Monday, November 21, 2011
Almost Thanksgiving, Really?
I can’t believe we’re approaching Thanksgiving this week. Time is just flying by. Did I mention Brett has gained 4 lbs since his surgery?! Here are some pictures and quotes from the kids!
Brett: ‘C’mon Mom! We don’t have all day!’
Brett has to ask Daddy every night ‘What did you have for breakfast and lunch?’ and ‘Did you see Terry?’ He forgot one time when Rob went to wrestling and it bothered Brett until Daddy came back.
Brett was getting a little too concerned with what Bailey was doing. I told him, ‘You worry about you and I’ll worry about Bailey’. His response, ‘Fine and then I’ll worry about you Mommy’
Every once in a while Brett will decide to not nap. One day I went to check on him after I heard some running around. When I got to the top of the stairs Brett said his face was bothering him…it was covered in white. I said, ‘Probably because you put Destin on your face…which is supposed to be for your bottom’
During prayers one night Bailey said she was ‘Thankful for her pink pants’. The girl loves pink.
To expand, for a couple months I was concerned because Bailey refused to acknowledge any other color. She said everything was pink!
Bailey was playing dolls, she tried to saw off poor baby Emma’s face with a Handy Manny tool.
Bailey pretended to be Brett after he was in timeout. She very dramatically pouted and then threw herself on the couch.
I asked Bailey if she was ‘Mama’s girl’. She said ‘no, papa from Ohio’s girl.’
Bailey still loves to sing songs…for a month it was Happy Birthday to Uncle PatPat now it is Old McDonald had a farm.
Brett announced one day that ‘Uncle Pat Pat probably likes Chucky Cheese, you know the mouse who has games’. I said he was probably right.
Kids love picking out shapes in their food during meals. Brett typically finds a boat or a truck out of his sandwich and Bailey almost always magically finds a Cinderella.
Bailey told me to ‘Be quiet, my baby Emma is sleeping!’
While cleaning up from lunch, I told Grace that we weren’t going to get more toys out because we were going to read books and head up for nap. She said ‘Ok, Don’t’ worry Kelli!’
Brett and Bailey (and now Grace and Colin) yell ‘Go Buckeyes!’, then immediately yell ‘Go Blue!’ just to tease me. Unfortunately Grace has taken this home and her family is wondering why she is cheering for Ohio State and Michigan instead of the Bears!
One of these days when Brett was yelling Go Michigan repeatedly…he said we needed to call Daddy to tell him. I said ‘No, I will not comply with such a silly request’. Brett then told me that I was being ridiculous. Because of his nice vocabulary usage, we called daddy.
Brett said ‘maybe when I’m older, I can do the t.v. remote!’
I told Brett we were out of cookies. He asked ‘did Daddy eat all of them?!’ I said, ‘yep’. He said ‘we forgot to hide them AGAIN!’
Occasionally I take all 4 kids to the grocery store in the quad stroller. The stroller just barely fits through the door; it typically takes a few attempts to line them up. I always tell them to keep their hands in so they don’t get pinched by the door frame. Bailey has internalized this as ‘arms up’, and every time we go through the doors. So literally any time I enter or leave the local Jewel, Bailey looks at me and throws her hands up over her head like she’s riding a roller coaster.
Bailey has become very dramatic; she often insists that you need to carry her to the hospital so she can see her doctor.
Brett is loud. All the time. I routinely ask him to use his inside voice or to make the ‘truck softer’. He told me one day that the truck doesn’t want to. I said ‘oh well the truck listens to me and mommy says to be quieter’. Without hesitation, he said ‘no the truck listens to me and he wants to be loud.’
The kids were playing while I was finishing up dinner. All the sudden Brett tells me Bailey has a bucket on her head and they couldn’t get it off…after many attempts, I was also unsuccessful. Thankfully our neighbors were home and had metal clippers strong enough to cut it off. When they answered the door I handed Bailey over and said help please. The husband doesn’t speak English that well and apparently thought I meant to cut her hair off. I’m glad we cleared it up before our little Bailey got a buzz cut.
The next day, Bailey was trying to climb the stove and the stove opened, sending her crashing to the floor. Nancy keeps saying, Bailey’s the one we’re going to have to watch out for!
We've been working on manners. Now that they can all express their ‘wants’ and do so with repeatedly with volume, I often remind the kids that they have to be patient. They use to yell ‘I want milk! Get my milk! Milk Milk Milk!’…mind you this is times 4 little munchkins. One day after my efforts, they said...'look I'm being SO patient for my milk' then this was repeated until they received their cup. It’s slightly passive aggressive, but it’s progress!
In discussion of patience, I told Brett I can only do 1 thing at a time. He said, ‘Ok but you have 2 hands…’. Well played sir.
Brett has become fascinated with heros (Captain America, Batman, Spiderman, etc) he told me ‘I don’t fight with other kids, I fight with bad guys!’
Bailey has become fascinated with wallets…more than once, she has pulled my wallet out of my bag and try to get money and ‘coupons’ (i.e. credit cards) out. I’m mysteriously missing some cash…we have yet to find.
Bailey dropped her cup and it fell right on Colin’s head. Rightfully so, he was upset and not pleased with her. When trying to apologize, Colin was turning away. Bailey said, ‘Colin, look at me…turn your head around’ When that didn’t work, ‘Colin, you LOVE me’
Brett asked me one morning, ‘Am I Tebowing?’ apparently he was watching ESPN the night before with Daddy.
Brett: ‘C’mon Mom! We don’t have all day!’
Brett has to ask Daddy every night ‘What did you have for breakfast and lunch?’ and ‘Did you see Terry?’ He forgot one time when Rob went to wrestling and it bothered Brett until Daddy came back.
Brett was getting a little too concerned with what Bailey was doing. I told him, ‘You worry about you and I’ll worry about Bailey’. His response, ‘Fine and then I’ll worry about you Mommy’
Every once in a while Brett will decide to not nap. One day I went to check on him after I heard some running around. When I got to the top of the stairs Brett said his face was bothering him…it was covered in white. I said, ‘Probably because you put Destin on your face…which is supposed to be for your bottom’
During prayers one night Bailey said she was ‘Thankful for her pink pants’. The girl loves pink.
To expand, for a couple months I was concerned because Bailey refused to acknowledge any other color. She said everything was pink!
Bailey was playing dolls, she tried to saw off poor baby Emma’s face with a Handy Manny tool.
Bailey pretended to be Brett after he was in timeout. She very dramatically pouted and then threw herself on the couch.
I asked Bailey if she was ‘Mama’s girl’. She said ‘no, papa from Ohio’s girl.’
Bailey still loves to sing songs…for a month it was Happy Birthday to Uncle PatPat now it is Old McDonald had a farm.
Brett announced one day that ‘Uncle Pat Pat probably likes Chucky Cheese, you know the mouse who has games’. I said he was probably right.
Kids love picking out shapes in their food during meals. Brett typically finds a boat or a truck out of his sandwich and Bailey almost always magically finds a Cinderella.
Bailey told me to ‘Be quiet, my baby Emma is sleeping!’
While cleaning up from lunch, I told Grace that we weren’t going to get more toys out because we were going to read books and head up for nap. She said ‘Ok, Don’t’ worry Kelli!’
Brett and Bailey (and now Grace and Colin) yell ‘Go Buckeyes!’, then immediately yell ‘Go Blue!’ just to tease me. Unfortunately Grace has taken this home and her family is wondering why she is cheering for Ohio State and Michigan instead of the Bears!
One of these days when Brett was yelling Go Michigan repeatedly…he said we needed to call Daddy to tell him. I said ‘No, I will not comply with such a silly request’. Brett then told me that I was being ridiculous. Because of his nice vocabulary usage, we called daddy.
Brett said ‘maybe when I’m older, I can do the t.v. remote!’
I told Brett we were out of cookies. He asked ‘did Daddy eat all of them?!’ I said, ‘yep’. He said ‘we forgot to hide them AGAIN!’
Occasionally I take all 4 kids to the grocery store in the quad stroller. The stroller just barely fits through the door; it typically takes a few attempts to line them up. I always tell them to keep their hands in so they don’t get pinched by the door frame. Bailey has internalized this as ‘arms up’, and every time we go through the doors. So literally any time I enter or leave the local Jewel, Bailey looks at me and throws her hands up over her head like she’s riding a roller coaster.
Bailey has become very dramatic; she often insists that you need to carry her to the hospital so she can see her doctor.
Brett is loud. All the time. I routinely ask him to use his inside voice or to make the ‘truck softer’. He told me one day that the truck doesn’t want to. I said ‘oh well the truck listens to me and mommy says to be quieter’. Without hesitation, he said ‘no the truck listens to me and he wants to be loud.’
The kids were playing while I was finishing up dinner. All the sudden Brett tells me Bailey has a bucket on her head and they couldn’t get it off…after many attempts, I was also unsuccessful. Thankfully our neighbors were home and had metal clippers strong enough to cut it off. When they answered the door I handed Bailey over and said help please. The husband doesn’t speak English that well and apparently thought I meant to cut her hair off. I’m glad we cleared it up before our little Bailey got a buzz cut.
The next day, Bailey was trying to climb the stove and the stove opened, sending her crashing to the floor. Nancy keeps saying, Bailey’s the one we’re going to have to watch out for!
We've been working on manners. Now that they can all express their ‘wants’ and do so with repeatedly with volume, I often remind the kids that they have to be patient. They use to yell ‘I want milk! Get my milk! Milk Milk Milk!’…mind you this is times 4 little munchkins. One day after my efforts, they said...'look I'm being SO patient for my milk' then this was repeated until they received their cup. It’s slightly passive aggressive, but it’s progress!
In discussion of patience, I told Brett I can only do 1 thing at a time. He said, ‘Ok but you have 2 hands…’. Well played sir.
Brett has become fascinated with heros (Captain America, Batman, Spiderman, etc) he told me ‘I don’t fight with other kids, I fight with bad guys!’
Bailey has become fascinated with wallets…more than once, she has pulled my wallet out of my bag and try to get money and ‘coupons’ (i.e. credit cards) out. I’m mysteriously missing some cash…we have yet to find.
Bailey dropped her cup and it fell right on Colin’s head. Rightfully so, he was upset and not pleased with her. When trying to apologize, Colin was turning away. Bailey said, ‘Colin, look at me…turn your head around’ When that didn’t work, ‘Colin, you LOVE me’
Brett asked me one morning, ‘Am I Tebowing?’ apparently he was watching ESPN the night before with Daddy.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Monday, October 10, 2011
FALLing behind
As Rob will be the first to point out, I’m slightly delayed in updating the blog. It’s amazing how much he does not assist in such tasks but is quite anxious for it to be done. He inquires (dare I say, harasses) until it is completed.
Brett has recovered well from his surgery. The first 5 days were rough but he felt better after that. We went for his post-op check up and they said he was looking great. When they were re-testing his hearing, I looked at him as he was trying to listen for the beeps with these huge headphones on…and I realized he had his mouth closed and was breathing solely through his nose. I can’t remember the last time he has done that! So Brett’s breathing better, eating significantly more, sleeping more soundly and hearing just fine! Glad that’s all over! Oh and shortly after the surgery, decided to finally submit to potty training. He is a new kid!
Bailey is determined to do everything that Brett does. This is a blessing at times and a struggle at others. She suddenly is obsessed with Princesses, Cinderella is her favorite. I don’t know if I’ve shared before but she has this amazing comedic timing. She seems to have this mature demeanor about her at times like she just gets it. She takes in everything that is going on and can jest appropriately. Obviously she gets this from her mother. She cheers go buckeyes! Which I love to hear and then immediately follows this with a Go Blue with a huge grin on her face!
We are keeping busy this fall! Colin and Grace still join us during the week. Thanks to Auntie Kylie, we’ve started doing fun crafts and Letter of the Week activities from www.notimeforflashcards.com. The kids are doing great with it. We take a day and each pick out stickers or pictures of things that start with our letter. Another day we paint or color a picture that looks like that letter. Tuesdays we go to Music class (with the help of Grandma Nancy), Wednesdays Brett goes to an Art & ABC class, Thursdays we go to story-time at the library and Saturdays Brett has soccer. I’m officially a soccermom.
Quotes
Brett told me ‘Maybe when you are gone and daddy is gone for something and I’m a little older, I can stay with Bailey…and I’ll read books to her and sing songs if she cries’
Bailey yelled ‘Stop Brett! Talking to Mommy!’ Apparently she was not finished with our conversation.
I was in the kitchen and thought the kids were being a little too quiet in the other room so I asked what they were doing…Brett says ‘We’re playing gentle!’ I inquired further ‘Playing gentle with what?’ I go in to find them sword fighting with wooden train track pieces!
I finished getting Bailey dressed, she says ‘So pretty! Colin look at me!’
Bailey asked at breakfast where ‘Rob go?’ then she says ‘Tease Daddy’
Brett coordinated a nice little bday party for one of his trucks. They played, ate cake and then took naps before opening presents.
Brett was trying to argue something that I was telling him to do. I said ‘Brett, who’s the boss?’ He said, ‘I don’t know…..maybe me’
Bailey asked ‘Where Caca go?’ I said Colin’s right there. She said, ‘No, big Caca’ She wanted to play with her buddy Colin McCann:)
A loud airplane went overhead…Bailey said ‘Airplane scared Cinderella!’
Bailey has been adamant about coloring; she’ll ask 4-5x a day if she can sit down and color. She asked the other day to color Cinderella of course and then said ‘all done princess…monster truck now’ When Bailey says ‘monster truck’ it sounds like ‘monkey truck’
Brett and I were discussing his full name. Brett Greyson Harman. He paused and asked
‘Why am I more than 1 Grace?’ I found it difficult to explain that Greyson is not the same or more than the girl Grace we watch.
'Grandma and Grandpa from Ohio' were gracious enough to come stay with the kids while Rob and I had wedding stuff to attend. Bailey came home asking to play games on their 'Ipad'. She's 1, and already uses an Ipad better than I can.
Brett has caught on that ‘Daddy is a baby when he is hungry’
During the potty training sticker board discussion, I told Brett if he wakes up from his nap or bedtime and goes right away (seems to be the biggest struggle), I was thinking he could put TWO stickers on his board instead of just one. Without hesitating he says, ‘well I was thinking four’. I appreciate his gusto but say ‘no 2’. He said, ‘ok, how about 3?’. Negotiation at it's finest.
We had a wonderful trip to Wisconsin and visit with Aunts Bobbie and Barbie. Bailey made herself right at home requesting Bobbie and Barbie to get her from her carseat and holding her hand instead of mommy or daddy.
Coming down the stairs Bailey says ‘Be careful Bailey girl!’
Brett was eating a peach at lunch, thought he was doing a great job and realized he was taking a bite and putting the peel in Colin’s bowl.
I was in the kitchen, Bailey said, ‘um Mommy…get my dinner?’
Bailey is Ms. Independent. Anytime you try to help her, she says ‘no, myself’
Brett answered the play phone ‘Hi, my name is Brett B-R-E-T-T, and I need to go to work, I’ll talk to you later’
Bailey loves to say ‘That’s funny!’
We had a couple trips this fall for my friend’s wedding. I was running around trying to get things done, which is not always easy to do with 2 kids. The week before the wedding, I still had to get my dress hemmed. Brett was not in the mood to run errands.
(Me) Brett can you please get your pants on so we can get mommy’s dress fixed?
(Brett) Why?
(Me) Remember, it’s too long. Mommy needs to get it shortened.
(Brett) Why? (Still not moving from his truck driving)
(Me) Well if it’s too long, I could trip on it. What would happen if Mommy tripped in Jodie’s wedding because I didn’t get my dress fixed??
(Brett) Then I would laugh really hard.
Grace had her birthday in September. We were talking about how old everyone was. ‘Wow Grace is 2! Bailey and Colin are 1! And Brett is 3!’ Brett says ‘what’s your number again mommy?’ I reluctantly said ‘30’. Brett yells ‘WHOA! That’s so huge!’
Brett said he wants to go to OSU and play football...then he named each of this cousins and said they will come and be buckeyes with him.
Bailey went with Daddy during one of Brett’s doctor appointments and got his a blue ‘get well’ monkey, which he kept with him during his surgery. She loves this monkey and says multiple times a day that ‘when bailey sick, get pink monkey!’
I asked Bailey why she was throwing a fit…she said ‘cause I want to.’ Oh boy.
Brett has recovered well from his surgery. The first 5 days were rough but he felt better after that. We went for his post-op check up and they said he was looking great. When they were re-testing his hearing, I looked at him as he was trying to listen for the beeps with these huge headphones on…and I realized he had his mouth closed and was breathing solely through his nose. I can’t remember the last time he has done that! So Brett’s breathing better, eating significantly more, sleeping more soundly and hearing just fine! Glad that’s all over! Oh and shortly after the surgery, decided to finally submit to potty training. He is a new kid!
Bailey is determined to do everything that Brett does. This is a blessing at times and a struggle at others. She suddenly is obsessed with Princesses, Cinderella is her favorite. I don’t know if I’ve shared before but she has this amazing comedic timing. She seems to have this mature demeanor about her at times like she just gets it. She takes in everything that is going on and can jest appropriately. Obviously she gets this from her mother. She cheers go buckeyes! Which I love to hear and then immediately follows this with a Go Blue with a huge grin on her face!
We are keeping busy this fall! Colin and Grace still join us during the week. Thanks to Auntie Kylie, we’ve started doing fun crafts and Letter of the Week activities from www.notimeforflashcards.com. The kids are doing great with it. We take a day and each pick out stickers or pictures of things that start with our letter. Another day we paint or color a picture that looks like that letter. Tuesdays we go to Music class (with the help of Grandma Nancy), Wednesdays Brett goes to an Art & ABC class, Thursdays we go to story-time at the library and Saturdays Brett has soccer. I’m officially a soccermom.
Quotes
Brett told me ‘Maybe when you are gone and daddy is gone for something and I’m a little older, I can stay with Bailey…and I’ll read books to her and sing songs if she cries’
Bailey yelled ‘Stop Brett! Talking to Mommy!’ Apparently she was not finished with our conversation.
I was in the kitchen and thought the kids were being a little too quiet in the other room so I asked what they were doing…Brett says ‘We’re playing gentle!’ I inquired further ‘Playing gentle with what?’ I go in to find them sword fighting with wooden train track pieces!
I finished getting Bailey dressed, she says ‘So pretty! Colin look at me!’
Bailey asked at breakfast where ‘Rob go?’ then she says ‘Tease Daddy’
Brett coordinated a nice little bday party for one of his trucks. They played, ate cake and then took naps before opening presents.
Brett was trying to argue something that I was telling him to do. I said ‘Brett, who’s the boss?’ He said, ‘I don’t know…..maybe me’
Bailey asked ‘Where Caca go?’ I said Colin’s right there. She said, ‘No, big Caca’ She wanted to play with her buddy Colin McCann:)
A loud airplane went overhead…Bailey said ‘Airplane scared Cinderella!’
Bailey has been adamant about coloring; she’ll ask 4-5x a day if she can sit down and color. She asked the other day to color Cinderella of course and then said ‘all done princess…monster truck now’ When Bailey says ‘monster truck’ it sounds like ‘monkey truck’
Brett and I were discussing his full name. Brett Greyson Harman. He paused and asked
‘Why am I more than 1 Grace?’ I found it difficult to explain that Greyson is not the same or more than the girl Grace we watch.
'Grandma and Grandpa from Ohio' were gracious enough to come stay with the kids while Rob and I had wedding stuff to attend. Bailey came home asking to play games on their 'Ipad'. She's 1, and already uses an Ipad better than I can.
Brett has caught on that ‘Daddy is a baby when he is hungry’
During the potty training sticker board discussion, I told Brett if he wakes up from his nap or bedtime and goes right away (seems to be the biggest struggle), I was thinking he could put TWO stickers on his board instead of just one. Without hesitating he says, ‘well I was thinking four’. I appreciate his gusto but say ‘no 2’. He said, ‘ok, how about 3?’. Negotiation at it's finest.
We had a wonderful trip to Wisconsin and visit with Aunts Bobbie and Barbie. Bailey made herself right at home requesting Bobbie and Barbie to get her from her carseat and holding her hand instead of mommy or daddy.
Coming down the stairs Bailey says ‘Be careful Bailey girl!’
Brett was eating a peach at lunch, thought he was doing a great job and realized he was taking a bite and putting the peel in Colin’s bowl.
I was in the kitchen, Bailey said, ‘um Mommy…get my dinner?’
Bailey is Ms. Independent. Anytime you try to help her, she says ‘no, myself’
Brett answered the play phone ‘Hi, my name is Brett B-R-E-T-T, and I need to go to work, I’ll talk to you later’
Bailey loves to say ‘That’s funny!’
We had a couple trips this fall for my friend’s wedding. I was running around trying to get things done, which is not always easy to do with 2 kids. The week before the wedding, I still had to get my dress hemmed. Brett was not in the mood to run errands.
(Me) Brett can you please get your pants on so we can get mommy’s dress fixed?
(Brett) Why?
(Me) Remember, it’s too long. Mommy needs to get it shortened.
(Brett) Why? (Still not moving from his truck driving)
(Me) Well if it’s too long, I could trip on it. What would happen if Mommy tripped in Jodie’s wedding because I didn’t get my dress fixed??
(Brett) Then I would laugh really hard.
Grace had her birthday in September. We were talking about how old everyone was. ‘Wow Grace is 2! Bailey and Colin are 1! And Brett is 3!’ Brett says ‘what’s your number again mommy?’ I reluctantly said ‘30’. Brett yells ‘WHOA! That’s so huge!’
Brett said he wants to go to OSU and play football...then he named each of this cousins and said they will come and be buckeyes with him.
Bailey went with Daddy during one of Brett’s doctor appointments and got his a blue ‘get well’ monkey, which he kept with him during his surgery. She loves this monkey and says multiple times a day that ‘when bailey sick, get pink monkey!’
I asked Bailey why she was throwing a fit…she said ‘cause I want to.’ Oh boy.
Friday, September 2, 2011
End of Summer:(
And just like that…summer’s over The kids and I ran ourselves to the ground and are slowly getting back to a normal schedule. We’ve had a little bit of excitement in the last week but hopefully will be settling down now.
The kids and I (with the help of ‘Grandma from Ohio’) did a 10 day Wood family tour in July, hitting Michigan to see new baby cousin Adelyn and play with Aubrey, then trekking down to Ohio for a week with the grandparents and see cousins Asha and Eli. We went to play places, COSI, the zoo, the pool, and of course had a water-gun fight, courtesy of Papa Wood. Rob flew in for the last weekend and join for the drive home. The kids did great and had a blast.
At Brett’s 3 year check up, they suggested we visit an ENT (Ears, Nose, Throat) Specialist. He has always snored but it has gotten pretty bad and started showing some signs of sleep apnea. In the initial evaluation the doctor asked to have his hearing checked, which showed his hearing was low in both ears. Here I thought he was being oppositional, the poor kid couldn’t hear me. The doctor described it as ‘it’s like he’s on an airplane and his ears haven’t popped yet’. In addition to ‘retracted eardrums/water in the ears’, we discovered Brett had enlarged adenoids and tonsils. The doctor asked Brett to clinch his lips shut and breathe out of his nose…he couldn’t do it. So we scheduled surgery for tubes in his ears and to get his adenoids and tonsils out.
Last Friday we were going for a walk after dinner, Brett was acting a little strange like maybe he was starting to get sick. Bailey just had a fever a couple days before so we figured maybe it was making its rounds. We split up for Rob to take Bailey home with some groceries and Brett decided to come with me to get more covers for the thermometer to check his temperature. We were having a sweet walk home, he had just picked out a card and wrapping paper to wrap up Josie’s birthday present (Cars, of course). I just said 'Hey Brett it’s really nice having some quiet Brett and Mommy time.' He agreed and held my hand. Two seconds later, he dropped. I picked him up thinking he just tripped, but soon realized he was having a seizure. After a very dramatic and stressful run to the Jewel, yelling at people, and trip to the ER….we learned Brett had a febrile seizure resulting from a high fever that jumped quickly. They were concerned because he fell straight to the sidewalk and had a sizeable knot on his forehead, so lots of tests were ran to find out he is just fine. They said it very well could have been the same thing Bailey had but because it jumped up so quickly, Brett’s body wasn’t able to adjust fast enough. Now that we have experienced it and have learned more about it, apparently it’s pretty common and usually kids are fine after. I still would be perfectly fine if we never have to experience that again, it was not fun. We thought for sure they would postpone his scheduled surgery wanting to give him more time to recover, but since his fever was gone, they went forward as planned. So 3 trips to the hospital in 5 days for Brett and now we have 2 weeks of recovery. He’s doing better as the time goes by but is not a fan of taking medicine so that tends to be a fight. The bigger struggle will be in the next week keeping him calm. He and his father were both told they were restricted from any type of wrestling or rough housing for 2 whole weeks. It’s going to be tough! It was nerve-racking to have all this done in such a short amount of time, but I will say he is already sleeping/breathing better and much more soundly.
Quotes/Short stories
First thing in the morning in Ohio, Brett woke up and passed mommy to give Bailey a hug…she pat his back
Brett yelled for Daddy at grandma and grandpa’s, he forgot he didn’t come with us.
Ohio vacation would not be successful without a Buckeye Store trip to stock up on Ohio State gear. Brett found me after walking around with papa and asked if he could get this tackle dummy (Michigan of course). I said, ‘I don’t know, did you bring any money?’ He said he wasn’t sure and checked his pockets, ‘OH NO, I think I forgot!’ Thank goodness for Papa:)
Grandma was sick so Brett told her, ‘Maybe you need some medicine, like Tylenol, then you will feel better’
Bailey was a huge fan of Uncle Phil’s dogs, 2 grown chocolate labs. They would come up and lick her and she would laugh hysterically.
At grandma and grandpa’s house, we heard Bailey saying, ‘color, color’…then realized she was drawing crayon all over their wallpaper. Sorry about that:(
Grandma got Brett and Bailey stamps of Cars and Princesses. We showed Bailey how to use the inkpad….then she showed her Minnie doll covering poor Minnie’s hand with red ink.
‘Brett, don’t dump all your toys out just to make a mess’
He replied, ’Maybe just a LITTLE mess’
Started realizing how much Brett was struggling hearing when he asked me ‘hey mom, did you just say ‘awesome’ or ‘already have some’?
Bailey tells herself to be careful walking down the stairs.
For some reason, Bailey started singing ‘beep beep, hi daddy’ in the car. This was repeated about 60x and now is a favorite.
Brett during breakfast told a LONG story about a baseball player getting hurt in the game and he was very concerned if he was ok. Then remembered Grandma Nancy was here the night before, I’m sure they were watching the Cubs.
Brett was pouting a little in the car, I figured because we just told him he couldn’t watch his show as a result of not listening to mommy and daddy. I asked him what was wrong. He said his toy snake couldn’t see. Confused, I asked him why he thought that. He replied, ‘the middle of his eyes are white not black like our’s, that means he can’t see. I’m kind of sad about that.’
On a 90+ degree day, Brett asked how the ‘hot day’ got in our car?!
With all the summer birthdays, Bailey is now obsessed with singing Happy Birthday. We sing to daddy (every night), to bunny, to Uncle Chris, to Minnie, etc. I used to sing You are my sunshine before nap and bed. She stops me and says ‘no, happy birthday’
Brett: “Come on Bailey, let’s go build”
Bailey: “Ok Brett Brett, bye bye Mommy”
And off they ran into the other room, which made me proud and a little sad:(
Brett wanted to get daddy a pair of Spiderman shoes to match his.
Brett: 'I’ll be REALLY careful and maybe one day I can have a motorcycle'
Auntie Zora was sitting in the car with Brett and Bailey so I could run into the store. They were discussing how we all (Harman family) have blue eyes. Zora said that 'Uncle Brett had really pretty blue eyes too'. Brett asked what they were now. Then said he knew that Uncle Brett wasn’t here anymore and he was sure that we really miss him.
2 weeks later at dinner out of the blue Brett said, ‘Uncle Brett Brett’s not here anymore just like the dinosaurs are not here anymore’.
I ran to take the trash to the garage, ran back to find the door locked….Bailey locked me out. Thankfully grandma Nancy just put a spare key outside. When I came in, Bailey said, ‘Scared Bailey, scared me’ pointing to her chest.
Now that we are back into daycare mode with Grace and Colin here full time, Bailey wakes up and says ‘CaCa come our house?’ She sure loves her Colin.
She also has picked up that my name is Kelli and thinks it’s really funny.
I attempted to take all 4 to the park. 1. They are all much bigger and heavier to push in that huge stroller. 2. They are all mobile and all still need supervision which really just means I was running around like a mad woman. We may have to hold off on the playground unless I have help! But running in the park is a great idea!
At the park, I was really proud of Brett making friends with another boy and I said he should see if the boy wanted to play catch. Brett took 2 steps back and for some reason threw the football as hard as he could, nailing the poor boy in the stomach making him fold in half and groan. I quickly apologized for Brett and told him he wasn’t used to playing with other big kids. Secretly his father is very proud.
Bailey at every meal now says ‘mmmmm, delicious mommy!’
Right before Brett’s surgery, they gave him some medicine to make him a little loopy. He was swaying a little and started slurring his words. We tried to get him to lie down. Before we left he made sure to tell us he wanted to have a costume party with his doctor for Halloween and maybe they should have matching costumes. The nurses laughed and said that was certainly the first they have heard of such a request.
From Rob:
In an attempt to make Brett laugh and lighten the mood in the dreary ER, uncles pat & helma donned the rubber straps that are used when giving a patient an IV as headbands – their straining faces as they attempted to stretch and tie the rubber was funny enough. To up the ante, uncle helma pulled back on pat’s headband and the snap reverberated throughout the ER and nearly brought tears to his eyes. The rest of us were cramping with laughter. In retaliation, Pat snapped Marc’s headband and it sounded like a gigantic leather belt hitting flesh. Marc screamed, and little Brett, Pat and myself cried with laughter.
A stern older nurse soon pulled back the curtain and curtly stated, “Keep it down in here! This is a hospital not a playground.”
This of course caused us to laugh harder, although we attempted to mask it in fairness the other ER occupants.
Brett was happy. Their mission was accomplished
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Summertime!
July marks the beginning of Harman crazy summer! It feels a little awkward only having 2 kids to watch, does that sound odd? But now that it’s just Brett and Bailey, I’m taking advantage and we are doing as much as possible! We’ve been hitting the pools, started swim lessons, day trips to the museums and zoo, visited the Art Institute, lunches/dinners with Daddy downtown, birthday parties and cook outs…you name it, we are trying to fit it in.
We owe a big thanks to Grandma Nancy, and the Wisconsin aunts, Bobbie and Barbie for coming and hosting our 2nd annual Camp Grantie. Basically the 3 ladies come to watch the kids and tell Rob and I to get lost for the weekend. It’s wonderful for all parties and the kids had a blast! Brett said it was so much fun showing the aunts all of his toys and being able to talk about them:)
I finally got Brett and Bailey in for their 3 year and 18 month check up. Taking 2 to the doctor at the same time is a challenge. Thankfully the doctor had a nurse AND resident on hand to help. Bailey made herself at home and ran wild in the office, opening any drawer she could find, climbing through medicine carts and using every medical tool she could get her hands on. As I’m trying to fill the doctor in on Brett, I see Bailey out of the corner of my eye, taking the stethoscope off of the resident’s neck, hitting the poor lady with it and yelling “boom boom…boom boom”. At 3 years old, Brett is 37 ¼ inches tall and 30.5 lbs….Bailey, at 18 months, is 32 ¼ inches tall and 27 lbs. The nurse was typing in the numbers and doing some calculations and kind of laughed making a comment about their BMI’s. I was trying to chase Bailey so didn’t hear her exactly and asked her to repeat herself. She said ‘Bailey’s BMI is higher than Brett’s, meaning she’s basically chunkier than her brother.’ I laughed along but thought to myself, I don’t think one really needs to use math or a computer for that matter to come to the conclusion that Bailey is curvier (as her daddy would say). But I appreciate their need to put everything in ‘medical terms’. So Brett is now in the 40th percentile for both height and weight (down from 50% previously), and Bailey is 70th for height and 85th for weight (down from 90th and 95th!!). The doctor couldn’t believe how much Bailey was talking, stating at 18 months you look to have 7 words. Not to be THAT mom, but Bailey is certainly way beyond that. I attribute a lot of that to Brett and how much he talks to her. I tried making a list but stopped after 100 words. Granted, not all of those are clear, but enough that I can usually understand her.
Tomorrow marks our 4th wedding anniversary (YAY) and I think Rob and I would both say we are very happy with where we are in our lives. We have 2 healthy, silly, adorable kids and are having so much fun with them. And I love that we are in the point in our relationship that we can agree on things in a mature, adult fashion. Even better, is when we can give credit where credit is due. The other weekend, Rob was gracious enough to get up with Brett as he was an early riser that Saturday morning and let me sleep in (how nice, right?). I receive a text from Rob (yes, as he was just downstairs), saying he had a GREAT (censored) idea for the day. I get up and join him as he is full on describing how there is this awesome program with the library that allows you to check out passes to museums around the city for free. He was so pumped up, not really allowing me to get a word in edgewise…running to the computer, printing stuff off, writing down numbers of multiple libraries just in case the one we wanted was already checked out. I try to chime in that I had actually heard of such a thing and maybe, just possibly told him about this exact program FOUR weeks ago. He was not convinced and said there is no way, this is different. Seeing that there was no point in arguing, he was entirely too proud of himself… I just went to the kitchen and pulled out the brochure detailing the exact same thing and handed it to him. So yes, taking our kids to the Art Institute was a wonderful idea, and getting in to it for free was even better…allowing your husband to have credit for an idea that you may or may not have told him about a month prior is apparently something you do in happy married life.
Quotes
Bailey was being funny. I said “Bailey are you a silly girl?” She said ‘No, good girl.’ Then she pointed to her chest saying ‘mommy’s girl’
Brett came down from his nap exclaiming, ‘Mommy! I had dreams!’
This for some reason, went right into a debate about how he felt it was necessary to have a t.v. in his room. This is not happening Rob, non-negotiable.
Brett received baseball batting gloves for his birthday. He HAS to have them on if playing baseball.
The kids were running around and Brett slipped. Bailey stopped and asked repeatedly ‘Brett, ok? Brett Brett ok?’ until he answered.
Every once in awhile Bailey will put together phrases out of no where and it takes you by such surprise. The other day, I was picking something up while the kids were still at the table eating. Bailey yelled ‘Mommy, SIT DOWN!’
Could hear Rob blowing his nose upstairs, Bailey yelled ‘SNOTS!’
Bailey was really unhappy and fussing so I asked her what was wrong. She cried, ‘Mee-Maw….Brett Brett!’ Brett had just left with Grandma Nancy to go to storytime. Bailey was sad.
‘Brett, who’s on t.v.?’ He responded, ‘That’s Obama…I saw him at Legoland!’
Our newest niece Adelyn was born and I was showing Brett and Bailey a picture. Brett said, ‘Adelyn! She’s beautiful, maybe we take her home?’
Discussing sports for some reason over breakfast. I said, ‘we like Ohio State’. Brett’s immediate response was ‘This is a Michigan house!’ WHAT?! Then I realized this was the day after Nancy watched the kids. I should really monitor her influence more closely!:)
Bailey was stepping on/kicking all the toys walking through the livingroom, saying sorry to each one.
One of the joys of Rob working downtown in the summer is going down and meeting him for dinner. We were sitting outside, enjoying a nice evening when Metalicca came on…Bailey got so excited and started dancing like a maniac. That silly Uncle Pat Pat and his music….
I had a nice girls day with Bailey and I took her to a kids splash pool. Told her it was time to leave. She sat down in the water, refusing to get up, saying ‘no mommy, more splash splash’.
Our neighborhood had a 4th of July bike parade. It was adorable. The next day, Brett announced, ‘I think I need a bike, a red Cars one and we should get Bailey a little pink one’. So that’s what daddy did.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
May 2011
I can not believe that it’s June…tomorrow is the last day of the school year with all 4 kids. I always felt like June was so far away and here it is. The kids have been a lot of fun lately. I’m sure the combination of the 4 getting a little older and the weather being nicer has made time fly by! I now have (1) 3 year-old and (3) 1 year olds!!
May brought family/friend visitors, Mother’s Day crafts, birthday parties, more walks to the park and library, and as of this week “POOL DAYS!!” If you told me last August that I would be taking 4 toddlers out to swim I would have said you were crazy!! But they LOVE it and were so sad today when it was rainy. The girls kept asking for ‘water, water, splash, splash?’ The kids are playing more together and are starting their own conversations. It’s incredible to see how much they have all grown up and truly love each other
May also brought us Brett’s 3rd birthday! I still am not grasping the fact that he is 3. I would say he celebrated his birthday WEEK in style. I was fortunate enough to have both our friend Sarah Colella and Grandma Nancy to offer to watch the other kids (and an additional Colella kiddo) so that I could have a special lunch date with Brett on his birthday. He choose The Choo Choo of course, where we went for his 2nd. He waited very patiently for a booth table because he told me you HAD to sit right by the train. We were actually there with Kerry Wood, from the Cubs, with his family (only I didn’t notice until he had already left). I have a video of the Happy Birthday song they do as they bring the cupcake out to Brett…Kerry Wood in the right-hand corner watching! That night the kids and I met Rob at Chuck E Cheese for games and pizza. The Memorial Day weekend was full of visits from Grandma and Grandpa Wood, cake with friends and family, a Harman trip to Navy Pier and the Children’s Museum…AND an all boys movie day to see Kung Fu Panda 2. The next week I asked Brett if his birthday was ok or awesome. He yelled AWESOME!!
Fun Stories
Brett was pretending and told me that I was ‘Colin’s mom’ and he said to me “Thank you for coming to my house, you go to work now…”
Bailey was COVERED in dirt. ‘Bailey, were you eating dirt?’ She said no confidently, although revealing evidence suggesting otherwise.
On one of Brett/Grandma days…Bailey kept calling out ‘Brett Brett..where are you?’
For some reason both kids were in the mood to sit on my lap while we were waiting for daddy to get home. Bailey fussed as she tried to push Brett off. I said ‘It’s ok Mommy’s big enough for both’. Brett says ‘NO mommy, you’re not big – you’re SMALL!’ I love it:)
Brett told me Uncle Pat Pat’s was his favorite place. I asked if it was because he gets to do whatever he wants…he responded immediately ‘Yeah! And he always has snacks!’ I see why Rob loves it too
After a stressful day…Brett says ‘you relax mommy, you worry about you’
Bailey wasn’t feeling well for a couple of days, only Minnie and Colin made her smile.
Brett was stuck on carrying a backpack around like daddy does...and we only had a light blue butterfly one that Bailey got for her birthday. Thankfully his cousin Aubrey got him a nice (very boyish) one and lots of new dinosaurs and books. He loves matching them and looking up their names in his book.
Walking back from the grocery store, Brett and I played ‘Red light, Green light’
Brett asked Bailey if she wanted to dance…they held hands and danced to Row Row Row your boat
Brett was off playing with his trucks and I heard him say ‘firetruck knocked over the station, he wasn’t listening, he needs a timeout.’
Brett asked if we could go see the elephants…but the ones at the zoo, not the scary ones at the Rainforest Café.
Brett told me ‘Daddy doesn’t like your singing show, he likes PTI!’
Grace and Bailey LOVE Minnie Mouse.
My friend from college came to visit last weekend. Brett was soooo attentive. He was always asking where she was and if he could check on her. He actually didn't understand why he couldn't talk to her while she was in the shower.
‘Brett, please don’t fart when I’m trying to change you’….his response ‘maybe my dinosaur needed to fart?’ What is it with this kid and farting dinosaurs??
The 4 kids play Ring Around the Rosie together daily in the kitchen.
Bailey spent 20 minutes in the grocery store taking the cap off my pen, putting it back on and then yelling ‘I did it!’ We made a lot of people laugh that day.
Rob called one morning after he left saying he wasn’t sure where his watch was, if we could keep our eye out for it. I told Brett what he said when I got him up. He without pausing said he knew where it was and went right downstairs to the dining room table and picked it up. Daddy took it off before dinner. Brett remembered.
Bailey holds her arms out, stomping her feet, saying ‘dance dance dance’ with the biggest smile on her face.
Bailey loves 'getting ready', she'll sit on a chair and watch me or will pretend to do her own hair and 'mape up'
Colin is still climbing up on everything, he was actually trying to use Bailey to pull himself up. Bailey got confused, then smiled and gave him a high 5 instead.
Bailey’s most frequent response to a question now it ‘Yep’ and ‘ok’, while Grace says ‘Alright Kelli’
Brett said he wanted something to drink. I said how about some water? He said ‘No water is wrong…I guess juice is right’
Overheard Brett say ‘got your nose’ to Bailey..smiled until I realized he was literally trying to pull it off.
May brought family/friend visitors, Mother’s Day crafts, birthday parties, more walks to the park and library, and as of this week “POOL DAYS!!” If you told me last August that I would be taking 4 toddlers out to swim I would have said you were crazy!! But they LOVE it and were so sad today when it was rainy. The girls kept asking for ‘water, water, splash, splash?’ The kids are playing more together and are starting their own conversations. It’s incredible to see how much they have all grown up and truly love each other
May also brought us Brett’s 3rd birthday! I still am not grasping the fact that he is 3. I would say he celebrated his birthday WEEK in style. I was fortunate enough to have both our friend Sarah Colella and Grandma Nancy to offer to watch the other kids (and an additional Colella kiddo) so that I could have a special lunch date with Brett on his birthday. He choose The Choo Choo of course, where we went for his 2nd. He waited very patiently for a booth table because he told me you HAD to sit right by the train. We were actually there with Kerry Wood, from the Cubs, with his family (only I didn’t notice until he had already left). I have a video of the Happy Birthday song they do as they bring the cupcake out to Brett…Kerry Wood in the right-hand corner watching! That night the kids and I met Rob at Chuck E Cheese for games and pizza. The Memorial Day weekend was full of visits from Grandma and Grandpa Wood, cake with friends and family, a Harman trip to Navy Pier and the Children’s Museum…AND an all boys movie day to see Kung Fu Panda 2. The next week I asked Brett if his birthday was ok or awesome. He yelled AWESOME!!
Fun Stories
Brett was pretending and told me that I was ‘Colin’s mom’ and he said to me “Thank you for coming to my house, you go to work now…”
Bailey was COVERED in dirt. ‘Bailey, were you eating dirt?’ She said no confidently, although revealing evidence suggesting otherwise.
On one of Brett/Grandma days…Bailey kept calling out ‘Brett Brett..where are you?’
For some reason both kids were in the mood to sit on my lap while we were waiting for daddy to get home. Bailey fussed as she tried to push Brett off. I said ‘It’s ok Mommy’s big enough for both’. Brett says ‘NO mommy, you’re not big – you’re SMALL!’ I love it:)
Brett told me Uncle Pat Pat’s was his favorite place. I asked if it was because he gets to do whatever he wants…he responded immediately ‘Yeah! And he always has snacks!’ I see why Rob loves it too
After a stressful day…Brett says ‘you relax mommy, you worry about you’
Bailey wasn’t feeling well for a couple of days, only Minnie and Colin made her smile.
Brett was stuck on carrying a backpack around like daddy does...and we only had a light blue butterfly one that Bailey got for her birthday. Thankfully his cousin Aubrey got him a nice (very boyish) one and lots of new dinosaurs and books. He loves matching them and looking up their names in his book.
Walking back from the grocery store, Brett and I played ‘Red light, Green light’
Brett asked Bailey if she wanted to dance…they held hands and danced to Row Row Row your boat
Brett was off playing with his trucks and I heard him say ‘firetruck knocked over the station, he wasn’t listening, he needs a timeout.’
Brett asked if we could go see the elephants…but the ones at the zoo, not the scary ones at the Rainforest Café.
Brett told me ‘Daddy doesn’t like your singing show, he likes PTI!’
Grace and Bailey LOVE Minnie Mouse.
My friend from college came to visit last weekend. Brett was soooo attentive. He was always asking where she was and if he could check on her. He actually didn't understand why he couldn't talk to her while she was in the shower.
‘Brett, please don’t fart when I’m trying to change you’….his response ‘maybe my dinosaur needed to fart?’ What is it with this kid and farting dinosaurs??
The 4 kids play Ring Around the Rosie together daily in the kitchen.
Bailey spent 20 minutes in the grocery store taking the cap off my pen, putting it back on and then yelling ‘I did it!’ We made a lot of people laugh that day.
Rob called one morning after he left saying he wasn’t sure where his watch was, if we could keep our eye out for it. I told Brett what he said when I got him up. He without pausing said he knew where it was and went right downstairs to the dining room table and picked it up. Daddy took it off before dinner. Brett remembered.
Bailey holds her arms out, stomping her feet, saying ‘dance dance dance’ with the biggest smile on her face.
Bailey loves 'getting ready', she'll sit on a chair and watch me or will pretend to do her own hair and 'mape up'
Colin is still climbing up on everything, he was actually trying to use Bailey to pull himself up. Bailey got confused, then smiled and gave him a high 5 instead.
Bailey’s most frequent response to a question now it ‘Yep’ and ‘ok’, while Grace says ‘Alright Kelli’
Brett said he wanted something to drink. I said how about some water? He said ‘No water is wrong…I guess juice is right’
Overheard Brett say ‘got your nose’ to Bailey..smiled until I realized he was literally trying to pull it off.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
It's all fun and games...
Until someone gets their hair pulled out!
Happy Easter! We’ve had a crazy fun month of random nice spring days mixed with cold, stormy days…ironically much like how I would explain living and dealing with a 15 month old and an almost 3 year old!! Their excitement and joy for life is overwhelmingly adorable and their fight for independence and tempers can be just as intense:)
Both of our friends have had spring breaks so it’s been really interesting to see the different dynamics as the group has had some changes over the last couple of weeks. I’ve had a couple days with just Bailey and Grace…wow did they talk my ear off without Brett here! Such girls already!
We made the trip to Ohio for Easter to stay with Grandma and Grandpa Wood. Brett had been looking forward to it for weeks! Everyday he would ask, tomorrow we go to Ohio? I ventured the drive solo with the kids as Rob flew in after work the next day. I had a little anxiety the night before wondering if I had bit off more than I could chew. 7 hours…driving…with 2 kids in the back needing lots of attention…. So we played a game; I set a timer on my phone for 10, 20 or 30 min. If they were ‘good’ when they heard the beep then they got a surprise ‘goodie-bag’. (Ha! Get it? Goodie bag for being good?) In the bag they may find a toy, a book, a coloring book or snacks. Some things were new for them, or it may have been something from home. I couldn’t believe how well they did with it! It really made time pass quickly and kept them entertained. Brett kept asking when his next surprise would be! They only slept for an hour in the car and were up until almost 1 am once we got there, Brett said it was because they were so excited!
Other Brett and Bailey stories:
Grandma Nancy made a cd of songs that she used to play for her little boys. Brett is a HUGE fan of this cd and sings along to each song. One is ‘My little sunshine’, which I used to sing to Brett. When it comes on, he tells me ‘I’m your only sunshine mommy’. Another favorite seems to be ‘Animal crackers in my soup’
One day, I found myself saying ‘Brett, we don’t cut our sisters’. Brett was trying to saw Bailey with one of his Handy Manny tools.
Bailey still LOVES to wake up Brett from naptime. She'll call his name all the way upstairs and now climbs into his bed, sits beside him and rubs his back until he gets up.
Brett has taken an interest in dinosaurs. His favorite is the T-Rex.
Was changing their clothes and Brett announces, ‘Bailey’s belly is a circle, mine is a square!’
Brett plays with his trucks everyday….and everyday he makes the loud, high pitched siren for the firetruck. I asked him if he could make the siren softer….he said, ‘Mommy, it’s SUPPOSED to be loud’
We had a couple weeks of running noses and not feeling well. After a nap, they were both sitting on their Toy Story couch; Brett put his arm around Bailey and played with her hair.
Brett told Bailey during snacktime, ‘Bailey, finish the one in your mouth, THEN I will give you this one’
Bailey loves shutting the dishwasher. I saw her recently ‘hip-checking’ her play kitchen (as mommy does) and saying ‘beep’ to shut her pretend dishwasher.
Brett was holding the crackers during snack...he got to the last one. I saw him hesitate for a second and then he gave the last one to Bailey.
When saying goodnight to Brett, he keeps adding lines to our exchange…now it’s up to
Mommy – ‘Night night Brett, have a good rest’
Brett – ‘night night’
Mommy – ‘I love you’
Brett – ‘I love you too’
(I’m walking down the stairs now….)
Brett – ‘See you later’
Mommy – ‘ok, see you later’
Brett – ‘don’t be sad about me’
Mommy – ‘ok, don’t be sad about me either’
Brett – ‘I love you’ (yes, again)
Mommy – ‘I love you too’ (I’m down stairs)
Brett – ‘ok Bye’
Mommy – ‘bye’
Colin coughed, Brett said ‘Oh COLIN, be careful’
Brett refused to admit he was tired, but did ask if he and Mommy could just lay on the couch and snuggle for a while.
‘We’re going to OHIO, I’m soooo excited!’
Brett opened the back door and put Buzz Lightyear outside. I asked what he was doing. Brett explained he didn’t want to forget to take him to Ohio.
‘Yay! It’s fun!’ In reference to the 6+ hour car ride. I thought that was good.
Bailey stole a package of mini-muffins and put them in her play stove. I found them later…
Since we were not going to see Grandma Nancy or Papa Terry for Easter, Brett made them some Easter cookies and brought them with him on his last Brett/Grandma day. I got an unusual call that afternoon from Grandma saying that she and Brett were having a little debate over lunch. Apparently Brett thought he was supposed to bring the bag of cookies back home. Grandma said she thought he made them for her to enjoy….he says ‘well maybe you guys take 2, and then I take the rest home’. I guess we need to explain further about giving gifts.
Bailey loves to have Daddy sing her the song from the ‘Snuggle Puppy’ book.
Rob said he needed to put a little baby powder on Brett while changing his diaper. Brett says, ‘Maybe we go get big boy powder, this is for Bailey’
Heard a little toot from Brett at the dinner table…we asked him what that was. He said, ‘That wasn’t a fart! It was a baby dinosaur in my butt!’
Monday, April 4, 2011
Friday, April 1, 2011
March Stories
As the kids are getting bigger, more active and independent, we are all excited for warmer weather to come our way so we can enjoy some refreshing outside air and more room to run! We’ve had an exciting full month of play cafes, grandparents visit, trips to Shedd Aquarium, Kohl’s museum, park, library and Brookfield Zoo! Brett and I always talk about things that are coming up and now he asks ‘where are we going tomorrow?!’.
Brett and Bailey quotes
‘I have boogers in my ears!’
Brett has been more interested in numbers and letters. He’s frequently asking what’s your number (age) or letter (what letter does your name starts with). In discussing the ages of the family, I quizzed Brett and asked him how old mommy is. Without hesitation, he said 48! I said nope, guess again. He would not be swayed…he is certain that I am 48.
Bailey requests Daddy to sing songs after dinner. If he starts with the wrong song, she will say ‘no, no, no’ until he sings the one she wants.
I was thanking Brett for being patient and keeping Bailey company while I had to get our stuff together. He said ‘No thank YOU Mommy’
Bailey loves playing dolls, having a tea parties and baking cupcakes…and then she entertains herself for 20 minutes throwing a ball.
Brett came downstairs one morning with his Blackhawks jersey and hockey stick ready to play! He asked where Bailey’s hockey stick was…and then said we needed to get her a pink one.
Bailey finally has a little hair on top of her head, enough to give her a single pig-tail. I told Brett, ‘Look Bailey has a pig-tail.’ He said, ‘Bailey, say oink oink!’
Brett was pushing all sorts of buttons one morning. So I stopped for a second and took a breath. He said ‘Are you happy mommy?’ I said, ‘Yes, but I don’t like it when you talk back to me.’ He said ‘Ok, mommy I won’t talk forwards OR backwards to you!’
Bailey pointed to one of Rob’s tattoos and called them blocks.
Brett was following one of the kids for a toy he wanted. I said kind of without thinking, ‘Brett no stalking’. He said, ‘yes, I like stalking’
I got a little worried yesterday when I was changing Brett's diaper, I noticed something on his foot and it looked like it was bleeding. I asked him what happened and if his foot hurt but I couldn't get a straight answer. As I'm trying to look, he's kicking and flailing about. I couldn’t tell if it was a cut and there was a flap of skin hanging off or maybe somehow he stepped on a piece of glass…and then it fell off. It was a strawberry nutrigrain crumb.
Bailey continues to tease her daddy. Now it’s by grabbing his hand and biting his finger. She laughs hysterically when he says ouch!
Brett is being coming quite curious about things...at the zoo, Brett asked how dolphins sleep? Great question, Grandma Nancy and I were not sure. Grandma had to look it up and got back to him.
I vividly remember my dad telling me when I was younger to stop procrastinating when I was supposed to be going to bed. I remember thinking; I have no idea what procrastinating means! Now I feel his pain. Brett all of the sudden has sooo many questions to answer when saying goodnight. One time in particular, I kept trying to nicely cut him off and tell him it was time to go to sleep. I start down the stairs and he yells ‘WAIT MOMMY!’ I was so annoyed because I just put the girls down as well and I couldn’t believe he was yelling. Then he says, ‘I want to say I love you’
Brett and Bailey quotes
‘I have boogers in my ears!’
Brett has been more interested in numbers and letters. He’s frequently asking what’s your number (age) or letter (what letter does your name starts with). In discussing the ages of the family, I quizzed Brett and asked him how old mommy is. Without hesitation, he said 48! I said nope, guess again. He would not be swayed…he is certain that I am 48.
Bailey requests Daddy to sing songs after dinner. If he starts with the wrong song, she will say ‘no, no, no’ until he sings the one she wants.
I was thanking Brett for being patient and keeping Bailey company while I had to get our stuff together. He said ‘No thank YOU Mommy’
Bailey loves playing dolls, having a tea parties and baking cupcakes…and then she entertains herself for 20 minutes throwing a ball.
Brett came downstairs one morning with his Blackhawks jersey and hockey stick ready to play! He asked where Bailey’s hockey stick was…and then said we needed to get her a pink one.
Bailey finally has a little hair on top of her head, enough to give her a single pig-tail. I told Brett, ‘Look Bailey has a pig-tail.’ He said, ‘Bailey, say oink oink!’
Brett was pushing all sorts of buttons one morning. So I stopped for a second and took a breath. He said ‘Are you happy mommy?’ I said, ‘Yes, but I don’t like it when you talk back to me.’ He said ‘Ok, mommy I won’t talk forwards OR backwards to you!’
Bailey pointed to one of Rob’s tattoos and called them blocks.
Brett was following one of the kids for a toy he wanted. I said kind of without thinking, ‘Brett no stalking’. He said, ‘yes, I like stalking’
I got a little worried yesterday when I was changing Brett's diaper, I noticed something on his foot and it looked like it was bleeding. I asked him what happened and if his foot hurt but I couldn't get a straight answer. As I'm trying to look, he's kicking and flailing about. I couldn’t tell if it was a cut and there was a flap of skin hanging off or maybe somehow he stepped on a piece of glass…and then it fell off. It was a strawberry nutrigrain crumb.
Bailey continues to tease her daddy. Now it’s by grabbing his hand and biting his finger. She laughs hysterically when he says ouch!
Brett is being coming quite curious about things...at the zoo, Brett asked how dolphins sleep? Great question, Grandma Nancy and I were not sure. Grandma had to look it up and got back to him.
I vividly remember my dad telling me when I was younger to stop procrastinating when I was supposed to be going to bed. I remember thinking; I have no idea what procrastinating means! Now I feel his pain. Brett all of the sudden has sooo many questions to answer when saying goodnight. One time in particular, I kept trying to nicely cut him off and tell him it was time to go to sleep. I start down the stairs and he yells ‘WAIT MOMMY!’ I was so annoyed because I just put the girls down as well and I couldn’t believe he was yelling. Then he says, ‘I want to say I love you’
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
This is from Bailey...seriously
mmmmmmmmmmmmmm;;;;;;;m
I should know to put up the computer when I turn around. Bailey was so pleased with herself.
I should know to put up the computer when I turn around. Bailey was so pleased with herself.
Quotes and Stories from Feb...
Bailey and Mommy’s cellphone
Bailey is quite proficient at using my phone. Apparently she thinks I take a lot of pictures with it because she often holds it out in front of her face and says ‘cheese’! When she’s not taking pretend photos of herself, she’s opening, unlocking, getting online and googling random letters…I’ve caught her on someone else’s blog after she googled ‘llsg’. She’s also googled ‘scdc’, which I was unaware of, but it’s the ‘South Carolina Department of Corrections’ website…she then proceeded to do an inmate search. Thankfully I caught her there. She’s quick. Most recently, she changed my wallpaper to some sort of spiraling twilight deal, which I’m not even sure how to do that…I’ll give it to her; it was kind of soothing to watch. Immediately following she was pretending to say hello and handed me the phone….expecting to play along, I take the phone and realized she had actually redialed the restaurant I called earlier and was talking to the hostess.
When Bailey says she is all done with her food, you better move quickly. If you hesitate, she will either flip her tray or throw her food to the floor. Then she looks over her seat and says ‘UH OOOOO’
Rough morning
After a fiasco of a morning, Brett played coupons with me and we traded our ‘savings’ from the Valpak. It made everything better.
At breakfast with Grace, Brett observes that ‘we are all girls and he is a boy…like daddy…and boys are big, strong and wrestle, wrestle.’ I can’t argue with him there.
Bailey truly loves Colin. She always brings him toys and has to check on her ‘Ca Ca’
I took B&B to Pump it up. It was packed with families…Bailey toddled around to each infant carseat and started rocking it saying ‘Ca Ca…Ca Ca’
Brett spent the day with Grandma Nancy and we joined them for dinner. Brett was so excited to see Bailey. ‘That’s my sister! Bailey! I love you so much!’
Brett was pretending to be a firefighter and said that he had a GREAT day at work.
If Bailey is crying, Brett will give her a hug and a kiss. It usually makes her stop.
Brett told me it was too late to change his diaper. Confused, I said ‘What?’ He smiles and busts out in song, ‘It’s too late… to come back now…I believe I believe I believe I’m falling in love!’
Bailey loves to say ‘ssssshut!’. She’s opens anything she can so she can say shut and slam it. Cupboards, fridge, dishwasher, gate, you name it.
Was changing Bailey’s diaper, Brett say’s Oh look, her poo poos look like animals!
Brett and Bailey both say AWWWEsome!
Brett made Bailey cry…’I’m sorry Bailey, I still love you. I’ll be REALLY nice.’
Brett thinks that if he changes his tone or volume that the answer will be different.
Rob is leaving earlier in the morning and the kids often wake up after he’s gone. At breakfast Brett says ‘Let’s call Daddy.’ I told him daddy was probably getting into work and we should maybe try to call him later. ‘Ok, you text him then?’
Bailey had the flu for a day; she got up from her nap and only wanted Dada.
Brett calling my bluff
Was struggling to get Brett to eat breakfast. I tried the whole positive motivating ‘food will make you big and strong’…’don’t you want to grow?’...then tried to make it a competition…’Bailey ate her breakfast…do you want her to be stronger than you and beat you in wrestling?’...Then finally the big threat ‘if you don’t eat your food and be a big boy then maybe you can’t go with grandma today for your class….do you want me to call grandma and tell her you can’t go today?’
Without flinching he says ‘Yeah mom, you call grandma.’ Apparently Brett knew there was no way that Grandma Nancy would miss his special day.
If you say ‘Ready, Set…’ Bailey will yell ‘GO!’ and then try to run. It’s awkward and adorable.
Hole in the Sea
We usually listen to silly songs in the morning and one of Brett’s favorites was playing ‘There’s a hole in the bottom of the sea’. Brett looks at me and say’s ‘Oh no, a hole in the bottom of the sea! Will you fix it?’
I laughed and said ‘I don’t think I can buddy.’
He says, ‘Ok, I’ll do it.’
Everyone naps at 1. We have a whole routine of who is put down first and we all say ‘night night’. Bailey thinks it’s funny to run away as I’m putting Grace into her crib. She used to only get to the door, now she’s running down the hall laughing and racing into Brett’s room to jump on his bed.
I’ll stay here
I told Brett, after naptime we have to hurry and run to the store. Brett says, ‘you and Bailey go, I’ll stay here’.
I tell him, ‘No Brett you can’t stay here by yourself.’
Brett confirms, ‘no it’s ok mommy I’ll stay here.’
‘I can’t believe I’m arguing this already. Brett, you’re 2. You’re not allowed to stay home alone!’
Brett, at times, struggles with selective hearing, kind of like his father…and was in time-out. He was physically and vocally expressing his unhappiness about it. Bailey got very concerned for him and went right over to his bin and one by one brought him his trucks to make him feel better.
Of course the night that Rob had to work late was after a long day of fits and tempers and the last bit of my patience. After naps I vowed B&B and I needed to get out of the house and we were going to be happy. I changed my clothes and Brett exclaims, ‘OH mommy! You look wonderful! I LOVE your green shirt, it looks cool!’ Ok Brett, all is forgiven and we had a great datenight at D’Agostino’s…topped off with a trip to McDonalds playplace and a shamrock shake to share. It was delightful.
Bailey is quite proficient at using my phone. Apparently she thinks I take a lot of pictures with it because she often holds it out in front of her face and says ‘cheese’! When she’s not taking pretend photos of herself, she’s opening, unlocking, getting online and googling random letters…I’ve caught her on someone else’s blog after she googled ‘llsg’. She’s also googled ‘scdc’, which I was unaware of, but it’s the ‘South Carolina Department of Corrections’ website…she then proceeded to do an inmate search. Thankfully I caught her there. She’s quick. Most recently, she changed my wallpaper to some sort of spiraling twilight deal, which I’m not even sure how to do that…I’ll give it to her; it was kind of soothing to watch. Immediately following she was pretending to say hello and handed me the phone….expecting to play along, I take the phone and realized she had actually redialed the restaurant I called earlier and was talking to the hostess.
When Bailey says she is all done with her food, you better move quickly. If you hesitate, she will either flip her tray or throw her food to the floor. Then she looks over her seat and says ‘UH OOOOO’
Rough morning
After a fiasco of a morning, Brett played coupons with me and we traded our ‘savings’ from the Valpak. It made everything better.
At breakfast with Grace, Brett observes that ‘we are all girls and he is a boy…like daddy…and boys are big, strong and wrestle, wrestle.’ I can’t argue with him there.
Bailey truly loves Colin. She always brings him toys and has to check on her ‘Ca Ca’
I took B&B to Pump it up. It was packed with families…Bailey toddled around to each infant carseat and started rocking it saying ‘Ca Ca…Ca Ca’
Brett spent the day with Grandma Nancy and we joined them for dinner. Brett was so excited to see Bailey. ‘That’s my sister! Bailey! I love you so much!’
Brett was pretending to be a firefighter and said that he had a GREAT day at work.
If Bailey is crying, Brett will give her a hug and a kiss. It usually makes her stop.
Brett told me it was too late to change his diaper. Confused, I said ‘What?’ He smiles and busts out in song, ‘It’s too late… to come back now…I believe I believe I believe I’m falling in love!’
Bailey loves to say ‘ssssshut!’. She’s opens anything she can so she can say shut and slam it. Cupboards, fridge, dishwasher, gate, you name it.
Was changing Bailey’s diaper, Brett say’s Oh look, her poo poos look like animals!
Brett and Bailey both say AWWWEsome!
Brett made Bailey cry…’I’m sorry Bailey, I still love you. I’ll be REALLY nice.’
Brett thinks that if he changes his tone or volume that the answer will be different.
Rob is leaving earlier in the morning and the kids often wake up after he’s gone. At breakfast Brett says ‘Let’s call Daddy.’ I told him daddy was probably getting into work and we should maybe try to call him later. ‘Ok, you text him then?’
Bailey had the flu for a day; she got up from her nap and only wanted Dada.
Brett calling my bluff
Was struggling to get Brett to eat breakfast. I tried the whole positive motivating ‘food will make you big and strong’…’don’t you want to grow?’...then tried to make it a competition…’Bailey ate her breakfast…do you want her to be stronger than you and beat you in wrestling?’...Then finally the big threat ‘if you don’t eat your food and be a big boy then maybe you can’t go with grandma today for your class….do you want me to call grandma and tell her you can’t go today?’
Without flinching he says ‘Yeah mom, you call grandma.’ Apparently Brett knew there was no way that Grandma Nancy would miss his special day.
If you say ‘Ready, Set…’ Bailey will yell ‘GO!’ and then try to run. It’s awkward and adorable.
Hole in the Sea
We usually listen to silly songs in the morning and one of Brett’s favorites was playing ‘There’s a hole in the bottom of the sea’. Brett looks at me and say’s ‘Oh no, a hole in the bottom of the sea! Will you fix it?’
I laughed and said ‘I don’t think I can buddy.’
He says, ‘Ok, I’ll do it.’
Everyone naps at 1. We have a whole routine of who is put down first and we all say ‘night night’. Bailey thinks it’s funny to run away as I’m putting Grace into her crib. She used to only get to the door, now she’s running down the hall laughing and racing into Brett’s room to jump on his bed.
I’ll stay here
I told Brett, after naptime we have to hurry and run to the store. Brett says, ‘you and Bailey go, I’ll stay here’.
I tell him, ‘No Brett you can’t stay here by yourself.’
Brett confirms, ‘no it’s ok mommy I’ll stay here.’
‘I can’t believe I’m arguing this already. Brett, you’re 2. You’re not allowed to stay home alone!’
Brett, at times, struggles with selective hearing, kind of like his father…and was in time-out. He was physically and vocally expressing his unhappiness about it. Bailey got very concerned for him and went right over to his bin and one by one brought him his trucks to make him feel better.
Of course the night that Rob had to work late was after a long day of fits and tempers and the last bit of my patience. After naps I vowed B&B and I needed to get out of the house and we were going to be happy. I changed my clothes and Brett exclaims, ‘OH mommy! You look wonderful! I LOVE your green shirt, it looks cool!’ Ok Brett, all is forgiven and we had a great datenight at D’Agostino’s…topped off with a trip to McDonalds playplace and a shamrock shake to share. It was delightful.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
On to 2011...
Well we only have a little bit to cover….just snow days, museums, multiple Christmases, a trip to Ohio AND Bailey’s 1st Birthday, a.k.a New Year’s Day. So I’m slacking a little bit on updating but in my defense it’s been a tad busy and efforts to complete tasks are typically interrupted by needing to feed someone, change someone, defuse fits or referee fights.
We had three family Christmases and it really is a lot of fun with the kids this age. Brett’s still not sure about the whole Santa story. He was quite confused Christmas Day when Santa was not coming through the front door for us to fix his sleigh as he did in a Handy Manny show. That, added to confusing new baby cousin Eli with baby Jesus, he was just excited to get presents and to of course help Bailey open hers.
Since Grace and Colin’s moms are both teachers, we all had a holiday break. They both came back looking bigger and more mature. Grace is trying to climb things everywhere and is starting to talk a ton. She’s quite versatile, which is nice, as she plays football and trucks with Brett and then dolls and kitchen with Bailey. Grace and Bailey are still the little mamas with Colin, they are insistent about rocking him when he is in his carseat, finding his socks when he throws them and holding his bottle. The girls are great about going upstairs to nap; they waddle to the stairs, crawl up, give hugs, say 'night night' and go to their rooms. It’s really cute and actually so much easier than when I was trying to carry them both at the same time! Colin is starting to make his move! Just in the last week, he’s been scooting across the floor when he wants something, but he seems more interested in going straight to walking then working too hard at crawling. Can you imagine 4 little people going in different directions? It’s about to get crazy!
The phrase ‘No thank you’ is highly used in our house…as we are trying to teach Brett to be polite when responding to people. It also has been a useful substitution in my attempt to not yell NO as I’m enticed to frequently throughout the day …as in ‘No thank you, I would not like for you hit your sister.’ ‘No thank you, I don’t think you should hammer the windows’. ‘No thank you Bailey, your screaming is actually piercing my eardrums.’ Brett has picked up on it and can be heard saying ‘No thank you daddy, I don’t want to share my food.’
Bailey is talking up a storm. I am so fortunate to be able to stay home with them and I catch new words everyday. Some of her new ones include; mamaw, papa, banana, sssssit down, book and our favorite luv ew. She loves being upside down and if you are not paying attention, she will say bye bye and throw herself back when you are holding her.
A little Ohio Grandparent Love:
Brett and I were talking about how he was going to ride a train the next day with Daddy. He said he was going to see Grandma and Papa. I told him that they live a little further away and we would have to plan a visit soon. He said, ‘Oh no, they live too far away! I miss them so much!’ Bailey recently has shown a lot of interest in a little photo album that we made for Brett when he was a baby. Bailey keeps going back and forth through the pages and then points, saying ‘Mamaw and Papa’.
Other Brett/Bailey quotes and short stories:
Daddy and Brett leave to go pick up some food. Bailey cries at the door, brings me her shoes and points out the window.
Bailey is just shy of reaching the books off the shelf. She’ll look to you to get something and adamantly repeats ‘book book book’ until you pick the one she wants.
Bailey thinks any words that start with ‘s’ or ‘z’ are funny.
Rob and I were fortunate and blessed to have an adults only night out while in Ohio. When we came back, Brett said “you weren’t home, went bye bye….I was SO worried!”
Brett told us he wasn’t playing with his trains because they were back at their station taking a nap.
Bailey is the becoming the little family comedian! She is constantly doing something and then dying laughing.
Asked Brett about 6 times to help clean up the toys before naptime. After the 7th time, he exclaimed in annoyance, ‘OK, stop asking me!’ I was thinking (as a mother), if you would just do it the first time…
Bailey loves to tease, especially Daddy. He will ask for a kiss, she will come over puckering up, saying mmmmm and just before she gets to him she will turn around and run away chuckling.
Brett is such a boy; he is currently saying ‘booger’ and then laughing hysterically.
Brett screeches loudly out of no where. Rob says ‘WHAT was that?’. Brett said “not ME!’
Bailey LOVES getting Brett up from his nap. If I tell her we have to go get Brett she laughs and says Brett Brett all the way upstairs.
Brett was walking around saying B-R-E-T-T. Rob said ‘Whoa who’s such a smart boy?’ Brett yelled, ‘I is!’ So a little to work on…
Getting out of the car, Brett says, ‘I love my sister, Yay Bailey!’…immediately following he said, ‘I’m going to hammer in the windows’. What?!
Bailey snuggles now on command. It’s awesome.
Brett sees chex mix on the counter and he asked for some. I told him he would have to wait until dinner time. He said, ‘but it would make me HAPPY!’
You can almost always cheer up Bailey with singing Itsy Bitsy Spider.
Driving in the car, Brett loves to look for the moon. The other night he said ‘Look the moon! It’s circle Mommy. I’m Buzzlightyear and Daddy is my Woody’.
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