I Want Something Special

This is Anna code. It means she wants something sweet, like chocolate ice cream or cake or a candy bar. But she gets very coy about it, and won't say the word "chocolate". Now I know exactly what she means, but if I tease her and give her something else, she'll say: "That's Not Special!"

But lately I have been trying to get her to say the word chocolate. A few weeks ago I coaxed her; I cajoled her; I told her she had to say the word if she wanted any.

So she told me she wants something "dark and brown"...

We're In Rochester

Some quotes from Anna:

• Jack and Thomas both have colds, and Jack has an ear infection. As I wipe Jack's nose for the umpteenth time Anna exclaims:
  
  "There's boogers everywhere!"
  

• Looking at a photo of her and her brothers: "That's Thomas--he's the fat one."
  
• Anna asks Nana what state she lives in. Nana tells her. Anna says: "Well... I want to live by Jamaica."
• Jack is sleeping. Anna is playing with Thomas, looks up and says: "Where is the other baby in the family?"
• Anna wants to play outside but I have to come inside to take Jack to the doctor. She's not happy but has a solution: "We need to go find another mom to do it..."

And finally, my favorite. As we finally pull away from our building in NYC 2 hours after we actually wanted to leave and I contemplate at least 6 hours of driving, Anna shouts from her car seat:

"Yeah Mom!"

In her best "You Go Girl" voice. :)

How Old Are You Grandma?

Grandma: "58."

Anna: "That's a pretty big number"

Pulling Nemo Magnets Out Of Diapers

Yep, this happened.

Anna plays with Nemo magnets while she sits on the potty.
Earlier today she lost a few of them.
20 minutes later I see her fishing around in her diaper and, sure enough--out they come.

One Cool Cat

It's Jack.

I Guess We Say 'No' To Jack A Lot

Jack has three words.
Well, sort of. He has been saying "da da da" for some time now, and recently "ma ma ma" was added. But I'm not so sure that they're really connected to anything as concrete as Dad and Mom.

And then two mornings ago...
Jack crawls over to the stove and tries to turn the dials and I hear: "na na na na"
Jack crawls over to the outlet in the dining room and starts to touch it: "na na no no"
Jack crawls over to the dishwasher panel and starts pressing the buttons: "no no no no".

That's right--Jack can say 'No'. And he thinks it means stove and outlet and dishwasher and any other number of things not safe for him to play with.

And now whenever we say 'No' he crawls right over to the stove, outlet, or dishwasher, looks up at us and smiles.

Not so fast...

Anna has been getting a lot of wonderful cards lately.
This morning, we opened one from Aunt Lyn. It has fishies on it. (Nice work, Aunt Lyn.)

Anyway, after she got over her initial fishie excitement, Anna realized that Aunt Lyn had also put some money in the card. Anna has been very interested in money ever since she started playing with the cash register in preschool. She now has a wallet with play money in it. And a library and Metro (subway) card, of course.

Anna was thrilled to see the currency and started to run to the toy cubbies to put it in her wallet. I had visions of Thomas crawling around with it in his mouth and said something to the effect of "Well, why don't you let me keep it in my purse so it will be safe..."
At which point Anna fixed me with a very even stare and asked:

"Is it my money Mommy, or is it yours?"

Wow. Got me...

Happy Birthday A!

Big. Girl. Bed.

At long last! A big girl bed with 3 sides (and one temporary rail) and fishie sheets. Also included are 2 Winnies, 2 Dr. Seuss books, 1 sippy cup and 1 Heffalump. Nitey-night!

WARNING: Potty Talk

Lately, we have gotten a lot of mileage out of the old "Anna is a big girl but the brothers are babies" routine. We keep pointing out all the cool things she gets to do because she's big, which of course includes using the potty.

And lately, Anna has been doing fantastic with the potty. I have not changed a #2 diaper in at least a week, and she regularly does #1 on the potty as well. Basically, I ask her to sit on the potty many times a day, and she does. And almost always, something comes out. Her Pull-Ups are still wet at times, but she is definitely to the point where that makes her uncomfortable and so I think she would rather just go in the potty.

She doesn't regularly tell me she has to go, however. Sometimes, but that is not the norm.

Anna has had a red potty for maybe a year and a half. But yesterday I was at the baby store and saw this fantastic, attractive contraption that is both potty and step stool and even has a place for toilet paper and wipes. Given all the toy accessories she requires while she is doing her potty thing, this would be a real bathroom space saver. Eureka! I had to have it.
(I mean, Anna had to have it.)

We gave it to her last night. And she LOVES it. It is a bit larger than other potty chairs, and I think she is mor comfortable on it.
She was on the potty at least 6 times today. She wiped herself. She dumped the bowl herself (frightening, I know). She flushed. She washed. She dried. Wow.
The only negative was that she was in there so much that Thomas was truly aching to see what was so very interesting and tried particularly hard to crawl into the bathroom. At the time, my attention was focused on Anna dumping her "output" into the real toilet. Anna saw him first and attempted to squish him with the door. Details.

So. (twiddling thumbs) What to do? What to do? Right now I am just hoping that eventually she stops going in her Pull-Ups all together, and then I buy her underwear. Or do I buy her underwear first and then hope that it all clicks? I fear for my furniture. I fear for my sons!

Send me your potty training stories! Clearly, I could use the help.

How Boys Spend Their Time

Jack

• is beyond pulling up; he can do pull-ups.
  
• pushes the walker like a pro.
• pushes Anna in the walker.
  
• walks all around while holding onto something; has completely let go once.
  
• is obsessed with the remote control.
• loves to bounce on his knees.
• is really good at So Big.
• is now into Peek-A-Boo.
• wants to climb anything and everything.
• steals everything from Thomas.
• points at what he is getting ready to steal.
• has gone under once in the bath tub. Slippery fellow.
  
• will ransack the toy cubbies and throw every single item out of them. Just because.
  
• has gotten his head stuck in the handle of Anna's purple plastic shopping basket.
  

Thomas

• loves to sit and read his books.
• can pull himself up.
• is nearly IMPOSSIBLE to change and clothe.
  
• will sit, wave a shovel, try to drink from a bucket and otherwise play in water for long periods of time.
  
• enjoys hollaring at other children as they pass by in the park. And just hollaring in general.
  
• likes to clap. A lot.
• is really, really good at Peek-A-Bo.
• does the 1-arm version of So Big, ie "Pick me! Pick me!".
• is always crawling around with something stuck in his mouth.
  

Both

• love to crawl underneath anything and then try to sit up.
  
• can drink from a straw.
• are now drinking a blend of 25% formula and 75% whole milk. My days with Similac are numbered :)
  
• get so mad if they can not fit through any space, no matter if it is physically impossible.
• love to open and close doors.
• like to eat stroller wheels.
  
• watch Baby Einstein. And a lot of it.

Oh yes - the guys have also started fighting.
Here's how it goes: Thomas is looking at something, Jack takes it, Thomas screams. Thomas hollars. Jack looks at him. Thomas crawls and finds something else. Jack takes that. Thomas hollars and then tries to get it back... and so on and so on...

Overall: Jack is an incredibly emotional, curious and inventive child with one heck of a temper. Prone to frequent freak-outs with indeterminate cause. Thomas is a relatively calm kid who seems to focus well and will sit in one place and play for a while. He also seems quite studious; he likes to read his books. He will get angry and hollar and cry (louder then Jack, actually), but you never get the impression that he has come unhinged. Occasionally Thomas will get really mad at Jack and try to get back items that were stolen from him, but usually he will hollar and then just find something else to play with.

How We Love

Jack - "the dental floss"
If Jack loves you, he will crawl over to you and tug at your pants. When you pick him up, he will have his index finger out. As you bring him closer to your face, he will attempt to stick his finger in your mouth and touch your teeth.

Thomas - "the head butt roll"
If Thomas loves you, he will crawl over to you and lunge forward head first into whatever part of your body is on the floor. Once he makes contact with you, he will roll over and into you and wait for you to rub his head, back, and tummy.
This is unbelievably sweet. Unfortunately, he tries to do it on hardwood floors. Ouch.

Anna - "the head lock"
If Anna loves you, she will surprise you by wrapping her arms around your neck and demanding a horsey ride that lasts as long as you can still breathe.

What color is your potty?

That would be Anna's second favorite question to ask visitors.

And lately she has been really frustrated by what she perceives as the unbreakable white potty monopoly. She has a red potty. She's waiting for someone else to say "yellow" or "purple" or (potty of all potties!) "blue". Now that would be something...

Hot town, summer in the city...

"Back of my neck gettin' dirty-'n'-gritty..."

Anna and her blue elephant watering can make sure that Thomas & Jack stay clean and cool on the terrace.

Not that they appreciate that.

Thats What Friends Are For

Laughing, smoking (pegs) & drinking (breast milk or formula), these guys have got it down.

Yep, all vices seem to be developing normally...

top & middle (l to r): Jack, Jasper, Thomas, Hugo
bottom (l to r): Hugo, Jasper, Thomas, Jack

Kids Say The Darndest Things

It's not that Marcus had been talking for so, soooo long. No, not really.
He's a sports writer for a Philadelphia newspaper. I like sports, had asked him a bunch of questions, and was really interested in what he was saying.

But I guess Anna was not. So much. And so when Marcus paused for a moment to catch his breath, Anna didn't miss a beat and asked him:

"Are you still talking?"

In an incredibly sweet voice.

I'm Not Sure I Should Be Posting This

So I ask myself one question: Do I want to remember this?
The answer: Absolutely.
One more: Will I be embarrassed by this?
Answer: Probably. But in a very innocent way.

So-- for the sake of my children, I'll go for it.

Here is a statement Anna has made maybe once a day for the past 3 days:

"Ming-Ming does not have hair on her butt."

Now I'll say three things about this:
(1) Anna often refers to herself as Ming-Ming in conversation.
(2) To Anna, "butt" refers to everything covered by your Pull-Ups.
(3) 3 1/2 days ago, Anna and I took a bath together.

OK wait I'll say one more thing: if you come to our apartement--watch out!
This is her new favorite question to ask visitors...

Gone Clubbin'

I won't tell you what you already know: it's a wild and crazy scene here in NYC. And when that "B-I-N-G-O" track comes on, Anna can really get her groove on.
And she's not shy about the bling, either. I have been in Claire's more times in the last year than in my entire previous life.
I love this photo of her and Nemo on the beach. Sand, sun, and a little girl having fun with her two plastic Nemo fishies. What could be sweeter?

She Knows We Have The Blog

She knows we write stuff down.

And so, yesterday when she did something particularly silly and I made no move to walk over to the kitchen marker board and note it, she looked at me, pointed to the board and asked:

"Did you write it down?"

Maybe this is how stars are born. Or performers, anyway.

No, Daddy Is Not Going Bald

I mean, he claims that the relatively more "exposed" location close to his forehead is the result of Anna insisting that she needed to put a Band-Aid on his head after he bumped it.

And then he had to take it off.

Hmmmnnn.
Let's see if he keeps pushing the "get it over with fast" removal strategy after this experience...