My Two Sons

A Fistful of Dollars

2012-02-13T17:17:00.002-06:00

The kids got valentines in the mail today with a significant amount more than one dollar. Adin's first response was to suggest bringing it with him to church on Sunday! It's so cute how he has no sense of what money could buy. Erik gets it more. We were just at Lakeshore Learning (an educational toy store) and they wanted everything they saw. I told them they could chose what to ask for for birthday presents. I'll probably let them each chose something with this Valentine's money, bring some to church and bank the rest. I'm pretty excited that they are excited about toys that don't involve superheroes!

One dollar

2012-02-12T20:10:00.002-06:00

Last weekend I mislaid my Kindle, and for a couple days I looked for it with low intensity, sure it would turn up eventually. I kept telling the boys to keep an eye out for it, and let me know if they see it. Every time I said that, Erik would ask where I saw it last, which cracks me up. By Tues or Wed I was getting more anxious about it, and decided to put out an incentive for them. I told them whoever found it for me would get two dollars. That made quite a difference! Erik started to ask me where I saw it last, then realized he knew the answer, and asked me where the second to last place I saw it was. The three of us looked all over the family room. Then Adin decided to check the basement. On the way, Erik must have looked at the fridge and remembered seeing me put it on top to keep it away from them. He asked if it was up there. I had checked there a few times, but just by patting up there with my hand. This time I got out a chair and looked. Ta da! Erik was very excited about his two dollars, and began to mull over what to do with the money. I decided to give Adin a dollar, since he'd looked hard, as well.

On Friday I was taking Adin to the YMCA, and asked if he wanted to bring his dollar to buy a treat. "No. I want to bring it to church." Aw, how sweet. I wasn't sure if he would still want that today, but he did! He brought it along and when it was offering time, he said, "Let's do this!" He made his parents very proud today.

A fun evening

2012-01-29T20:25:00.002-06:00

Joe went to a Timberwolves game tonight, so I was searching for something fun to do with the boys. We ended up making sugar cookies. We didn't really do much baking during the Christmas season. I baked for a cookie exchange, and my cousin Cindy bakes lots of cookies to give us, as does my mom, and Joe's mom. So I figure, why go through all that trouble at a time of year when I already have plenty to do? I love to bake, though, and want the kids to have the experience and memories, so we do some of that in January! A couple years ago we decorated gingerbread houses in January. A couple weeks ago we baked gingerbread cookies and tonight we made sugar cookies. It was very fun, and not stressful at all. As a bonus, I made them with my last pasturized egg, so I was able to snack on the leftover dough after the last pan went in the oven!

Adin has moved from asking non-stop questions, to asking non-sensical questions. Like, he'll ask me if I'm five foot seven, or 30. (He may have the mistaken impression that I'm 30 years old. I may have given him that impression.) So tonight, when he said something about wishing there were M people in the world, I thought he was being silly. (Or a divergent thinker, depending on how generous I feel.) I said, "M is not a number." He said, "But it can stand for a number." I thought, Good grief, is he talking about Roman numerals? I told him that was true but I couldn't remember what number M stands for. He said, "A thousand." We were talking about Roman numerals last week, but I can't believe he remembered.

Adin surprised Joe this morning by piping up with a comment about how the title of a book featured alliteration. He talks like a big kid, but he sure acts like a preschooler when we ask him to put on his coat and boots!

The Wedding March

2012-01-27T19:36:00.002-06:00

Last night, I was sitting by Adin as he tried to fall asleep. Out of the blue he said to me in a desperate tone, "I don't know yet who I want to marry!" Plenty of time to decide that, my dear!

Pump it up

2012-01-10T19:15:00.002-06:00

Adin's preschool class went to Pump It Up, a place with inflatable slides and bouncers. It looks like he had fun.

Until he was tired and needed to rest.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-29T14:46:00.002-06:00

The house has been very giggly today. We got a box in the mail yesterday from our friends the Nevens. It had some cool stacking boxes and a "Dodge Tag" game. There are two vests, each with velcro bulls-eyes on the front. Each person gets three soft balls to throw at the other person. Both boys have really enjoyed playing although so far just with me, not each other. Erik, in particular, gets very, very giggly when we play.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

2011-12-22T23:22:00.003-06:00

So we are on two weeks of break from school, and sometimes the days get long. By the time I'm making dinner, my patience can be quite thin. Yesterday, Erik was bugging, bugging, bugging me in the kitchen, not with anything particularly bad, but the cumulative effect finally drove me over the edge. I pushed him out of the kitchen and scolded him. He started to cry, which annoyed me more, because I first assumed he was crying about not getting to be in the kitchen, pestering me. I asked him in exasperation, "Why are you crying?" He said, "Because you yelled at me! And you hurt me!" Talk about a low point in parenting. However, it gave me the chance to model a sincere apology. I told him I was sorry, it sounded like I scared him and I was sorry I hurt him. It's a fine line, I can't expect him to understand my perception of the nuance of the situation: he had behaved badly and wasn't listening, I was justified in my anger, but not in what I did with my anger. I can only hope that although he couldn't understand it now, someday he will be old enough to parse situations like that. I asked him to forgive me, and he did, but I still felt pretty bad about what I'd done.

Tonight while we were playing, he told me I have a tender and loving heart. I truly feel forgiven and washed clean.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-21T18:30:00.002-06:00

Lest you think it's all Hanukkah, and Festivus around here, we are participating in Advent activities as well. Lots of faith based ones like lighting Advent candles, and secular ones like watching Christmas specials. A couple years ago there was one on TV called "Elmo's Christmas Countdown" and I taped it. We watched it several times that year, and last year as well. The kids were so little and/or sensitive that even Charlie Brown's Christmas Special was too hard for them to watch.

But this year, it all changed. We watched Charlie Brown talk to his friends about Discipline! and respecting their Director! We saw him choose his famously pathetic tree.

I found eight specials on You Tube that I favorited to show the kids. There's our clear favorite so far, Wil Vinton's Claymation Christmas Celebration. We have the book, "The Berenstain Bear's Christmas Tree" but I found a video for it on YouTube, as well. Can't wait to show them that! One I'm saving for Christmas Eve or Day is two hours of the Yule Log burning in someone's fireplace.

It's the most wonderful time of the year.

Happy Hanukkah!

2011-12-21T18:19:00.003-06:00

Adin's preschool/daycare is learning about different December holidays. Today they talked about Hanukkah and made latkes. Adin wanted to know more, so I went to Shalom Sesame and we watched a couple videos. First, we learned about the first Chanukah with Veronica Monica, then we learned about fixing the temple on Extreme Makeover: Temple Edition. I followed some links to a recipe for oven baked latkes, and we are now at the flipping part of the recipe. I'm sure Adin regrets ever asking, but I'm excited about giving them a try.

Oops, I guess flipping latkes is easier when you remember to oil the pan.

Big Cheese Adin

2011-12-20T21:57:00.002-06:00

At Adin's new daycare/preschool they have a kid of the week, called "The Big Cheese". They ask the parents to make a poster board of pictures, fill out a survey, and parents can come in and read a book, bring lunch and/or participate in an activity. This week is Adin's turn. Joe selected some photos, which you can see in the background of the first picture.

This morning, Adin was very reluctant to go to Lenox, and to be the Big Cheese. He told me he wasn't big, he was a little cheese. So we started back pedaling and making a much smaller deal out of it. I got to read the book "The Gingerbread Baby" to the kids, which I loved doing. (The teacher took several pictures of me reading!) Then the class made gingerbread houses by taking empty half pint milk cartons, smearing frosting on them, sticking graham crackers to the frosting, and then attaching candy with more frosting. The teachers allowed Erik to stay and make one. That was quite fun to see the way different kids had different strategies. I related to the girl that hoarded as much candy as she possibly could on her plate!

Afterward, Erik and I played a couple minutes, and then left. Adin desperately wanted to leave with us, so that was hard! An hour later his teacher called to say he didn't really get over us leaving, complained of an ear ache and when she took his temp, it was 100.8! So Erik and I returned to pick up Adin and take him to the clinic, where he was diagnosed with a double ear infection! Poor big cheese.

Fortunately, he was well enough that we made it home for: Erik's first playdate with a school friend! He has a buddy from Kindergarten, and has been begging me for months to invite T over for a playdate. I finally called his mom last week and she said T had been requesting the same thing. So today T came over and they got to play superheroes, draw on magnadoodles, play a board game, and 'reminisce'. It was adorable to see them aggressively hug each other and refer to each other as "best buddy". They often would say to each other, 'remember...' and talk about little inside jokes they had from Kindergarten. T has older brothers so it didn't seem to phase him when Erik got a little over excited. T's mom has said several times that they plan to reciprocate and have Erik over, which I'm excited about.

All in all, it's been quite a day!

Monopoly

2011-11-26T09:52:00.003-06:00

Joe bought Monopoly Junior at Goodwill this summer. It's been fun, the perfect level for Adin, but a little too simple for Erik. So Joe taught Erik how to play regular Monopoly yesterday. The first game taxed Erik's attention span a little, but after taking a break he asked to finish the game. He begged to start a new game last night, and the two of them spent an hour or more in the basement last night playing. This morning was my turn to sleep in, and when I came down, it was obvious Erik had been nagging to finish the game. So they went right back down for another hour or so.

I don't remember exactly what it was I was trying to get Adin to eat, but his response cracked me up: "I dare not try it." I asked if he heard that phrase in a book or something and he told me, "I growed up saying it."

Clue

2011-11-24T14:58:00.004-06:00

Happy thanksgiving! We are having a lovely, warm, day. My parents picked up a board game from the lending library in their building. We've played Clue Junior at home and gave Clue not Junior (as the kids are calling it) a try. We played in parent/child teams and it's very funny to hear as Erik's parent partner whispers to him what he should guess and then he says it out loud. He's very, very serious about games. Adin, on the other hand, is running around the condo half naked, dusting, jumping, hugging, and having lots of fun.

Here's a picture from my Dad's birthday, just to show you what late fall is like in Minnesota this year.

Cleaning Blitz

2011-11-23T19:50:00.002-06:00

So often things happen I want to post, but then don't get around to it. While Joe is reading a story about the first Thanksgiving I'll write something up quick. We just had a five minute family cleaning blitz! We all put things away and swept. After five minutes Adin was done, partially because it's bedtime, but Erik was going gangbusters and wanted to keep helping. He found another place to sweep (by the back door) and then helped pick things up off the carpet so I could vacuum. It looks sooo much better! Dare I hope we could make it a family tradition to clean for 5-15 minutes each evening? Perhaps I could motivate them extrinsically with a weekly reward. Hmmm.

Funny stuff Adin said today

2011-09-16T20:34:00.002-05:00

I have had a cold this week, and am quite congested. We were driving in the car and I said I wished I could breathe. He said to me, very seriously, "Breathing is when you open your mouth and you don't do any talking or eating. Like this, Mama."

Tonight he told me he was hungry and brought me a giant can of soup. I did not actually believe he was hungry, so I didn't want to open it, plus we have a vat of gazpacho in the fridge. So I dished up some gazpacho and told him he would like it because it was full of yummy fruits and veggies. I warned him that this type of soup we eat cold. He said he wanted to eat it cold. When I gave it to him, he ate a bite and said how good it was (but then didn't eat any more)(I knew he wasn't hungry.) He said Erik wouldn't like it because it has tomatoes in it. I agreed and wondered why Erik doesn't like tomatoes. Adin said, "He growed up different, and a different time." I laughed, it sounded so much like someone talking about how social mores change and how people of different generations see the world differently.

First day of preschool!

2011-09-12T21:30:00.002-05:00

Adin was so excited! He woke up and every five minutes was asking, "Is it my first day of preschool?" Then he wanted to go out and have his pictures taken like Erik did on his first day. There are quite a few kids in his class that he was in two year old parent and child class with last year, and he just went over to the table and started playing with play doh.

When I came to pick him up he was super excited. He finally got to play on the 'big kid playground'. They even had a (modified) fire drill. Because it was the first day for so many kids, they went outside before the alarm went off. His teacher, who had Erik for the last two years, said when I picked him up, "He's so different from Erik! I don't think Erik talked for the first three months!"

Adin's only disappointment about preschool? He wished it lasted all day. This is in stark contrast to Erik, who begged this morning to go back to preschool instead of going to kindergarten. Erik pulled out lots of tricks today. He asked to skip. Said he was sick. Blamed me for signing him up for full day (this one was a valid point). I think the actual school day is continuing to go ok, just the getting ready at home is tough.

Last Thursday, after the first day he told us he learned the Spanish word for 'yes'. Friday he said he learned a counting song with numbers 1-10. Today he got off the bus and told us he learned the word for 'circle'. Later he said he knew the words for 'up' and 'down'. He says he doesn't play with anyone on the playground, but I he actually is, just not the involved imaginative play schemes he does with the neighbor kids. His teacher has told me that he chats and laughs with the other kids.

I think my favorite part about the kids going to school is picking them up afterward. I get so excited to see them and hear about their day.

First day of Kindergarten!

2011-09-08T17:33:00.003-05:00

It went well. He slept well last night, and seemed nervously excited this morning. Lots of extra energy, but no tears. We took pictures by our new apple trees, on the step and on the bus. After he was safely on the bus, I drove to work and watched the clock until his bus arrived. Then I joined the other parents out front to watch the Kindergarteners and first graders arrive and parade into school. He waved and smiled when he saw me, and was chatting with another boy about the noise level of the cafeteria.

Later I walked through the cafeteria and said hi. I asked how the day was going. "Fine. It's sort of complicated, because everything is in Spanish." I reminded him that all the kids found that part complicated. He agreed, and asked if it was almost time to go home. He seemed overwhelmed, so I didn't linger. After lunch I know he had recess and then they have a quiet time for the kids to rest if they want.

I did go back after school and watched him get on the bus. His teacher was super organized and he got right on the correct bus. I had written his bus number on his palm, and I saw him check his palm as he climbed the steps. He told Joe and me that he learned how to say "yes" in Spanish! He's very excited to go back tomorrow, because they are having (grass fed all-beef) hot dogs for lunch.

Ha! I just previewed the pictures and instead of the picture of Erik and Adin on the steps, there's one of the neighbor girl playing peek-a-boo with Adin. Also, I thought I had rotated Erik's picture already. So I guess you'll have to tilt your head to see how he looked on his first day!

'Tis the week before preschool

2011-09-07T21:50:00.002-05:00

Ah, Adin. He's been a bit of a stinker lately, and it's hard to tease out what behavior is because of being three and independent and what's for other reasons. He's been so impulsive and disobeys us so much, that I firmly believe he's reacting to all the kindergarten talk. I think he's picking up on Joe and my anxiety, Erik's anxiety and aggressive behavior and it's making him feel unsettled. I also think he's a little jealous. We talk and talk about Kindergarten, and just a little bit about preschool. Today we all went shopping because Erik really needed bigger clothes. We have vast quantities of clothes Adin's size, so it never crossed my mind to buy him anything new. Tonight at dinner, Adin talked about Erik getting new pjs. Adin said he wished he could have new pjs too. The lightbulb finally went off for me and I told him that just like we bought Erik pjs the day before school, we could buy Adin pjs the day before his school starts.

Adin insists he's starting kindergarten, too. This may or may not help, but I sort of went along with it. I agreed that he's starting school, and talked about his teachers, Kari and Shelli, and some boys he knows in his class. I tried to strike a balance with not bursting his kindergarten dreams, but also grounding him in the reality of his actual class. I'll have to try to do some special things with him on the days that I don't work.

I can't believe how big my little pumpkins are getting.

'Twas the Night Before Kindergarten

2011-09-07T21:32:00.002-05:00

Well, this is it. We've gone to Open House. Lots of kids came in and hugged Srta. Joyner, so they must sincerely like her. It's a nice big, open classroom, with an attached bathroom. Erik hung on us a lot, looked around and brought me books to read to him. This was difficult, since I don't know Spanish, but sometimes it was a familiar book, and that helped. The highlight may have been learning that we already know the Spanish word for turtle: tortuga. It was fun to see there were a couple kids Erik knew from preschool, and a couple I knew from other preschool classes.

Open House was Friday, and this weekend was tough. Erik was pretty aggressive and yelled a lot at other kids. I think the Open House ramped up his anxiety level. Today we had a fifteen minute meeting, just our family with Srta. Joyner. She asked him what he wanted to learn in school this year (how to invent things), asked Joe and me what we wanted him to learn (social skills, sharing, school routines). She made sure Erik knew how he was getting home (bus). She checked if he would be eating school lunch or bringing lunch from home. He said bringing his lunch. [Later we looked up what lunch is tomorrow (beef ravioli) and Friday (hot dogs). He's not familiar with ravioli but he loves hot dogs, so he's going to get school lunch on Friday.]

I've tried to be calm and upbeat in front of Erik, but when he's not around I'm a wreck. Yesterday I walked to the library and let myself feel sad. I thought about all his baby and toddler milestones. I cried a little. When I got to the library I started looking through the children's books for stories to read to Erik. I started to feel excited about the years ahead and all the wonderful books I could share with him. That helped. Joe has been feeling sentimental, too. I went through Adin's clothes and bagged the small ones to send to Goodwill. Joe said just looking at the bags made him tear up thinking about how time passes.

I don't know if I'll get pictures and stories posted tomorrow night, but I'll try to do it by this weekend.

Camp Christmas Tree

2011-07-25T20:42:00.002-05:00

Erik had his first day at YMCA daycamp! He got on the bus at 8 am and I picked him up at 5 pm. I think the bus ride is about 45 to 60 minutes and they sing songs while riding. He had good things to say about camp. They shot archery, rode in canoes, and swam. When I picked him up he said he liked it but it was too long. This evening for some reason I asked if anyone cried at camp today. He said he had cried a little at the beginning because he didn't know anyone. But that then the counselors told him their names. I suppose after a long day of activities it's normal to forget that one cried earlier in the day, but it surprised me a little.

Back when I was in grad school, the SLP I did my student teaching under told me that preschoolers are not really able to control the volume of their voices. I see this in Adin. When we are riding in the car and he's talking to me, I have a very hard time hearing and understanding him because his voice volume is so low. And when I ask him to say it again louder he can't or won't. Other times, of course, he has a loud voice. I thought of it tonight when he went to bed. He often yawns very, very loudly as he settles down to sleep. It's funny to me to think about the difference in volume between his yawns and some of his speech!

Biking

2011-07-22T13:02:00.002-05:00

The last couple weeks of June Erik learned how to ride a two-wheeler without training wheels. That's been lots of fun, although his freedom was lessened because he wasn't able to get started on his own without a push. He was getting pretty close and today he did it! We went down to the garden and he started on his own several times. This makes crossing the street much easier. He's so proud of himself. I kept telling him on the ride how proud I was and Adin started telling him that too! Very cute.

Fun with the kids

2011-07-05T22:01:00.002-05:00

The kids and I went strawberry picking yesterday morning while Joe cooked a turkey. Super fun. We went with some neighbors. Erik was a little bothered that he had fewer strawberries in his basket (because he was eating so many). I kept having to tell him it's not a race, he's just eating them, so we can't see that he's picked lots.

We were invited to some friends' for dinner and fireworks. Joe took Adin home at bedtime, but this year Erik got to stay up and watch. Plus, the friends live right off a bike path so he and I biked there! The fireworks started at 10, and for about 45 mins before, he and the other kids were running and asking their parents every 3 minutes or so, "how long until the fireworks start?" He loved the fireworks for the first 15 or 20 minutes. He stood up, and would throw his arms up in the air when he really liked something. The last 10 or 15 minutes he was pretty tired so he sat down and was more relaxed. Afterwards, once the crowd passed us on the bike path home, he thought it was really cool that we were biking in the dark.

The kids and I had some fun with my Dad today. We met up at the Mall of America to go to a petting zoo as part of Toddler Tuesday. Then we walked around the amusement park for a while. A woman offered me a points card (you pay for rides with points) with a few points on it. It was hilarious watching the kids try to decide what ride to go on, or if they even wanted to go on a ride. They were just buzzing around going nowhere fast, from an adult's perspective! Finally they chose a ride and I got to go too, since Adin is too little to ride by himself. It was a mini roller coaster that was perfect for them. Just enough up and down and around to make it fun but not scary. I was pretty excited that they went on the ride, since last year even the little kids' rides were too scary.

Final story, they both often fall asleep in the car as we ride around town. Erik usually falls asleep quicker and wakes up more easily. When Adin wakes up in the car he's very upset, and does not want to leave the car or even be unbuckled. We got home today around dinner time and I really needed Adin to get out of the car. I told him Morfar was coming for dinner and he said some garbled comments about loving Morfar and Mormor, as if he thought it was news to me that he loves Mormor, too! I told him I love them both, too.
Adin: You do? I think Mormor and Morfar are going to have a baby soon.
Me: Really?!?
Adin: I hope it will have lots of milk. (Our neighbor's baby is three months and so we have to remind Adin that he can't share his food with her.)
Me: I'm sure they will give the baby lots of milk. Do you think it will be a boy or girl? Adin: A baby girl.
Me: She will be my little sister!
Adin: You've always wanted a baby sister!
Me: What about you? Have you always wanted a baby sister, too?
Adin: Yes, but my baby sister is gonna be a boy.

I feel I should add in here that there are no plans for Adin and Erik to have a baby sister, neither boy, nor girl!

Monday at the park

2011-06-14T15:31:00.002-05:00

The boys and I had a fun day of park hopping yesterday. In the morning we went to a park in Minneapolis, and brought a picnic/snack along. It's been cool again, so Erik was quite disappointed we didn't go in the wading pool. But he was very proud of himself for a new accomplishment: he crossed the monkey bars by himself! Just a month ago, he was scared even to hold the bars and dangle, but we practiced a little bit on holding on and I held his waist so he didn't fall until he was ready. Then he moved on to this sort of controlled fall where he would reach out and grab the bar and then drop. I heard from others (Joe? my parents?) that he was now using the zip line and doing a couple bars on the monkey bars. Yesterday was the first day I got to see him cross the bars. First he did about three, then he did the whole thing! He was so proud of himself!

After lunch we went to a park just a couple blocks away with a neighbor family that has three girls, ages 6, almost 4, and about 3 months. Erik plays with the six year old, and Adin plays with the almost 4 year old, and it's very sweet to watch. Then Adin asked to hold the baby! So I had him sit on the park bench and I gingerly put her in his arms. I think I held my hand under his arm that was supporting baby's head. He did a good job and was gentle, but just held her for a minute and then was done. I thought it was so sweet that he asked to hold her!

I have noticed that the neighborhood kids stay out playing past 8, my kids' bedtime. So Erik and I discussed trying to have Adin and him stay up later and then sleep in later. He was very excited last night when he didn't have to come in and go to bed at 7:30. They came in around 8:20 and were cooperative in getting ready for bed so they were in bed by 9. However, Erik had trouble settling down and was still peeking out of his room at 9:30. He was awake at his usual time of 6:30. Adin, however, was a more dramatic fail. He was awake ALL NIGHT! Crying and restless and needing constant tending from Joe or me. I guess he was way overtired by his later bedtime. So thank goodness, their daycare was open this week and we had to pay anyway to keep our slot for fall. Joe dropped them off at the regular time and I went back to bed and slept til 1 pm! They will be going to bed at their regular time tonight, believe me!

Cute things Adin said today

2011-05-31T20:38:00.002-05:00

We went to a picnic at the park and had lots of fun. Erik was upset that the Splash Pad was open but we weren't playing in the water (it was 65 degrees). So he alternated between having fun and being upset. When it was time to go, I loaded them in the car.
Adin: I love you, Erik.
Erik: I don't love you, Adin.
Adin: Well, I love Erik even when he's being naughty.

Adin is in his crib and says to me, "I like you 100% a lot." I laugh. He says, "Actually, I love you 106% good."

I love that kid. And the other one, too.

Proud Mama

2011-05-15T23:29:00.003-05:00

We went to the Norwegian Lutheran Church today and celebrated syttende mai a couple days early. The boys greatly enjoyed the hot dogs and ice cream and then...the games! They had about 8 little games set up for kids to play and everybody won a little prize after each game. Adin loved horseshoes and the bean bag toss. Usually Erik prefers to stand back and observe, and Joe was on Erik duty so I'm not sure how much he participated. Except he had all the prizes in his prize bag, so he must have done the activities. Anyway, then they had a variety of team games. First there was a tug of war. We cheered the first round (kids) and the second round (girls). Then they had a round of kids vs. parents. Joe pulled on one side and the boys pulled on the other! I have some pictures on my camera and maybe when it's not midnight I'll post them. I think the boys look sort of terrified in the pictures, but I was so happy they got in there.

Next was an egg relay. Adin agreed to do the relay and I waited with him. There were five teams of four kids. The bigger kids were so great. They were the perfect balance of trying their best, but not getting upset about who won. I had Adin practice holding a coin on his spoon so he could get the concept of holding his spoon flat. Fortunately, by the time it was his turn, another team had won, so I ended up walking the relay leg holding his hand steady around the spoon. Nobody seemed to mind.

Then they had sack races! The first round was just children, but the second round they said the age limit was 100 (sorry Bestemor)! So I decided to jump! I had been encouraging Erik to join in and he refused because it looked hard. I told him the boy I'd been cheering for (who stood in front of me in the egg race) had fallen about 20 times, but he just got up and kept hopping. So anyway, I jumped and then the third round ERIK JUMPED!!! I was so proud of him! He didn't fall but all the other participants were a lot bigger and finished ahead of him so I came out and jumped him the last few yards(stood behind him and lifted him up and down). He got a big kick out of being the one who 'jumped' the highest! Maybe the dozens of times we've explained that it's ok to do something less than perfectly are sinking in. Woo Hoo!

It's like WebMD for preschoolers

2011-05-09T20:48:00.002-05:00

Joe gave Erik a set of 2 Superfriends DVDs for his birthday. Erik's really into them and I think has watched all the episodes. They have little vignettes between the episodes: word games, random toys you can make at home and health tips. On Friday we watched one and afterwards we saw a health tip. A kid was flying a kite with Superman and said he had a headache from being in the sun. I was expecting Superman to tell him to drink some water or wear a hat next time. Instead, the kid said he was going home to take some medicine, they had lots in their medicine cabinet. Superman told him he should only take medicine from his parents or a grownup. Well, this is of course, good advice but I didn't give it much thought. Little did I guess how much Erik is taking the advice of his hero to heart!

Joe and I both had commitments on Saturday morning so my parents came over and watched the kids. Erik has shown a variety of mild cold symptoms this week, but I just told my parents we were keeping an eye on him and they could give him Benedryl or Tylenol if they thought he needed it. Mom told me later that Erik had complained his ear hurt and she offered him some Tylenol. He declined, saying he would only take medicine from his parents. She explained that it was good to be careful of who he takes medicine from, but grandparents were approved to give him medicine. He didn't want to take it, and I guess he didn't seem so sick that she insisted. He got some about an hour later when Joe came home.

Erik and Adin have about 6 different piggy banks that I frequently hide because it drives me crazy when they play with (and once ate) the money. Erik also told me this weekend that Wonder Woman told how they could make a bank out of an empty bottle. He was very excited at the idea of making a piggy bank. I found it funny, since he already has so many.

A story from Adin

2011-04-29T09:48:00.001-05:00

I wish that I had giant springs in my legs. I would jump up in the sky. I would get on an airplane. I would fly to Finland. I would play fiddle.

Uh, no.

2011-04-11T16:19:00.002-05:00

Adin and I were riding in the car and he was talking about someday being 18 yrs old. As usual, he thought he'd need new pants then. Then he switched to talking about being 14 year old. First thing he told me about when he is 14, Erik will have kids and Adin will have a baby! Uh, no. I told him he'd better wait until he's at least 24 and maybe 34 before having a baby. However, I told him he could babysit and then we talked about all the fun things he could do with kids he babysat.

Adin is funny

2011-04-05T20:54:00.002-05:00

Adin was talking about how tall he is getting. He stood on a little chair (which he is not allowed to do) and said he was even bigger. He said someday he would be bigger than I am. I agreed. Adin, "When I'm 18!" Me, "Yes. When you are 18 you will be bigger than I am." Adin, thought a minute, "I'm going to need new pants." thought some more, "and shirts."

I put Adin to bed and asked if he wanted a stuffed animal. Adin, "No. You're my snuggle guy."

Adin and I were telling each other we loved each other, then he said, "I love the ceiling." I said, "I love the bed." Adin said, "But the bed is not a person!" I said, "Neither is the ceiling." He found that hilarious and we had to each say our lines about four or five more times. He cracks me up sometimes.

The future

2011-03-27T16:35:00.003-05:00

I bought Erik a coloring book called, "The Anti-Coloring Book". On each page is a prompt and often part of a drawing. So there might be a squiggle and the prompt is "the original artist was stung on the thumb by a bee, only you can finish the drawing". Erik asks us to read him prompts until he gets to one he wants to do. So there was a drawing of a crystal ball and he was supposed to draw his future.

He gets started and draws a time machine and Superman (I think he got a couple prompts mixed up) and then I look at him and he's crying. I start asking if he's ok, why he's sad, and he tries to tell me but can't. He says, "It's too sad to say it." So my mind is flipping through possibilities, is he sad because he knows he'll never be Superman? Did he break something of ours and he's afraid to tell us? Finally he says he's sad because thinking about his future means thinking about not living with Joe and me and that's sad.

So Joe and I comfort him and tell him it's a long ways off, that's why it feels sad and scary. I don't really want to tell him that by the time he's moving out he'll want to move out.

Adin gives a hint

2011-03-25T19:45:00.002-05:00

The boys are drawing on their Magnadoodles. Adin says to me, "Guess what this is. It's something with three wheels. It's an 18-wheeler!" Then he draws it. "Guess what this is." "An 18-wheeler?" "Yes!"

Funny stuff the kids said today

2011-02-02T20:39:00.002-06:00

When I woke up this morning, Adin was in our bed! First time since we got back from Arizona. Joe was up with Erik, so Adin and I got to sleep in until 8:15! Adin woke slowly, and wanted to cuddle in bed for a few minutes before getting up, which was difficult for Erik to accept. Erik was disturbing Adin as he cuddled and Adin yelled, "Stop! I'm trying to concentrate!"

Then while tantruming in bed tonight Adin yelled out, "This is not my favorite place to be! I wish we didn't live here. I wish we lived in Iceland!"

We did a little rearranging this afternoon, and Erik found some old heart shaped candy boxes in his closet. He used the covers to decorate a wall and then was looking at the bottom sections of the boxes. They had conversation hearts glued to them, and one had come loose. Reading his mind, I told Erik not to eat it because it was old and had glue on it. Moments later he says, "It doesn't taste like glue to me." (If Joe had been home he would have used his favorite line: Just because it's non-toxic doesn't mean you should eat it.)

Bragging

2011-01-19T15:41:00.002-06:00

Sigh. Well, I'm sorry to brag, but I just have to share. If you don't want to read about it, just stop now!

First, Adin was pushing buttons on my heart rate monitoring watch. He said, "Why does this say 'off'?" I asked to see it. In my normal use of the watch it doesn't display the word off. Sure enough, it said 'off'. I asked how he knew it said off and he read me the letters, although he did read them right to left (F-F-O) instead of left to right (O-F-F). So at naptime we read a book and looked for the word 'off' in it. Adin's not so keen on napping these days, so it can be a bit of a struggle getting him to stay in bed. I was kneeling next to his bed, reaching to get something and he said, "Ah-cuse [excuse]me, I would like to get out of bed." Even for the ultra polite two year old, no you cannot get out of bed!

I've been reading books about race, books that report ethnic minorities talk with their children about race more than white parents do. And that often liberal white parents expose their children to other children of different backgrounds but don't talk about race. When that happens, the white kids notice that the kids all have different colored skin, but also notice that their parents and teachers don't talk about it. And the kids try to think of their own reasons why this is, and they may be coming up with different ideas from what the parents assume (we're all the same, we're all equal).

Which is a very long way to introduce that I've been trying to have age appropriate discussions with Erik about race, even though it's very uncomfortable for me. So on Monday, I mentioned briefly to him that he didn't have school that day, and that it was a holiday. I told him MLK's name and explained very briefly that it used to be that white kids and black kids went to different schools and MLK worked to change that. And that's all I said, and we didn't talk about it again. When I picked Erik up from preschool later in the week, his teacher told me quietly that he was the only one in the class who knew who MLK was! I didn't get a chance to get the whole story from her, and Erik won't tell me about school, so that's all I know. I'm quite proud, though, that he remembered and that he somehow seems to have been able to talk about it in school.

Small world!

2011-01-19T11:09:00.002-06:00

Adin and I attend a parent and child class one morning a week. After snack time, we go over and sit on the carpet and read books together. Adin chose a counting book that had the text in English and Spanish. He is learning to count in Spanish at daycare, so I asked him if he wanted me to read the book to him in English or Spanish. He chose Spanish, which was fine when the words were short and easy. After a couple pages they got to be very long. It was a little embarrassing because two of the other parents in the class are native Spanish speakers, and two of the teachers speak a little Spanish, as well. I was quite relieved when Adin switched over to counting in Norwegian. It was easier for me to name the items, but then the nanny of one of the other children asked me, in Swedish, if I was from Norway! It turns out she is a nanny from Sweden, and I just had never heard her talk enough to even pick up that she had an accent.

You gotta sing!

2011-01-07T23:39:00.001-06:00

On the drive home from the YMCA today, we listened to a couple CDs. The first was just the song "You gotta sing". The lyrics are "You gotta sing when the spirit says sing" repeat several times. Verse 2 "You gotta pray when the spirit says pray". Then we listened to a CD of a variety of Christian children's songs. When we got home Adin was very sad and wanted to hear the "Deer" song again. It took me several listens to even understand 'deer' and I had no idea which song that was. I listed off all the ones we'd listened to and he said no to all of them. So we came into the house and played and forgot all about it. After his nap, I was changing his diaper and noticed he was singing, "You gotta sing when the deer says sing"! Mystery solved.

The Fifth day of Christmas

2010-12-31T21:35:00.001-06:00

Wednesday, the kids and I went to my parents' and we decorated gingerbread men and a house. They had their new disposable cameras and took lots of pictures. Once the house was built and they were decorating it, Adin drizzled tiny colored balls on the house and said, "It's snowing in Pepperkakeby!" which means 'it's snowing in gingerbread town'. He said this about five or six times before I started the video and unfortunately, you only catch a little at the beginning, but then Erik started saying it, too. We have already begun to eat the men and house. I figure they aren't going to get any better. Adin ate the arm of his man, but tonight refused to eat his leg.
Update: Ok, I just posted this, and I can't get the video to play. It may just need some time to load, but I am not up for tinkering with it tonight! I will try to repost tomorrow if it still isn't working.

The second day of Christmas

2010-12-31T21:26:00.000-06:00

Sunday evening my parents and Gary came over for dinner. We played a game that Harald and Ronnaug sent us home from Norway with this past summer and we saved as a Christmas present. It involves filling in picture cards with colored pegs. We've had to make a house rule of being able to share pegs with the other players to help the game move quickly enough to keep the attention of a two year old.
The boys became enraptured with my mom's disposable camera and wanted to take lots of pictures with it. They then wanted to use our digital camera, as well, which makes us nervous! So we used a little of their Christmas money to buy them each a digital camera. It will be fun to get the pictures developed and see all the pictures of the walls, floor, and who knows what else!

Christmas Day

2010-12-31T21:15:00.000-06:00

So Friday evening, Joe's dad and sisters came over, but I guess I didn't take any pictures! The boys got a toy chainsaw and hedgetrimmer from Paul. Our tree is very well trimmed, let me tell you!

Christmas Day we went to my parents' and Joe's sisters and mom came too. We had a delicious lunch of meatballs and roast. During gift opening, Erik frequently commented that this was the best Christmas ever!!! He and Adin received a variety of police cars and fire trucks and Erik also received a fire fighter costume, complete with a little extinguisher and a little bullhorn. (Is that what they're called? You can talk into them to make announcements? He loves making announcements.) Adin received an mp3 player and microphone which he said were really cool. Oh, and Santa brought him 'a fancy guitar' which he had been talking about all month. It is so fun to watch him play it. He frowns and takes a wide stance with his legs to brace himself like he's working very hard. I will have to try and video it sometime.

Christmas Eve morning

2010-12-31T21:03:00.001-06:00

My parents and uncle came over Christmas Eve morning for brunch. Gary brought Adin a puzzle, which the boys enjoyed putting together. My parents brought along some cookies that my mom's cousin Cindy and aunt Barb had made. They made some Sally Ann (or Aunt Sally?) cookies in the shape of gingerbread boys. They had found frosting markers and decorated them with faces and red bow ties, very cute. One had Adin's name on it and one had Erik's. Adin enjoyed playing with his gingerbread boy and talking to it, but he would not eat it.

Julebord

2010-12-31T21:00:00.000-06:00

Adin has been attending Barnehage with my dad some weeks and me other weeks. In December they had a Julebord. Family was invited and they had some activities for the kids to do. People brought finger food to share and then there was a short and informal program. The kids sang some songs from class and then we all joined hands and walked around the Christmas tree. Finally, julenisse came with a big bag of presents for the children. It was very fun, although hard for kids to wait their turn to get something from julenisse. Adin had fun and participated in all or most of the activities. I don't remember why Erik wanted to wear his pajamas, but it didn't seem worth it to fight him on that count!

O Christmas Tree!

2010-12-31T20:55:00.000-06:00

Here are some pictures of the boys helping to decorate my parents' Christmas tree. They enjoyed climbing on the step stool to reach up higher. I notice that the next time I visited, some of the ornament clumps had been more evenly redistributed around the tree! The picture of them lying on the floor shows how they posed when asked to sit in front of the tree for a picture.

playing and sharing

2010-12-31T20:36:00.002-06:00

Last week I posted about the boys just starting to play together more. This week there have been amazing stretches of them playing together. They played together in the basement for a half an hour while I made dinner. Today they played in Adin's room, tossing stuffed animals back and forth. What's been really wonderful for me to hear, is how they will do a little negotiating. Erik will state how he wants the play to happen, Adin might say a slightly different plan, and Erik will comment on how they can do both, or take turns or compromise. It's really different from just a couple months ago, when any idea that wasn't his was an affront to Erik's very personhood.

Adin has finished up another round of antibiotics this week and getting him to take the medicine was challenging. One strategy that sometimes worked was to continue to insist that he take it until he became mildly upset, then offer a treat afterward. Adin would then counter offer to eat the treat first and then take the medicine. And he actually usually did. Monday night, Joe was at a meeting and I was trying to get the medicine into Adin. We reached the point where Adin (and Erik) would get a sugar cookie after taking the medicine. Adin never counter offered! I was frustrated and told Erik he could go ahead and eat his cookie. No, he said he wanted to wait and eat it when Adin ate his. Adin's cookie fell and one point of the star came off. I let him eat it, but still he wouldn't take the medicine. Knowing we had more stars and hoping to get him a little upset, I ate one of the points off Adin's star. When he was running around he crashed into me, the cookie fell and one or two more points fell off. I ate more of the points. Still he wouldn't budge. Finally I ate the cookie (planning to give him another star cookie if/when he took the medicine). Adin was upset and I was about to tell him my plan, when Erik ran over and told Adin that if he took his medicine, Erik would give him half of his cookie! Adin agreed, took the medicine and Erik gave him half his cookie!

post Christmas crib talk

2010-12-27T20:28:00.003-06:00

Adin was cracking me up so I went and got my computer. The things he said after I started typing weren't quite as funny, but you might get a kick out of them. I have no idea what he was talking about in the first line.

What does that other thing you got for Christmas after something else?
Mama did you know that you and me and papa and Erik all have beds? All of us!
Why did you get a turkey baster for Christmas? [this was a gift from Joe]
Mama, my favorite game is football.

lillejuleaften 2010

2010-12-23T12:50:00.002-06:00

The following vignette perfectly summarizes the boys' relationship right now:

I came out of the shower and they were playing doctor in the rose room.
Erik: checked Adin's right ear "Looks fine."
checks other ear "You have a carrot in there.
checks first ear again "You have a potato in here".
Puts blood pressure cuff on Adin. "Looks good."
Looks in doctor bag, pulls out plastic bandaid. "Are you ready for a bandaid?"
Adin: backs away, cringing. "Noo! I'm not ready."
Erik: gets really mad, "Well you need a bandaid and you're stupid."
Fighting ensues.

So basically, they alternate between playing together wonderfully, and fighting over things like a glass of water. (Anne: "We have plenty of water! You don't need to fight over that glass!") I learned that they are not yet able to control themselves better when I threaten them with Santa watching, so I have given up.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Adin's baby Erik

2010-11-14T16:40:00.002-06:00

Sometimes when I'm lovin' on Adin, I tell him that even though he's not a baby anymore, he's still my baby. He usually says, "I'm not a baby. I'm a kid." A couple days ago he started pretending to be a baby, crying, laying in my lap. Then he started telling me he had a baby named Erik. Fortunately, he's said that when Erik's not around, I don't know that Erik would appreciate it. Today he wanted me to be his baby. So I finally decided to bring the baby doll out of toy storage. Erik never played with it, so we put it away. Adin enjoyed wrapping it in a towel and putting it down to sleep. I'm hoping this will give him a focus for his intense love for Erik.

Erik LOVES snow

2010-11-14T16:27:00.001-06:00

We woke up yesterday to snow covering the ground, and falling in fat flakes. Erik went out with Joe and shoveled, then he played by himself and with the neighbors. Joe's mom came over to watch the kids so we could go to the MN Orchestra (thanks Lois!) and she and Erik worked really hard building a snow fort. [This picture doesn't really do it justice. It's melted some, and you can't really see the shape. Oh well.] Today he's been out there all day, as well, and enjoyed showing off the fort to the neighbors. Last spring, he told me that fall was his favorite season and winter was his second favorite. I scoffed inwardly, thinking, he'll have so much fun playing outside this summer he'll change his mind. Nope. Although, I wouldn't be surprised if winter bumps fall to the number 2 spot.

Another step

2010-11-02T19:12:00.002-05:00

When I picked up the kids from daycare, Erik told me he learned how to read a new word, map. How do you spell it, I asked. M-A-P At home, he got out a crayon while I was making dinner and wrote out the word, then asked me if I could read it. I could! Knowing that he can write many letters, I showed him that now he can write M-A-P he could really write lots more words. We got through cap,lap, and nap before he lost interest. He wanted to write wagon. The G gave him trouble (kept writing e) and he got frustrated and wanted to stop.

Later on, Erik and Joe were talking about writing a play. Bert and Ernie could discuss what they would be for Halloween. Ernie would be a fire fighter. Someone suggested that Bert could be a police officer and I pointed out to Erik now that he could write C-A-P he could also write C-O-P.

These times when the kids are on the cusp of new developments are so exciting. They have so much potential!

You're telling me!

2010-10-26T21:23:00.001-05:00

Adin had an ear infection last week, so he's been (happily) taking medicine ever since. Tonight was the last dose and when he was done, Erik asked if now that Adin was done, could he please have the rest of Adin's medicine? I told him that medicine can help you when you need it, but can hurt you if you take it when you don't need it. Two minutes later, Erik said, "Life is very complicated."

O ya!

2010-10-25T19:55:00.002-05:00

Wow. It's been a long time since I've posted. Adin asked to try sleeping in the toddler bed tonight. Because Erik was very tired, we put them to bed early. Adin is just regular tired so he is lying in bed singing the closing song from Barnehage: Alle barne smiler, alle barne smiler, o ya, o ya, o ya! [All the children smile, all the children smile, all the children smile, oh yes, oh yes, oh yes.] I'm glad I'm not on the floor in his room, or I would be giggling and keeping him awake!

Family Day

2010-09-19T12:45:00.002-05:00

I thought maybe today was Mother's Day when I came down for breakfast. Erik came right over to me, gave me a hug and said, "There's nothing like having a mother." That's about the best version of "good morning" ever! Then, I got to shower before Joe and when I came down from getting dressed, Joe had the kids fed and dressed for church, all by 7:20! I told them they must have gotten confused and thought this was Mother's Day, and we decided today was a special Family Day for loving our family.

The pictures are of the boys trying on some 'safety' goggles Joe bought for $2. Erik likes to pretend he's a construction worker, but we just read that archeologists wear goggles when working, too.

tonight

2010-09-15T18:45:00.001-05:00

Adin found a little wheelie thing and told me he was going to Cub. Here's his shopping list:
"lettuce, pizza, chocolate, chocolate cake, custard...Does anyone like custard?"
It really started off healthy, but just went downhill fast.

As Erik was waiting for dinner to cook he went in the basement and played drums. He made up a song that went, "I love the whole world" over and over.

You make me happy.

2010-09-14T20:05:00.003-05:00

Joe did Adin's bedtime routine tonight. They sang a bunch of songs and then Adin said, "Now let's sleep." Joe reached up his hand to put it between slats of crib. Adin squeezed his fingers for a bit and then twisted his hand back and forth a few times, and said, "Papa, you're my wrench." Joe said, "Adin, you're so sweet. You're my boy." Adin replied, "You're my grownup."

Now he's singing in his crib, "The Lord is good to meeee," over and over.

Oldemor

2010-09-13T20:14:00.002-05:00

Adin is lying in his bed singing, "Happy Birthday dear OH-deh-mood, [that's how he pronounces 'oldemor' which is great grandma in Norwegian] happy birthday to you" on a continuous loop.
Oops, he just switched to a medley: "E-I-E-I-O! Thank you, Wisconsin! A-B-C-D-E-F-G",...nonsense syllables, huge yawn aaaand silence!

Erik to the rescue!

2010-09-04T20:22:00.001-05:00

Joe and Erik went grocery shopping this afternoon. I guess Erik was well prepared for any emergency.

Picnic

2010-08-19T21:44:00.002-05:00

We went to a neighborhood picnic tonight. Some neighbors from down the street (who also go to our church) were there. The older son, who must be 10 or 11, loves kids and came up to Adin on the playground. He kept a good distance between himself and Adin, and squatted a little and smiled like he was about to say something. Adin looked at me, looked at him, and said to him, "I'm a little bit afraid of you." Fortunately, the neighbor found it as hilarious as I did.

National Night Out

2010-08-05T10:11:00.003-05:00

I organized a block party for National Night Out on Tuesday. It was really fun! Erik asked if we could have one every night and then yesterday he asked me about 20 times how long it was until we were having another block party! It was really fun to watch the kids. My boys love playing with our neighbor boys, so that was no surprise. Erik really, really wanted to invite Gavin to come play in our house, and I finally gave in. I don't mind having Gavin in there, I just hadn't cleaned at all! We've seen another 4 year old around but she doesn't play outside much so the party was our first chance to get to know her. Adin really took to her and they played together all up and down the block. Including making a run for the other side of the cones blocking off our street. Yikes. Erik made an attempt to get to know her. He walked up to her and said (very fast) "I'm Erik. What's your name?" and then ran away before she could say anything. Hilarious.

There are two houses of kids across the alley from us. They ate at their own block party, but then joined up with Gavin and Jackson and ran/biked back and forth several times. I had a similar sort of feel to my block growing up, so I really hope those families stay. I love seeing the roaming pack of kids.

Sweet Revenge

2010-07-20T13:33:00.002-05:00

So I was playing "Three Little Pigs" with Adin and it was my turn to be the wolf. He got a little mixed up with "The Three Billy Goats Gruff" and said I shouldn't eat him, I should eat his brother instead. But that I had to wait 'til he woke up. Then Adin offered to go wake up Erik.

No kick from champagne

2010-07-19T21:44:00.002-05:00

Erik's latest thing is to say "I really get a kick out of it" whenever Adin says or does anything. For example, we were playing in the backyard with some friends this afternoon. Adin and Erik briefly fought over the slide and Adin lashed out physically. After Erik got over being upset (he wasn't appeased by Adin's apology but by seeing Adin lose out on a popsicle treat) he said several times that he got a kick out of Adin this afternoon, except for the part where Adin bit him. Later he got a kick out of playing Duck Duck Goose with Adin and some friends.

Wait, where did the mess go?

2010-06-17T23:44:00.002-05:00

I hired a cleaning company to come out this morning and spend a couple hours cleaning my house. It was lovely and smelled so good afterward. When the boys came in the house from the neighbor's house, Erik noticed the smell of peppermint right away. He has said in the past how much he likes things to be messy, but I always assumed that was just because he didn't want to have to clean up. This afternoon he was driving a toy truck around, and he reached waaaaay under some heavy furniture to pull out a dust bunny and put it in his truck. He was just so at sea with the house being so clean, he had to find one of his old friends, dust bunny, to feel comfortable again!

Bittersweet

2010-06-15T22:16:00.003-05:00

Erik is going to Vacation Bible School this week. Our church doesn't do VBS, so he's going to another Lutheran church in town. We visited there one week so he would be a little familiar with the building. I talked about it a little so it wouldn't be a surprise, but didn't dwell on it so much that he got anxious.

When I dropped him off yesterday, he was momentarily upset, but went right over, sat down and played with blocks. Adin and I left the room, talked to someone at a table in the hall and then peeked in, just to make sure he was ok. He was fine. I was very proud of him.

Then today, he was momentarily upset at home before we left, but did not show any distress at all at the church. He just sat down and played and could barely be bothered to say goodbye.

Both days, I was so proud of him, but also had a twinge of sadness. Joe and I have been working with him for years on transitions, separating from us, and mastering his emotions. It's very gratifying to see him do well, but it also hits home how he is one step further from his babyhood. sigh.

Really?

2010-06-09T21:42:00.002-05:00

Tonight there was an ice cream social at church. During dinner Adin said he didn't want to go. I figured he was probably pulling a two year old maneuver and asked if he'd rather go with me to the grocery store. Yes he would. He steadfastly maintained that he would rather go shopping with me and how excited he was to go to the grocery store. [And by the way, through the entire shopping trip he did not shut up about how much fun he was having at the store. I had to tell the manager.]

I started up the car and as soon as the music from the CD started (Peter Himmelman "My Fabulous Plum") he said, "I love this song." We drove about two minutes and he said, "I love this music. I really, really love this song. It's really, really funny." I said, "It's not as funny as you!" He said in a small, sad voice, "It's a little bit funny."

Adin's language sample from tonight.

2010-06-08T23:10:00.003-05:00

Here's what Adin said tonight as he was winding down in his crib:

Can you go over there?
I thought you was.
You have to look in the bookcase. (should have been past tense)
That’s a good idea mama.
He’s tired and sad. (he could hear Erik crying)
I’m a little bit sad.
Is somebody out the door?
Not you, no, not Mama.
But you was.
I was waiting for you and Papa.
What’s your name again?
What’s your names?
No, that’s not your names.
Anne is your two names.
Mama, can we meet Gramma here?
Ok, that’s a good idea Mama.
You said yeah. You said yes, too.
Can you tell me a knock knock joke to me?
You say knock knock. I say who’s there.
Ok. I will not cry. (after a boo who knock knock joke)
It’s gone on.
Is that a funny one?
Can you tell me a different one joke?
No. I don’t want another knock knock joke.
Papa dump it for me.
Me either. Not me.
That’s a laugh-y one. I laughed. (After I told him a joke. I love this comment.)
Should I lie down instead?
I’m asleep.
I want you cover me.
I want you lie down.
Oh no. I love jokes.
There’s two and three. I like those numbers. My number’s two.
‘K. I will be quiet.
So cozy Mama

Four years

2010-06-05T21:57:00.002-05:00

So far, I really like the age of four. Yesterday, Joe was going to take the boys to the local kiddie pool. Adin tripped and skinned he knee. He refused to go to the pool. Erik was verrrrry disappointed, but he was able to say with a quivery voice that he was sad about it. Last summer, he would have had a flat out tantrum.
His Grandma was here Thursday night and he wanted to go downstairs and play 'Bert and Ernie Goodnight' with her. Adin said he wanted to play too, but he couldn't go down right away, I forget why. Lois (Grandma) said that Erik waited for Adin to start the play. So sweet, especially since once Adin came down they bickered quite a bit.

He's also become significantly better at cleaning up after himself. He doesn't make a big fuss about it, sometimes he will even do it without my asking or with only one ask. When he does put up a stink, I tell him I will think about that next time he asks to play with the item. He goes right over and starts putting things away!

overheard

2010-04-30T13:12:00.002-05:00

We were just reading a book. There was a picture of oscar the grouch listening to a bird sing. Adin said he thought the bird was singing the ABCs.

I was making Erik lunch. I peeled him a carrot. As soon as I gave it to him he asked where his sandwich was. I said I couldn't do two things at once. He said, "Ask God to help you. He knows how to do everything."

Come again?

2010-04-28T20:15:00.002-05:00

Funny things the boys say:

When Adin wants to play baseball he says, "Play Minnesota, Mama?" I guess the only team that exists for him is the Twins! After we dropped off Erik at preschool this week he saw one of my coworkers in the hallway. He ran up to her and said, "I'm Adin Lindell!"

Erik has been learning a lot about animals and that some of them are carnivores. I find it very funny when he talks about how an animal can hide from it's 'creditors'!! He likes Gobstoppers but calls them Godstoppers. I tried to teach him by telling him I think 'gob' is another name for mouth so they stop your mouth. So then he would say, "Godst...mouth stoppers."

We are the dinosaurs

2010-04-26T22:11:00.002-05:00

I took the kids to McDonald's for lunch today and there were lots of boys Erik's age. In the past, Erik has either not been interested in playing with the other kids or has been too nervous/shy. Today, he was right in there, climbing and rolling his toy car down the slide. Very fun for me to see.

However, as the play progressed, he seemed to get more excited and maybe was having a hard time controlling his energy. He would sort of get near kids and tense his hands like he sort of wanted to push them and was able to stop himself at the last moment. So I tried to keep a very close eye on what was going on. Soon, it escalated to making claw hands and roaring at kids. No one freaked out, but they didn't really like it, of course. So I gave him a warning to stop. He didn't. I forget now what he ended up doing, but I told him we were leaving in two minutes and he had to sit in the booth until we left.

Sitting in the booth, he became very, very calm. So I had an idea. I told him he was not allowed to be a dinosaur in Playland because dinosaurs were not allowed there. I told him we were going to the park later and he could be a dinosaur there. I asked if he thought he could play like a nice boy for a few minutes at McD's. He said yes he thought he could do that. And he did. When it was time to go he told me that he had pretended to be a baby dinosaur while playing. Yay!

Oops

2010-04-26T13:44:00.002-05:00

I ran out to the car to grab Adin's nuk before naptime. When I came back in the house, Erik was trying to hide behind the couch. I asked what he was doing back there and he didn't answer. Then I saw the carpet was covered in whole peppercorns! He started saying, "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. It was an accident."

Because he was apologizing and it would be easy to clean, I didn't get mad, I just told him that's why Joe and I tell him not to play with the peppergrinder. Once I got out the broom and told him to sweep he could tell I wasn't getting mad. So then he stopped saying, I'm sorry and started saying, "sweeping up is too hard."

Figuring out the world

2010-04-25T22:01:00.002-05:00

Adin has been asking us the same questions over and over. "What your name, Mama? What my name, Mama? What Erik's name, Mama?" etc. The other one is, "What your number, Mama? [how old are you] What my number, Mama? What Papa's number, Mama?" Today he was sitting in his high chair eating oatmeal. My mom walked by and he said, "I'm Adin Lindell!"

Erik has always been vehemently anti-bandage. He refused to cover even the bloodiest scrapes. I think he associated band-aids with the pain from getting a shot and twisted it to think that if I put a band-aid on him, it would hurt. Earlier this week he scraped his knee and it didn't seem to bother him for the first couple days. Friday night he was having trouble falling asleep and said his knee hurt. I offered him some Tylenol, which he accepted. Then he asked for a band-aid! I couldn't believe it. Saturday morning the band-aid got wet during swim lessons so he asked for a new one. Tonight before bed he commented on how his owie was getting better. I said I thought it was because of the band-aids, and he agreed!

Cuteness

2010-04-19T21:01:00.003-05:00

Oh dear, the boys are always up to some cuteness, but by evening, I can't remember what it was! I shall do my best to remember. Erik has been very interested in telling jokes lately, so Adin has picked one of them and will attempt to tell it. Tonight I was laying on the floor next to Adin's bed and he told me his joke about two eggs about 2 dozen times. Then he went to his next routine, asking me how old each person in the family is: what your number mama? what my number, mama? what papa's number, mama?, etc. Then he started in on: what your name, mama? what papa's name, mama? By the time he got to, "what Adin's name, mama?" my patience was worn a little thin. So I said, "robert". He must have thought I misunderstood. There was a long pause and he asked again. This time I said, "susan." Since Susan is his aunt's name, he must have thought I was confused. He said, "what you talking about, mama? no, not Susan. Not Susan, mama." I don't know if this story will be funny for other people, but it made me laugh!

March of the Penguin

2010-03-28T12:49:00.003-05:00

We got tickets to the Lions Club Pancake Breakfast this morning. Each kid gets a raffle ticket and every now and then someone reads off ticket numbers. When your number is called, you can go up to the stage and choose a stuffed animal. Adin chose a patchwork elephant, Erik chose a penguin. He named his penguin "Penguinologist", but told me I could call him Penguin for short. He has been talking to his penguin and showing him around the house. We all went downstairs and Erik asked if Penguinologist could watch a show on the computer. Joe found "March of the Penguins". Once it started showing the landscape, Penguin said it looked like home. Then the penguins appeared. Erik started gently sobbing because Penguin missed his home and friends. Joe has offered to turn it off but Erik says it's more fun than sad. I suggested Penguin was excited to take this trip to Minnesota, but Erik says he still misses his home and friends. He's been crying for 5 or 10 minutes. Part of me thinks it's very sweet, part of me thinks it's hilarious.

Wheels

2010-03-21T22:27:00.003-05:00

A couple weeks ago, Erik was riding his trike to the park and calling out, "look out, squirrels, here comes Trike." On Thursday our generous neighbors gave us their younger son's outgrown little bike w/training wheels. Erik is in heaven. He bikes to parks that are a half mile away! Today we were leaving a park and he started off down a gentle hill yelling, "look out, here comes Super Boy"!

Adin

2010-03-09T20:55:00.002-06:00

I bought a container of cherry tomatoes last night, to use for beef and veggie kabobs. Adin was a big fan of the grape tomatoes from the garden last summer so I had high hopes. While he was waiting for dinner, he asked for an apple, which I gave him. Then he asked for grapes. I said, "no, but you can have tomatoes." So he said, "Want 'matoes, mama, in my mouth." He's been requesting food that way for a couple weeks. "Want ... in my mouth." It's so funny. I have no idea where he picked up that phrase. He ate lots of tomatoes, by the way, also the sweet peppers on the kabobs. He did not like the onion, though.

Elbow? What elbow?

2010-02-11T23:27:00.002-06:00

We went to a kiddie concert tonight and the band played the Hokey Pokey. Joe told me that on the way out, Erik said his favorite part was "put your right elbow in" because your elbow isn't a part of the body!

Adin has moved on to saying four word sentences sometimes. "No tickle me again" for example.

Away in a Manger

2010-02-10T15:04:00.001-06:00

I just checked a rarely used hotmail account and found a picture of Erik with the other Sunday School kids singing in the Christmas program. So cute.

Little math whiz

2010-01-29T22:35:00.004-06:00

I was planning to take the kids to the Little Tot Drop In at the St Louis Park Rec Center today. It's a chance for the kids to run around and it's two dollars per kid. I was in the shower when Joe left and just moments after he yelled goodbye to me I remembered I only had one dollar. I yelled and yelled for him to see if he was still there. The kids came to see what was going on. Erik told me Joe had left and asked why I wanted him. I explained I wanted a couple dollars, but that we would raid his piggy bank for three dollars. He asked how much three dollars was. I asked if he knew which ones quarters are. He said they are the big circles. I said three dollars is four quarters, three times. So he went and got a piggy bank and made piles. When I came to check on him he had two piles of four quarters (which impressed me) but had run out of quarters. I found two in my jeans pocket, and we used dimes and nickels for the rest. I really think that if there had been twelve quarters in the bank he could have gotten me three dollars!

At the rec center they have several large vending machines and Erik wanted a snack when we left at 11:30 (lunchtime). I explained he'd had fruit snacks already and we were going home for lunch. But he was sooo hungry now. He was afraid by the time we got home he wouldn't be hungry anymore. So I reminded him we'd used our last nickel paying admission. He shuffled his feet a moment and said, "I wish we'd brung some more pennies."

Pictures of January

2010-01-24T23:22:00.002-06:00

I'm not sure why my formatting is so weird. Grr.

Erik's been napping again lately, yay! One day last week, after cuddling with Joe on the rocking chair, Erik fell asleep. When Adin wandered by later he said, "Erik sleep."

Then he went and got Erik's blanket from his room and covered him up! Sweet!

Here's a picture of Erik and Adin in Erik's bed. They played a little peek-a-boo after I took this picture.

And finally, here's a picture of the gingerbread pieces Erik and I decorated. We didn't bother to assemble the house. It was too hard, and we just wanted to eat them, anyway!

Well, la ti dah

2010-01-21T22:46:00.002-06:00

Adin is now saying three word phrases on a regular basis. I've been writing them down, but of course they are upstairs as I am writing this. When we came in from outside he said, "no jacket on". At bedtime yesterday he talked about, "Elmo blanket book". This evening he even said, "yellow ball go in"! 'No' plus two words or 'my' plus two words are very popular ways to get in a three word utterance. And he's trying to imitate everything. Because it's past my bedtime, of course I won't remember what the funny long word he tried to say was, but maybe tomorrow there will be a good one I can report. He's had an ear infection and does not want to take his medicine, so all week he's been saying, "no medicine" but it comes out all funny and cute.

Ginsa!

2010-01-20T14:45:00.001-06:00

Here's a picture of our family at a Japanese restaurant where they cooked our food in front of us. I may update later with a picture of column of fire, if I can get my pixels on one. Oh, the little girl by Joe is the daughter of our friends.

Wilderness Adventure

2010-01-19T20:25:00.002-06:00

We went to the Wisconsin Dells this weekend for the first time and stayed at the Wilderness Resort. It's huge, with multiple waterpark areas to explore. Erik blows hot and cold when it comes to pools, so I didn't know how this would go, but he loved it. The wading pools were nice for him, just a tiny bit too much spraying water. We drove down Saturday and came back Monday, and he was sad to leave. He said three days wasn't long enough. He wanted to stay at least five days, or even better, could we please live there? The picture of Joe and Erik in the yellow inner tube was one of Erik's favorite activities: floating on "Lazy River".

Adin had fun, too, but he had a bad ear infection, so he was pretty zonked out the whole weekend. By the time he had antibiotics and was perking up, we were headed home. Oh well, he got lots of cuddle time.

Little Stinker!

2010-01-11T10:20:00.002-06:00

Most of the time, Adin is a great one for sharing. He'll share candy, fruit, almost anything. Today we went to the grocery store after dropping Erik off at school. Cub has free cookies for kids. Adin often can't finish his, so I get to have a taste. Today they had M&M cookies and he named the colors, licked the candy, took the occasional nibble of the cookie. After a while, he told me he was all done. I asked if I could have a bite. "Noooo." Could I have a nibble? "Noooo." I picked up a bottle of hand soap, and Adin said again that he was all done with the cookie and held it out to me. Before I could stop the cart, reach and take his cookie, he'd dropped it on the floor so he could pick up the soap! I was so frustrated that I could have had the rest of his cookie if he'd only waited a moment longer! Oh well. The last thing I need is a delicious M&M cookie!

Like Mother, Like Son

2010-01-06T16:41:00.003-06:00

The kids and I were downstairs. They were watching Sesame Street and I was reading blogs, comics, etc on my computer. Adin kept peeking over the couch at me and saying hi. After the show was over, I started playing Legos with them. Next thing I know, I look over and Adin's tapping away at my netbook.

Cheese!

verbage

2010-01-06T10:59:00.002-06:00

Yesterday I noticed after Adin does something he thinks is special (kick a ball, for example) he will say, "did". I'm sure he hears Joe and me say, "You did it" in situations like that. Today I heard him say "is", although I forget why. I think it's sort of unusual for 'did' and 'is' to be among kids' first words. And for good reason, they aren't that functional. But it's still pretty fun to hear!

A Day of Firsts

2010-01-02T23:11:00.002-06:00

Adin had quite a day today. He said his first three word phrase: more juice please. He also peed in the potty! He's been saying, "pee pee" and standing near the toilet. A couple times I tried sitting him on it, but he was a little scared. So I when he says that, I let him sit on it with his clothes on. Then one time Erik was on there when Adin said, "pee pee" so I put Adin on the little potty seat. Tonight when the kids were getting ready for baths, I guess Adin said it again, so Joe had me get the potty seat and we put him on there. It's physically a little hard for him to sit on it and aim down, but he got some pee in there! And some on the floor, but still! Then during books he requested the potty again, but I'm not sure that he peed the second time. Wow! How fun for him to have a little success so early.

Nerding out on language development

2009-12-28T11:41:00.002-06:00

Adin is in a really fun phase of language development, when he says new words and phrases everytime I turn around. I read this fall that during the language burst between 18 and 24 months, kids can learn a new word every 90 minutes! I think Adin is pretty close. He started saying, "Mormor" and "hotdog". He received an Elmo doll on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning he walked around calling Elmo and looking in boxes. Today he picked up a DVD case and said "Elmo World" (the name of the segment on Sesame Street that features Elmo). At lunch time, I heated up a hamburger and he started asking for a hot dog (or maybe he was trying to say hamburger!) When he saw me starting to heat one up for him, he started saying "thank you". It's funny how the words he's been saying for a while are crystal clear, but the new ones are fairly muffled. This was so nice to hear, partially because when Erik was one and a half, I know he could say those exact words! He called my mom and left a message saying "Thank you Mormor [for the] chocolate" I had to prompt him with each phrase, it's not that he could say four word phrases. So even though I work hard not to compare what each boy does at a particular age, it's nice when I know Adin's in the ballpark, at least!

Erik the snow bunny

2009-12-28T11:32:00.002-06:00

Before I tell about Erik in the snow, let me tell you about Christmas morning. We looked out the front window. A bunny had tamped down a trench under our bench and was huddled under the bench, sheltered from the falling snow. Very cute. After the bunny hopped away, I put a carrot and some lettuce under there, but I haven't seen the bunny again.

Anyway, it's been fun to watch as each winter Erik is more playful in the snow. The first winter I didn't take him out much. When he was one, he was so small that when I bundled him up he couldn't move very well, and didn't know what to do anyway. Last year, Erik went out and played a little more, but then Adin was a baby so I couldn't really go out with Erik. I would send him out and watch from the window. He like shoveling but would shovel the snow from the snowbanks onto the sidewalk. Also, he refused to wear snowpants and that made it harder to play a long time.

This year, he has warm snowpants and boots and he loves to play outside. He'll ask if he can get bundled up. He still loves shoveling, but mostly has learned to shovel into the snowbanks. He just came in from outside and his cheeks are cold but his fingers are toasty warm. Yay!

Decoding One-Year-Old

2009-12-28T10:04:00.002-06:00

Adin has been calling trains "ugg-ah" and saying "beep" for their noise. This puzzled me for about a month until I figured out why. When I push trains I say, "chugga chugga choo choo". Most little kids call trains "choo choo" but Adin picked up on the chugga part and it became uggah. Then we were reading a Thomas the Tank Engine book and Thomas always says, "peep peep" at the end. So I think that's why Adin says 'beep' for their noise. Now you too can decipher toddler speech!

Where is everyone?

2009-12-27T06:54:00.002-06:00

The past week we have had family staying with us, sleeping in the basement and on a pull-out couch in the back room. Last night no one stayed with us. This morning after breakfast, Erik went downstairs, which he hadn't been allowed to do when people were sleeping down there. He came back up and tearfully asked me, "Doesn't any of our relatives want to stay with us?"

Christmas Program

2009-12-21T23:16:00.003-06:00

The program went well. The 3 and 4 year olds decorated puppets to carry during "Los Posadas", the walking from inn to inn, asking for a room. Then they stood up front and sang "Away in a Manger". It was super cute. Erik did the actions and sang. A friend who was sitting closer to him than I was told Joe that Erik was even fairly on pitch. My favorite part may have been when he saw me sitting with my Kindergarteners and called out, "Mama!"

Adin was not impressed enough with his brother's performance to stay in worship. He went down to the nursery. He must be about to go through a growth spurt because he is eating like a football player. It's very funny. We'll give him a toddler sized plate of food. He'll eat it, then point to various things on the table saying, "more more". I'm pretty sure he ate more than any one of us at dinner tonight.

Maybe he needs some raisins

2009-12-12T22:25:00.003-06:00

Since it got cold, Erik has had red, chapped lips. He licks them, which makes it worse. At first I tried to remind him not to lick, but it just frustrated him. He hates lotions, creams and everything I can think of. Sometimes I put stuff on while he is sleeping and hope he won't wake up. Yesterday, I did find a tube of lip balm which I tell him is lipstick and he has let me put it on him so far. The night before I was basically forcing him to let me put vaseline on his lips at bedtime and he was so frustrated. I asked him why it bothered him so much. He said, "it makes me feel not regular!"

Oh Come, Oh Come Emmanuel

2009-12-06T21:59:00.002-06:00

Today after church I asked Erik if they practiced any songs for the Christmas Program. Um, he wasn't sure. I asked if they sang any songs about Baby Jesus. No, he didn't think so. pause. "I think we sang a song about the baby before Jesus." "What baby was that?" "I think his name was Messiah, or something."

Personal growth

2009-12-02T17:58:00.004-06:00

On Saturday Adin started saying, "Erik". He was saying "eh" and I thought he was saying 'Erik' but Saturday he started saying "Eh-uk"! He will point to my seat in the car and say "mama", the passenger seat and say, "Papa", and Erik's seat and say, "Eh-uk". Today when we got back in the car after dropping Erik off at school, Adin pointed to Erik's carseat and said, "Erik school" (no r in Erik or s in school but still!)

Adin also began saying, "blankie" last week after he heard Erik saying it. He has a crocheted blanket that has been his favorite. Today when we were going to walk to the library, I asked Erik if he would like a blanket over his legs. While he was thinking about it, Adin said "bankie" so I went and got a quilt. No no no! A yellow quilt is not 'bankie', only the white crocheted blanket is 'bankie'. So he snuggled under his favorite blanket on the way to the library.

Erik has been showing new levels of restraint and maturity regarding his brother. Today while I was in another room I heard him ask Adin, "Can I play with that?" instead of just taking it away! Fabulous. And when they were in the double stroller on the way to the library Erik told me, "he just hit my head, but it didn't hurt." In the past he would have freaked out, even though it didn't hurt. Hooray for baby steps towards getting along.

Passing on skills

2009-11-28T22:36:00.000-06:00

My mom was showed Erik how to make an apple pie. He enjoyed helping and I think brushing the milk on the crust and sprinkling sugar on it was his favorite part. I'm not sure if he ate any or not.

Moving on 'Adin time'

2009-11-16T18:27:00.002-06:00

It's fun for Adin and me when Erik is in preschool. Most days we come home and Adin gets to play with whatever toys catch his fancy, without Erik getting upset. Today we came home and parked in front of the house (instead of in the garage). This change in routine seemed to intrigue Adin and he toddled off down the sidewalk. So we had a 20 minute walk down our street. He pointed out cars, doors, and trees. One house had two balloons tied to some plants so we went up and he pointed back and forth to them for a while. That drove the dog who lived there absolutely bonkers so we kept walking. The only hard part was yards with a steep hill in front he wanted to climb and I felt we should probably stay on sidewalks. It was so nice to just follow our whims.

Then we went back to the car and drove to the library for Baby Storytime. I took Erik a lot his first and second years but this was the first time I took Adin. He was mildly frustrated at first going slowly through the books with the group, but there are balls to roll and it's no problem to get up and walk around. Everytime we started a new book, song or fingerplay he came right back and sat down in my lap. It was fun to see him get the routine. A friend from church happened to be there so we got to chat a little after storytime was done.

2009-11-08T19:18:00.002-06:00

Adin has just begun to put two words together. He has said, "mama nana" when I was eating a banana and "mama wawa" when I gave him some water. Yay! Love those checking off those milestones. He is imitating tons of words as well. I believe he said "ra-ra" today when I showed him a carrot! Ok, so you'd probably have to be a speech pathologist to connect those two, but I do!

More pictures

2009-11-05T23:12:00.002-06:00

Trick or treat!

I'm terribly biased, but I think Adin looks so handsome in this picture.

Erik built a crane at the neighbor's this week. Impressive.

Adin at play

2009-11-04T10:49:00.002-06:00

Adin stumbled across a little stuffed chick or duck he got at Easter. I was reading the paper and watching him out of the corner of my eye. He gave the duck a drink of water from my water bottle. Made it walk around. Brought it in the bathroom and tossed it in the bathtub with the rubber ducks. Took it in Erik's room and put it on Erik's bed and tucked the blanket around it. So cute! Then he brought it in the back room and tossed it behind the couch.

He has a book he's wanted to hear over and over. It's a board book with tabs to pull. Each page has the same cadence: ask a question, give two choices, make a comment. So he brought me the book and I read it to him, then handed it to him to read by himself. He was babbling on each page with the correct cadence. It was so cute to hear him babbling with the same intonation I had just used!

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T11:42:00.005-05:00

Halloween will be slightly subdued this year since the kids are getting over the flu. We'll probably take them a couple places. I bought the kids each a pumpkin a couple weeks ago and yesterday we carved them. First Erik looked at pictures online to find the perfect face. Then I gave him a Sharpie and he drew a face on his pumpkin. They've been sort of practicing at school so he knew what to do. He did give his face ears, a belly button and a bottom (in front). Then I cut out the eyes and mouth. It was very fun and he was quite proud of it. The teeth he drew were quite pointy, so I said it looked like a vampire. He's not familiar with vampires, so after a couple minutes he said, "I think they are really called vam-pirates!" When Joe came home he told Joe it was an umpire! I cut Adin's to look like Count von Count from Sesame Street. I'm pretty proud of mine, too! I'm glad Halloween is tonight because the Count is going to fall apart pretty soon.

Adin has been saying "Pumpkin" so we decided we'll dress him in the pumpkin costume Erik wore when he was 18 months, instead of his new fire fighter jacket. Joe put him in his costume and he looked and looked at himself in the mirror. It was very cute. He even tolerated having the hood up. He drew the line at the cute little mittens, though. He hates mittens like poison.

Nope, we ended up having two adorable firefighters.

Fever

2009-10-25T13:00:00.002-05:00

Joe took Adin to Urgent Care this morning with a fever. He may have an ear infection, and he has ILI (Influenza Like Illness), possibly H1N1. So he's on antibiotics and Tamiflu. Oddly, the doc told Joe that we may be able to get an rx for Erik for Tamiflu, since it was probably too late to get him vaccinated. However, when he called to ask for that, he was told they are prioritizing kids under two, and not giving rx to kids who are asymptomatic. Adin is feeling much better. He asked Joe for a bath when he got home from the doc. Our friend, Nurse Natalie, later told us that's one of the best ways to reduce a fever. He had a nice lunch and has been playing and seems to be doing fairly well.

When I grow up...

2009-10-25T12:56:00.003-05:00

Since Erik started preschool he's been saying, fairly consistently, that he wants to be a teacher. Today at church he saw a big, tall bell tower out the window at church. He really wanted to go ring the bell. I told him there was a lock on it, and only Pastors Erik and Pam got to decide who rings the bell and when to ring it. I told him when he grew up, maybe he could be a pastor and then he could make the decisions about ringing his church's bell. (He likes to make the decisions.) He thought and thought about that in the car on the way home. Halfway home he said, "When I grow up, I'm either going to be a teacher or a pastor. I'm going to think about it for a couple minutes."

Church doings

2009-10-11T19:01:00.002-05:00

When I got in the car to drive home from church I said either scenario A had happened in the car or scenario B. Joe said, "A". Adin piped up from the backseat, "B". Whenever he sees letters he says "B" (or maybe he's saying P, it's hard to tell).

Then Erik suggested we swing by the pizza store and pick up a pepperoni pizza, or maybe cheeseroni.

I'm very excited about the last couple weeks of church. At some point last year we decided that Erik was too hard to entertain in church and he started going to the nursery every week. Last week he saw the drum set was out and he wanted to stay. He was mesmerized during the music and I was able to entertain him during the quieter sections of the service. He's not that interested in drawing but when I pull out an activity sheet during church it's able to keep him engrossed enough to last the service. Yay!

Bedtime Theology

2009-10-08T20:57:00.002-05:00

I know who else is with me...I'm not scared of Him.

After brushing his teeth, Erik climbed into bed and requested some stories from the Bible. We've worked our way up to reading about Solomon building the temple, and Elijah telling the widow God would make her flour and oil last to make more bread. Erik had some questions about how all that worked, of course. He wasn't familiar with the idea of God living in a building on earth so he thought the temple must be in heaven. And he wasn't sure how God could help the widow make more bread. We agreed that God was pretty amazing. Then Erik said, "I think God lets us do the easy part."

So then we said some prayers. We thanked God for lots of things, said God was amazing, I told God I was sorry for being grumpy today [and was just a little disappointed Erik didn't follow my lead and apologize for his temper tantrums]. Then we said Amen. Then Erik said, "Thank you, God, for making Sesame Street."

He wanted me to stay for a couple minutes as he tried to fall asleep. As he became sillier I left and he wailed, "I don't like to be alone." I came back in and explained I was still here, just on the other side of the door. He said, "And I know who else is with me. God. And I'm not scared of Him!" [I think in some Bible stories we'd read earlier this week, the people were scared by their encounters with God.]

I'm definitely enjoying this age of God being very easy to talk about.