NO MORE DIAPERS! (DAYTIME)

Silas declared NO MORE DIAPERS!!! He has been doing AWESOME! The only time he's ever having accidents, he is standing NEXT TO his potty chair and it seems pre-meditated because he just wants to go take a bath. (The one day, I felt terrible... he was stuck in his little Levis and couldn't get them down far enough to sit.)

I haven't diapered him for naps in MONTHS and he ALWAYS wakes up dry.

He wakes DRY almost every morning! We continue to diaper him - moreso because we don't want Sydney to feel badly that HE still wakes WET every day. Silas is starting to protest wearing diapers to bed, but we're still forcing the issue; for that, I feel badly.

Not only does Silas WAKE UP DRY, but that little stinker is protesting going to the bathroom until HE is ready to do it. There have been mornings when he first goes potty around 10AM!!! (He's got the pre-baby bladder of his mother, I think! Unfortunately, post-babies, I wet my pants often when I sneeze. That's life; they are TOTALLY WORTH IT!!!!)

He's really good about announcing " I have to poop!" loudly and in public. Sometimes, he adds "RIGHT NOW!" for the full drama effect. (Announcing that his butt itches badly also comes with potty training territory; also announced loudly.) There's NO CENSOR on the mouth of a 2-year old.

HE'S AWESOME!!!!

ROAR!!!!!

At bedtime, Sydney has been VERY TIRED (because he still protests a much-needed nap!) and lately wants to wait to snuggle in his own bed (where he sometimes falls asleep before it is his turn).

Sydney was all tucked into his bed and I sat back down into the recliner (with Silas now on my lap) so that I could turn the sound machine ON and the lamp OFF. Sydney was just starting to proclaim "Mommy, I've been a little scared lately because I'm having bad dreams sometimes" JUST as the light flicked off.

Right on cue, in complete darkness, Silas announced "ROAR!"

Sydney squealed in his mosquito-toned whining voice. "SI-wassssssssss! DON'T DO DAT!"

"ROAR!" he repeated, giggling.

Whining and crying continues...

I've got a comedian on my hands, I'm afraid.

Silas singing LOUDLY at TARGET checkout line

12/18: While I was waiting in the checkout line at Target, Silas was THRILLED to have his own register to himself. He proudly grabbed the pen and started to sing... loudly.

"We wish you a Merry Christmas...
we wish you a Merry Christmas...
we wish you a Merry Christmas...
we wish you a Merry Christmas...
we wish you a Merry Christmas...
AND a....
 Happy New Yearrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!"

His audience, an assortment of workers and shoppers, were smiling from ear-to-ear. One mother commended him for his singing and commented on how imaginative he was to SEE a microphone in the electronic pen at the checkout.

Of course, he gave an ENCORE performance.

• • • • •
12/19: Silas decided to sing parts of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" today at Walmart and Sam's Club.

I think his favorite line is "So be good for goodness sake!"

He's just busy spreading LOTS of holiday cheer! {What an AWESOME KID!!!}

Spinning in circles, he attempted to sing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" to Mrs. Runde at the library, but he got too dizzy and fell down. Goofball.

Yay! Picky eater eats HUMMUS because he likes Ba-gonzo beans

Sydney has notoriously been our picky eater. Mommy did a happy dance when she convinced him to eat some hummus on crackers because it is made up of smashed garbanzo beans and he LOVES those!

Excitedly, after Silas woke from his nap, Sydney told him how YUMMY hummus is because it is "ba-gonzo beans".

Giggle.

Ba-Gonzo!

A little weekend fun (ELF, SILLY BOYS, Silly conversation)

Barney was hanging out with fellow elves SNAP and POP today! (Dec 15)

DEC 14: Barney was in our tree (again). Perhaps, 

hinting that it is a good time to do some baking?

Group hug caught on camera. 

Then, Mike announced "Why don't you touch your noses?"

So.... THEY DID!

"Ah, yes, someday, this will ride the short-bus to genius school!"

(He meant for them to give each other an Eskimo kiss.... 

or an "Ugga-Mugga" as they know off of the 

PBS Kids show "Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood".

SILLY BOYS...

At dinner tonight, the boys announced that they "want to be ELVES someday when they grow up."

When I asked them if they planned to make COOKIES (Keebler Elves) or TOYS (Santa's Elves), they quickly declared: TOYS! That settles it... they want to be ELVES someday! Hoping someday they will get the opportunity to fulfill their dream(s) of being an elf.

Preschool Christmas Program

What an exciting day! Papa Olson came over late morning and went with to pick Sydney up from school. Sydney flew past Silas and Mommy and ran to Papa, announcing "I wasn't expecting YOU!"

Mid-afternoon, Grandpa Lowell came over and we had TWO grandpas in the house!

After our Grandpa-Grandpa dinner, we got ready for Sydney's program. Dressing him in brand new dresspants, the clasp FELL OFF when they were trying to tuck in Sydney's shirt. So, we quickly dressed him in blue jeans instead and hurried off to school.

I had thought ahead to charge the camera battery for my camera AND the video camera, but did NOT search for the zoom lens for my camera until we were out of time. (I was mad at myself for that! It had gotten moved from the place I typically store it - to make room for our gingerbread house. Kicking myself...)

Sydney's 4 year old preschool held it's Christmas program tonight at 7pm; Sydney was a shepherd. Last year, at the 3 year old Thanksgiving program, he started rolling up the front of his shirt until he ran out of fabric. This year, you could tell that he was suddenly getting nervous... started to fidget with his hands, make faces and started to play with the buttons on his shirt. (For a brief moment, I thought he might start to untuck AND unbutton his shirt.) I tried to motion for him to clasp his hands together, as if in prayer. He made eye contact, smiled and calmed his nervous hands. Eventually, he put them into his pockets.

At bedtime, he announced "I was really, really nervous in front of all of those people, but then, I saw you and I was better."

He was a cute little shepherd.

I was nervous until I saw YOU! :)

Some of the 4 and 5 year olds.

The 4 and 5 year old preschool class. (AM and PM combined.)

Sydney was  SURPRISED that Papa Olson was here to pick him up from school today and got to join us for a fish stick lunch AND for han-gabers (hamburgers) for supper. Throughout the day, they also played with a box of tractors, construction equipment (a bull-da-BO-zer and a dump truck) and some farm am-inals (animals) that Papa surprised them with!

Sydney, Curious about SANTA being at the preschool/church, but NOT curious enough to agree to go talk to him. Silas, on the other hand, announced that he was going to go talk to Santa and took off - bobbing and weaving through the crowd of people and making it almost to the front of the line before Mike caught up to him and explained that you have to stand in line to talk to Santa. We're pretty sure that he was going to negotiate not yet being on the NICE LIST and to tell Santa that he didn't pull Sydney's hair today. (At bedtime, he was proud to tell me that he didn't even cry when Daddy caught him and explained that he can't talk to Santa right now.)

Video message from Santa "In the Middle"

Allergy testing reveals...

Sydney was a very brave little boy today.

Today's allergy testing revealed that Sydney's perpetual stuffiness IS caused by allergies.

After a scratch test, we were informed that Sydney is allergic to:
Boxelder-Maple (4) *Spring
Birch (4) *Spring
Oak (8) *Spring
Giant Ragweed (4) *Fall
Dogs (5)
Cats (7)
D.P. Dust Mites (4)

and all 4 types of the mold spores (typically warm weather) tested:
Epicoccum (5)
Alternaria (8)
Helminthosporium (8)
Cladosporium (12)


The numbers are the size of the reaction/welt.

Because age 4 is rather young to attempt shots, for now, we're going to try a stronger prescription allergy medicine.

Sydney is also the proud new owner of a zipered mattress protector, a zippered pillow protector AND an allergen-friendly pillow.

After reading a little online, Mike and I are leaning towards getting new bed pillows each year for Christmas and May birthdays. It's pretty gross to hear the stats on the weight of your pillow DOUBLING from dust mites and fecal material.

I'll have to do a better job of washing all of his bedding in HOT WATER very regularly as well.

We are glad that Sydney does NOT have a lot of contact with our cats. The cats do NOT go into their bedroom - unless someone leaves the babygate AND the door open.

Hoping that our little man will breathe easier soon...

Merry Christmas (from Sydney)

Merry Christmas ... from Sydney

age 4.5 – December 2013

HOKIE POKIE HELPER

During TODDLER TIME, Mrs. Runde announces "OK, everyone... stand up! It's time to do the Hokie Pokie!"

Silas hops from my lap and darts to the front of the room, beaming with pride. He stands next to Mrs. Runde and dances in front of everyone. (He even manages to get a lot of laughs today... when he was standing on one leg and got to the "shake it all about..." part. He found it difficult, got a goofy grin and announced "Whoa!" while giggling.)

Mrs. Runde can't get over how eager Silas is to perform. She reports that it is SO NICE that he is that comfortable at the library that he isn't afraid of performing. "He's been here ever since he was a tiny baby and it's all he knows." she proclaims.

At the end, we take hands and do "Ring Around the Rosie". BOTH of my boys dart to her so that THEY can hold her hand.

We LOVE the library!

This morning, I was also VERY PLEASED with two random acts of kindness at the library. ONE: One of the mothers moved my camera out of the way so that it wouldn't get trampled during the "Ring Around the Rosie"song. TWO: The woman standing next to her picked my camera back up and started to take pictures of Silas and I together at the library. (She had seen me taking pictures of him during the HOKIE POKIE.) We proclaimed that it is a common problem for MOMS to be the ones taking all of the pictures and almost never photographed WITH their kids. She had announced "You'll have to delete a few because when we got to the JUMP UP part... a bunch of heads kept popping in the way." (I didn't even care that they aren't 100% in focus; I was thankful that she tried!)

"WHOA!"

Overheard: Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum AND Jingle Bells

Overheard:
3 - 4 - 5 - FUM! I'm going to eat you from a gingerbread, yum!

(Assuming it was meant to come from Jack and the Beanstalk... Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman.)


Overheard:

Jingle Bells
Jingle Bells
Jingle Bells, AWAY!