddy. God help us when she realizes she is bigger than Erin and hits her back!
With all that said, the girls get along great most of the time and like normal siblings, they have their moments. And, for the record, Erin has told me that she is not my bes fwiend a few times as well. My favorite example of this was at the dinner table one night when it was just the two of us. I had asked her to sit in her seat to eat and I was just about to sit myself when she lowered her head, extended out her lower lip, started crying, said she was not my bes fwiend and proceeded to run out of the kitchen and go upstairs. I was dumbfounded and quite entertained at the same time. That was one I wish I had on video :-)
When Taylor gets upset with Erin, she usually runs to mommy or daddy and rats out Erin for whatever she has done which usually involves taking something that Taylor was playing with or sometimes just thought about playing with. The best days are when they start fighting over stuff they thought about playing with but were not actually in physical possession because when that starts to happen, the day usually goes downhill pretty quickly. The only hope for days like that is nap time or bedtime!
Anyway, Erin has a very different approach to confrontation. It usually involves her going up to Taylor and hitting her in the head and is often followed by "Tawa, you're not my bes fwiend". I think she would give Mike Tyson a run for his money. Anyway, if you follow the logic of Taylor's approach to confrontation, she usually takes the hit to the head and then comes and tells mommy or daddy. God help us when she realizes she is bigger than Erin and hits her back!
With all that said, the girls get along great most of the time and like normal siblings, they have their moments. And, for the record, Erin has told me that she is not my bes fwiend a few times as well. My favorite example of this was at the dinner table one night when it was just the two of us. I had asked her to sit in her seat to eat and I was just about to sit myself when she lowered her head, extended out her lower lip, started crying, said she was not my bes fwiend and proceeded to run out of the kitchen and go upstairs. I was dumbfounded and quite entertained at the same time. That was one I wish I had on video :-)
Santa Update
So Kendel is out tonight and I was giving the kids a bath and thinking about the Santa debacle the other day so I figured I would talk to Taylor about what happened and more importantly what she is thinking about what we do next. Here is a brief rundown of the conversation:
Me: "Taylor, when are we going to see Santa again?"
Taylor: "Um, maybe before my birthday."
Me: (trying not to laugh and wondering if she realizes her birthday is not for another 5 months) "Are you going to sit on his lap or in the chair next to him?"
Taylor: "Um, I'll stand in front of him"
Oh boy.
It ought to be a good negotiation from here on out as I try to wear her down and convince her that sitting with Santa is a good thing. However, I realize that even if I get her to agree to sitting in the seat or on the lap from at home, it will be a different story once we are standing in that line again.
I am not sure I am even going to bother with Erin unless she starts to talk about Santa herself. I think she is a lost cause given that she saw the pictures from the previous post and had some choice words for Santa.
This is still my favorite season by far though as they are so much fun to watch. It is the first time that they have really been in to Santa even it it means as long as they don't have to talk to him or sit anywhere near him.
Me: "Taylor, when are we going to see Santa again?"
Taylor: "Um, maybe before my birthday."
Me: (trying not to laugh and wondering if she realizes her birthday is not for another 5 months) "Are you going to sit on his lap or in the chair next to him?"
Taylor: "Um, I'll stand in front of him"
Oh boy.
It ought to be a good negotiation from here on out as I try to wear her down and convince her that sitting with Santa is a good thing. However, I realize that even if I get her to agree to sitting in the seat or on the lap from at home, it will be a different story once we are standing in that line again.
I am not sure I am even going to bother with Erin unless she starts to talk about Santa herself. I think she is a lost cause given that she saw the pictures from the previous post and had some choice words for Santa.
This is still my favorite season by far though as they are so much fun to watch. It is the first time that they have really been in to Santa even it it means as long as they don't have to talk to him or sit anywhere near him.
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