Entertaining the kids....in the neverending winter months.

After Sylvie obsessed about her "Sucker fish" we came across this gem of a toy in Walgreens for much less than a fish in a glass bowl costs. It was very cheap and very effective and when she wanted to "hold Nemo" she was unable to because there is a lid on him.



I put Logan's favorite toys of the day on the couch for a photo session for you...
The lion puzzle is stuck together with stickers so the pieces won't get lost. All ziplock bags and tupperware in our house are fair game for filling with treasures of any sort. Today it was rocks from the alley.
And his favorite and I'm pretty proud of this one. He learned to make a pirate telescope by using blue painter's tape and a piece of paper. Then a few weeks later, he started making multiple scopes and taping them together to make them "big." Needless to say, I am missing an awful lot of construction paper and blue tape! And then when we ran out of paper, he taped his baseball bats together. I LOVE these kids,...they keep me laughing every day.



When the evening is winding down and the kids have become bored with their toys they get inspired by messy toys. As in...lets make a mess out of all household items. Here is one example.
I'm sitting here cleaning, computer-reading or on the phone and I turn around to see this....



Followed by this...



Followed by someone getting soaking wet, someone almost falling and splitting their head open...followed by me telling everyone "No more water!" and frantically cleaning it all up with big old towels.

Today I got smart and put all the obsessions with water to good use. I have a spraybottle filled with vinegar and water and I use it everywhere. Vinegar is edible, so even if they squirt it in their mouths, they will still survive. We cooked bacon tonight for BLT's, so the stove definitely needed a good clean-up.



I even got her to dry!



And even though they fight like cats and dogs, they are so darn cute when they love on each other! She was hugging him, not strangling him. Always worth the clarification.

Easter Pictures!

For those not on the once a week email list....

Sylvie's Sucker Fish

This is the ongoing saga about the "Sucker fish" at the library. Our new library has an aquarium, complete with a cookie monster doll inside and a fish that sucks on the glass which we have labeled "Sucker fish." We were watching Mr. Sucker fish and he chose to go under some rocks. Sylvie was all concerned so I told her "Sucker fish went into the tunnel so he could sleep." Well geez louise, she has talked our ears off about that sucker fish going into a tunnel and going to sleep for 2 weeks now! All day it's "mommy, today we go to the library and go see Sucker fish go sleep in tunnel!"
So she talked about it so much to my mom and my MIL that they both went to the libraries (different ones) this week with the kids! I took Sylvie when Logan was in school and she ran over the the sucker fish. She said "Sucker Fish! Come out and Play with Sylvie!" "Sucker Fish, come see the rocks! Look, I have a rock for you to play with! Wake up sucker fish! Come play with Sylvie!!!!" Durn that sucker fish either went to fishie heaven or was hiding very well. Think the library would be okay if I showed up wiht a new sucker fish in a bag for them to add ot their tank?

Logan discusses the Next Presidential Candidate...

Background- you have to realize Logan is not one of those 4 year olds asking where babies come from or why the sky is blue. I never hear him say question words and his conversations are usually limited to things he's intrigued by. They discussed Presidents at preschool for President's Day, so apparently it is an "interesting" subject for him

Today Logan found a dime in the couch.

L: "Who is that mommy?" (pointing to the face on the dime).
Mom: "A president."
L: "No!"
Mom: " Well, not our president now, a president from before."
L: Eyes real big.
Mom: "Do you know who our president now is?"
L: "No."
Mom:"George Bush"
L; Shakes head with disgust.
Mom: "Don't worry, we'll get a new president soon. We're electing one right around your birthday."
L: "Good."
Mom: "Who do you think will be our new president? Clinton or Obama or McCain?"
L: "Obama." And that's all he had to say about that.:)

A St. Patrick's Day message from Sylvie to Daddy

Jorge is out of town until Midnight tonight so we won't get to see him for St. Patrick's Day. Here is Sylvie's message to Daddy...




And a kiss from Logan....

"Drama" - Logan and Sylvie style

Logan and Daddy go to Preschool
Today was "Daddy and Child" day at Logan's preschool (on a Saturday). We were all prepared with matching jerseys (upon request) and dad and son were off. The parking lot is teeny tiny so they asked that the moms drop off the dads and then pick them up 1 hour later. So 45 minutes later, I get a call from Jorge to come get them. As I was waiting for the inevitable freight train to pass, I got more info on a call to Jorge. Logan had been crying for the past 1/2 hour and was miserable.

My little guy....he is doing so well with school and all these fun activities it's easy to forget that once upon a time (like, for the last years before he turned 3-1/2) he was quite likely to NOT enjoy these types of activities. He just doesn't like all the fuss, all the craziness and in this case, I don't think he liked preschool not being a regular preschool day. So poor Jorge had Logan on his lap refusing to throw a football, play floor hockey or eat a snack. He wanted to go home and that was that. He just kind of "shuts down." Last year we went to a St. Patrick's Day parade and he decided he did not want to be there. So literally he tucked himself into a stroller, covered himself with a blanket and took a nap over participating in the parade. As soon as the parade was over, he perked up and was ready to "Go Home. "




Fighting over a pillow
Logan and Sylvie are hilarious to watch together. They talk, fight and play all day long. Sometimes one of them is cranky tired, and things get a bit out of control. This is a series of pics I couldn't help but snap of their little "tiff" the other night when they were both too tired to play nice.

First I looked over from the computer to see this.....Yes ,that's Sylvie on TOP of Logan. Then I grabbed my camera!


When I pulled Sylvie off of Logan, I saw how happy he was to see her


She wanted the pillow. Guess who won....My messy Sylvie. Logan just gives into her 90% of the time.

And the montages we've made of the kids!

Here is our baseball player Logan!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7228333171862447657&q=logan+baseball&pr=goog-sl&hl=en

And here is Sylvie's First Year Montage.....

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3459459791639374315

What is on our computer "Favorites?"

Me: Babycenter. I follow all these crazy women who have kids born in January 2006 and then I get to pretend I know a lot to my other real life mom friends because even if I haven't gone through it,,...someone has! I love it!

Logan: PlayhouseDisney.com he's getting really into it. He's a lefty so using a mouse hasn't come easily but we've been working on it. Each time he plays, he gets a bit better. He loves "Little Einsteins" the best!

Sylvie: I went hunting on Youtube for some clips of the Disney princess movies. Let me tell you, be careful! I used to go looking for Elmo and he's the worst! People will use the Elmo song and video and before you know it...they cut to a Tickle me Elmo on fire! So I always try to check these things out after the kids are in bed. So...we did find some clips of princesses, but we also found two fabulous video montages with video of the movies and appropriate non-disney songs. I enjoy them...but I am a sap. Sylvie watches over and over. She's very into the Sleeping Beauty and the Prince Slaying the Dragon but I don't think we'll own that movie for a bit longer...it's pretty dark and intense!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKm58OsPsAM A Cinderella Montage

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRle_kLoUQ0 A Sleeping Beauty Montage

Enjoy!

What did you dream about last night Sylvie?

My Sylvie is a dreamer. She tells me about the dragon in Sleeping Beauty, about the mice in Cinderella. So out of habit I often ask the kids "Did you have a good night? What did you dream about?". This afternoon she got up from a nap and told me right away "Me dream Papua and Mermaid." (Papua is her pet name for her favorite princess, Cinderella). I said "Wow" and she said "We swam with bubbles!" How cute!

She just came running in saying "oh no, me puppy!" She had hidden him in a piece of dollhouse furniture and was pretending she "lost" him. Of course I had to play along until she miraculously found him! She cracks me up.

Letting the emotions run wild (once a month)

Are you ever afraid to let yourself "Feel" too much? I adore my kids....I love on them all day long. Even my husband gets hugs and kisses and sweet nothings. But are you ever afraid if you really sit and let yourself get absorbed by the depth of how much you feel for them, you might break down into tears and not be able to stop? Yes, we women get to feel that way. Once a month. It's fun! At least for us....perhaps not for all. The roller coaster....it's quite the ride.

Today was my hormonal one. I went from feeling like super-mom providing Logan with all the essentials for preschool show and tell, complete with appropriate hand-written note explaining his family vacation, his souvenier (a disney monorail), and even pictures which we discussed ahead of time. Not to mention he had to be dressed in Red, White and Blue. Then at some point by the time we got home mid-afternoon, all caring and energy left and poof! Logan so sweetly asked me "Mommy Play Me?" and I said "No." How could I? But I did say it and I meant it, I didnt' want to play. He had angered me that afternoon. We met up with my mom and sister for lunch and he acted like a grouch, ignoring them and pretending to be tired. So I assumed he might take a nice long nap. Nope, magically he was "cured" the minute the dreaded lunch was over and we were on our way home. I was livid and after being my not-nicest self to him I had to sit down and tell him he was not nice to Nan and Jamie and that made mommy mad and sometimes being pouty is very mean. Then we hugged and started over.

Tonight Jorge let me go to a movie. Woohoo! I have done this a few times over the past half a year. It's liberating. I had never gone to a movie alone before, and since all my friends have kids and it takes a month's advance notice to know if we can get together, it can be a spur of the moment thing. I went to see "Definitely, Maybe." I loved it. The premise is a dad on the verge of divorce tells his pre-teen daughter the story of his relationship with her mother, and the other women in between. It was very well done and so real. People aren't perfect. They are influenced by the moment and this movie was all about it. I haven't had more than one love in my life so I didn't relate there. But I was so influenced by the movie. The scene where they banter over politics and high aspirations- wondered what my life was about, what my aspirations are. The scene where they see a book reading- wondering why I haven't been to one in forever. The scene where the woman is in journalism- made me wonder if my words would ever be published.

So I guess I came home all full of thoughts and put the kids to bed and came down to "publish" my first manuscript while I am still within those 24 hours where I allow myself to think with abandon. I hope you enjoy my blog. I'm sure I'll post 1000 pictures, because it is my hobby and my happiness is my family, so capturing their moments is my pleasure. But I also have a bit of my godfather in me, so bear with my long-winded Irish side! Now get out to celebrate St. Patricks' Day! Only 1 more hour until March officially starts, and we all know St. Pat's can be celebrated for the whole month right?

When I met him. When I met her.

When I met Logan, I was shocked. Nothing prepares you for the first sight of your child. They look nothing like you imagine. And nothing like you could have dreamt. Since he was a cesarean baby in the breech position, he chose not to squish his little head into an weird shapes, so he definitely had that "perfect newborn" look about him. I was so overwhelmed, it took me til the next day when I was in the room alone with him to break down into sobs telling him how absolutely beautiful he was out loud. It was something between a thank-you prayer to God and my first lullaby, but I will never forget those moments. It was sheer joy. And when Jorge and I drove home from the hospital, we both cried so hard we were sobbing, and our friend met us at the door and didn't even know what to do because we were both bawling, 20 minutes later! We just held each other and looked at this magnificent little being in his carseat and said over and over "He's here. We did it. He's perfect." And he was, he was our perfect little boy, our son.



When I met Sylvie, it was another surgery. I absolutely could not imagine that she would look like Logan. He was such a huge mix of myself, my husband and each of our families I did not think it was possible. She was perfect in every way and had this sweet rosebud mouth that I fell in love with immediately. The circumstances at the hospital were less than ideal. We had to share a room with a distraught couple whose baby was in the NICU. Jorge could not stay overnight to help out. And they messed a lot of things up- so I lost confidence in the staff. Not to mention, Jorge had an allergic reaction and ended up in another hospital emergency room overnight. But we were surrounded by family and could not wait to introduce our firstborn to his new sibling. I had a lot of quiet time with Sylvie and basically all she wanted was all mommy all the time. I should have known! I was sitting there hour upon hour just marveling in my daughter. She was smart, she knew right away how to let us all know what she liked (mommy's milk and mommy's arms) and what she did not (her bassinet). Two years later, it is the same. She is a complete mommy's girl and still does not like going to bed in her bed! I had flashes to the tea parties, the outings at the mall....and tried to drink in every single moment. I knew we would have a special bond, being girls. And I was so excited about it all. And calm and peaceful. And very very ready to leave the hospital and bring her home. She was my sweet angel and still is, she has us wrapped around her little finger.

Logan






Sylvie