Those Four Dreaded Words

Lately there have been four dreaded words in our home..."I Doing Nothing Mommy!" Usually when those four words are used, it means Bear is up to no good.

"I doing nothing, Mommy!" She says as she swipes at her brother's shirt. I later find ketchup up and down Chipmunk's sleeve.

"I doing nothing, Mommy!" She calls from her room where I later find she's taken all of her clothes out from her bottom two drawers.

"I doing nothing, Mommy!" She answers after I question her about the food she's dropping on the floor.

"I doing nothing, Mommy!" She yells preventatively before I find her playing with things I've already asked her to stay away from.

"I doing nothing, Mommy!" She cries out to mask her brother's complaints as he's crawling away from her now wearing several layers of hats.

"I doing nothing, Mommy" She exclaims after I hear a loud crash and a boom.

"I yuv you, Mommy" She says afterwards, hoping that I won't notice a thing.

Daddy, Buy this!

Going to Costco is not just a shopping trip, it's a family outing for us. Two kids can sit in the cart comfortably, partake of yummy samples and watch as mom and dad ponder whether it's worth buying 300 diapers at a time. Bear enjoys the ride and has happy thoughts of hot dogs. Chipmunk loves the ride as long as his sister is sitting there next to him, sharing her hot dog.

Today, I parked the cart and stepped a couple of feet away when I heard, "Ooooh, wow! Daddy! Daddy! Come buy this! Buy this!"

Matt was a little confused and said, "What?! Do you know what this is?"

Bear smiled, nodded and said, "A Drum box! Buy the Drum box!"

Apparently I parked the cart next to a large pile of Guitar Hero:World Tour boxes for the Wii.

So we bought it...just kidding, we didn't. But that sure would have been a fun ending to this story. Oh well.

Paint, Squish, Glue, Smile

Art.

That's what Bear told me she wanted to do for her birthday party. So a little research led us to the Art Zone. After a brief visit to see what they had to offer, we were hooked. Plus, we couldn't get Bear to leave the place...so it was decided...

Seriously, clay, some goopy stuff, easels stocked with paint, projects with glue and beads, a play area with dress up clothes, paint that you can spray on fake windows and then squeegee, and a mud and water room for...yup, playing with mud and water. It's one of those places you walk in and think, "man, I wish I was a kid again."

Add some pizza, spam musubi and a chocolate cake, invite some friends from play group, and you've got a party!





She was so tired afterwards, she passed out on our couch...hopefully dreaming about fun, art-y things.

Now on to plan Chipmunk's dohl.

Retaliation

I still worry that our assertive, outgoing Bear will overshadow her brother, but lately I have been seeing signs of Chipmunk standing his ground. He has a few techniques:

1) Diplomacy - First he uses his words...well, his word (singular). Not so surprisingly, with a sister always telling him "no," Chipmunk has learned to reply back with "no." (Bear: No Baby, that's mine! - Chipmunk: (babble) No! )

2) Bartering - I've often seen him offering up whatever toy he has at the moment to his sister, perhaps in hope that she'll trade in return.

3) Thievery - After bartering fails, he resorts to stealing. He waits and watches, and the moment Bear puts down the desired toy, he pounces. Sometimes Bear looks up and finds her toy gone not even noticing Chipmunk swept by and stole it. Of course, Bear then grabs the toy back and then hides it behind the couch or behind a closed door even quicker.

4) Take Down - When diplomacy, bartering and thievery has failed, Chipmunk then retaliates with physical force. I've witnessed a few times our 22-pound 10 month old crawl up to his 30-pound sister, grab her around the waist and then pull her backward to the floor...thud. After that, he purposely crawls over her to hold her down so that he can reach the toy once again.

I'm curious to see how this will pan out in their future as siblings.

Returning to Normal Land

With travel and illnesses, it's been slow trying to get back to what we call "normal" in our home. Bear is finally remembering to use her "please" and her "thank you" without our prompting. She's also remembering what it's like to actually take afternoon naps. Chipmunk who has been super-clingy and seems to have developed some kind of super-baby-anxiety is starting to regain his independence. Once his fever broke, he still wasn't acting like his usual happy self, but slowly, day by day, he's starting to regain his appetite for food and for life. And naps? Oh yes, the naps are getting back on track, too.

It's kind of funny though how hard you have to work just to adjust everyone back to a normal schedule, but it's definitely necessary for sanity.

Speaking of normal, here's a funny Bear story...



So she runs up to me like this, hat over one eye and says, "Look, Mommy! I'm a pirate! Arrrrrrrr!" Then she proceeded to "Arrrrr!" all over the livingroom.

Now that's normal for our home.