Microwaved Toast

Aden (6 years, 8 months) and Jonathan (5 years, 2 months)

I was nursing Leah the other morning (her first feeding of the day...6:30am or so) and the boys came into the room and said they were hungry. They asked if they could have a slice of bread to tide them over until breakfast. I agreed and told them that the bread was in the fridge (long story) instead of its usual spot (the pantry.) A few minutes later I heard the microwave going and figured that they wanted to warm up their bread a little since it had been in the fridge. I finished up with Leah and walked out to the kitchen and the microwave was STILL going. I looked at the timer and it still had 38 seconds left on it. I ran over and stopped it and told Aden that a single slice of bread only needs 5-10 seconds in the microwave. He said, "Well, but I wanted it to be crunchy!" So I told him that he needed to use the TOASTER not the microwave if he wanted it 'crunchy'! And he replied, "Nu uh, Jonathan put his bread in the microwave for 45 seconds and his got crunchy!"  I looked over at Jonathan and said, "Ew, gross!' And he said in a completely serious tone, "No, it's really good mama!'

For some reason I laughed so hard at this little episode that tears were streaming down my cheeks. Perhaps I was still in a morning stupor but it sure seemed hilarious at the time. I have such silly boys.

"You've Got Mail!"

Jonathan (4 years, 11 months)
Aden (6 years, 5 months)

This morning my mom was going about her normal morning business (making coffee, etc.) and her "You've got mail!" noticed chimed from her computer. She didn't pay much attention to it and a couple minutes later Jonathan comes up to her and says, "Here's your newspaper Grandma but you didn't have any mail." A few minutes later the "You've got mail!" noticed chimed again from the computer and this time Aden walked over to the mail slot, saw that no mail had been delivered, returned to my mom and said, "Grandma, I just checked again and you don't have mail?! My mom said, "The mail doesn't come until later in the day." He replied, "Well then how come it keeps saying 'You've got mail?' =)

Fuss Butt and Nonsense

Aden (4 years, 9 months)

Jonathan (3 years, 3 months)

A conversation/exchange in the car tonight:

Aden: "Mama, can I have the window down?"

Jonathan: "No! It will 'bwow' me!"

Aden: "Don't be a fuss butt!"

Jonathan: "Don't call me a fuss butt!"

(At this point, I start laughing because I know there is only one place they've learned the term "fuss butt"...from their mother.)

Aden: (laughs)

Jonathan: "Stop 'waffing'!"

Aden: (laughs)

Jonathan: "Aden, stop 'waffing'!"

Aden: (laughs)

Jonathan: "Mommy, Aden won't stop 'waffing'!"

Me: "Honey, he keeps laughing because you keep saying 'stop laughing'. If you stop saying that, he'll stop laughing."

Jonathan: "That's nonsense!"

(And then I start laughing again because I know exactly where he picked up the expression, "That's nonsense!"...from his father.)

Dreams

Jonathan (3 years, 2 months)

The past few mornings Jonathan has said this when he's woken up:

"Mommy, wast (last) night dere were twains in my eyes when I was sweeping (sleeping)."

and

"Mommy, wast (last) night I saw pictures in my eyes when I was sweeping (sleeping)."

and then

Aden (4 years)

This is how Aden has described dreams in the past year or so:

"Last night I watched movies when I was a asweep" or "I didn't watch any movies last night when I was sweeping."

Seeing (or hearing about) their perception of things and their attempt to make sense of all the new experiences that happen to them is a pretty cool part of parenting, I must say. It makes me wonder when I first had and remembered a dream and what I thought of it all!

Breakfast Conversation

Aden (4 years, 8 months) and Jonathan (3 years, 1 month)

This morning the boys were sitting down eating breakfast. Aden had a bowl of Cheerios and Jonathan had a bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats with Almonds. While eating Jonathan held up an almond and said, "Mommy, what's this?"

Aden replied, "A nut."

Jonathan asked again, "Mommy, what's this?"

I said, "It's an almond."

Jonathan said, "See Aden, it's not a nut, it's an almond."

Aden: "Ohhhh! (as if he's had an epiphany) like at the end of O Worship the King they say 'almond'."

Too funny! I suppose "almond" and "amen" do sound a bit alike...

Push Ups and Band Aids

Aden (4 years, 3 months) and Jonathan (2 years, 9 months)

Yesterday afternoon Daniel and the boys were playing around and Daniel asked Aden if he could do a push up. When he stared blankly at Daniel, Daniel said, "Do you know what a push up is?" Aden promptly replied, "Yes, it's ice cweam that is on a stwaw and then you push it up to eat it." (Ha! Thank you to his grandparents for that one!) Anyway, Daniel proceeded to attempt to teach Aden how to do a push up...it was quite comical! Aden couldn't figure out how to bend his arms to lower himself down. We kept saying, "Bend your elbows Aden. No, your ELBOWS. Aden, where are your elbows honey? Bend them!" All the while Jonathan is sitting on the couch just watching the scene and all of a sudden in his deep, little voice Jonathan says, "Elbows are for Band-Aids." I'm not sure if you've ever noticed but I rarely end Jonathan's quotes with exclamation points because his comments are always stated so matter of factly. He is the funniest kid! And OF COURSE, what else would elbows be for?! Jonathan LOVES Band-Aids and stickers and asks for one (or two or three or four) everyday. If I give him a sticker in the morning he will wear it on his hand ALL day and even go to bed with it. And yes, a missing sticker (one that falls off without him realizing it) has more than once been the cause of a major meltdown and I have been known to scour the yard/house/car/stroller/etc. in search of THE missing sticker even though I have a box of a bajillion brand new stickers in the house. And for the record, a sticker doesn't last more than 2 minutes with Aden. It ends up ripped in half, crumpled up into a ball, stuck to the floor or a piece of furniture, or gifted to Jonathan. Two such sweet but different boys we have!

Proper Grammar

Aden (4 years, 2 months) and Jonathan (2 years, 8 months)

Trying to teach your children proper grammar can be quite a task. We have been working with Aden on the proper way to ask for something and the poor child gets so confused. He usually ends up saying, "May you please get me some juice?" (a combo between "May I have..." and "Will you please...")

And we are working with Jonathan on independence and resourcefulness. He has made significant progress in this department but still needs assistance in the clothing department...getting dressed and undressed is very difficult for this boy! Anyway, we'll say, "OK Boozie, put on your shorts." and he'll wander around with his shorts in hand saying, "I can't how to." (Clearly a combination of "I can't!" and "I don't know how to!"

One day (a bittersweet one, no doubt) these babes will master English grammar...

Cheerios

My boys love to eat cereal for breakfast and they request it nearly every weekday morning. (Daddy takes requests on Saturdays and Sundays....pancakes, eggs and bacon, waffles, french toast, etc...and makes us all breakfast. What a great daddy and hubby he is!)

Anyway, Cheerios are a staple in our pantry and in our house they have become to cereal what "Kleenex" is to tissue. So, in our pantry we have seen:

"The New Cheerios" (Honey Nut Cheerios)

"The other New Cheerios" (anything new and unfamiliar)

"Ball Cheerios" (Kix)

"Fruit Cheerios" (Fruit Loops)

"St. Patrick's Day Cheerios" (Lucky Charms)

and my favorite, "Rooster Cheerios" (Corn Flakes)

Somehow, however, Frosted Mini Wheats have managed to dodge the "Cheerios" label and are affectionately called, "Frosta Minnow-Weets."

I know. You're thinking, "She lets her kids eat Fruit Loops and Lucky Charms for breakfast!" (gasp!) Well, it's written right on the front of the box that they now come with fiber! Fiber makes everything better, right?! But, no, not normally. The Lucky Charms were for St. Patrick's Day and the Fruit Loops belong to Daddy!

F-F-Phonics

Aden (4 years, 1 month) and Jonathan (2 years, 6 months)

Today we focused on the letter "T" in our phonics lessons. I'd hold up an object or show a picture and the boys would say, "t-t-tape, t-t-tiger, t-t-toe, etc." but when I showed them a picture of a truck (which happened to be a dump truck) they both said, "t-t-dump truck" and then when I showed them a picture of a train they both said, "t-t-choo choo train". Clearly, we have some work to do!