reality hits. hard.

making owls and birds with grandma.  check out ice cream maker on the side.  Totally works

snuggle nap with aunt B

photo op, 2 weeks old

photo op 2 weeks old.  Reminds me of a pose of tucker when he was 2 months old

smile

ok!

Whitney found a sunny spot and sat down.  Don't blame her

crab plates they made that they used for dinner that night

Mommy and Ethan at the beach, but in the shade.  Too hot for Ethan, this WA sun

First real bath after cord dried up

another craft project done with grandma. 

W and T:

They invented some new outside games.  Like sledding down the dirt pile and being birds in the rhody bush.  the whole thing was shaking.

E:  He keeps laughing and smiling in his sleep. Neighs like a horse

for the paparazzi

Making squirrel and bird treats with Grandma An and Aunt Hannah

Throwing the Frisbee to Papa

Ethan during craft time

Ethan playing Frisbee, sunbathing WA style

Tucker removing the nail polish from W and Mommy's toes.  He's actually very adept at it

Whitney removing her OWN nail polish

Another use for sleds

Heavy duty pools

climbing into the pool

Tucker explaining his father's day craft to Papa.  "Look!  There is candy in there, Papa!  Look!"  He gave him Reese's pieces with a sign that said "I love you to pieces"

Whitney giving Papa her "papa rocks" coaster with rocks that she collected.  It's their shared hobby, collecting rocks

swinging baby Ethan.  Tucker's dolly is waiting in line

Each of their babies is in the swing and they are swinging it "really high"

Baby birds in their eggs on the playground



For Auntie Jill and Dad

Aunt B snuggle play

 

Tucker chucking 10 pound dive weights around

Whitney holding Ethan

Tucker holding Ethan

The week with Grandma Kim:

Strawberry picking:  Between everyone, 2 flats of strawberries were picked.  Aunt B was the most focused.  T and W picked baskets worth and gave the baskets filled to Grandma.  They liked going under Grandma's tunnel (through her legs).  Tucker wouldn't pick dirty strawberries.  I guess they were defects.

All adventures include bathroom adventures.  Tucker didn't want to use the honey pot.  Whitney started calling them honey pots.  Tucker supervised Whitney in the honey pot and at the hand washing station.

On the way home from the strawberry patch, Aunt B got out of her seat belt.  Definitely against the rules.  She heard about it from Tucker all the way home.

Crafts:  Grandma came prepared with crafts.  They made sharks, jellyfish, crabs, masks and mobiles.  Grandma mostly made the mobiles.  Put them up on the ceiling and everything.  The next morning I heard them planning on how to get those birds down.  Whitney told Tucker she couldn't reach them. Tucker said he could, if he could get on her bed.  He reached up and ripped one off, probably by jumping off the bed to do it.  Then Tucker didn't have a bird.  So Whitney politely gave him permission to rip another bird off of Grandma's mobile.  Then Mommy didn't have one.  Anyway, even though there are three birds ripped off, they have had a lot of fun playing with those birds.  Grandma put them on sticks and they are even more popular.

Going for a walk:  T and W don't particularly like going for walks, especially around the neighborhood.  Only Ethan gets roped into those walks.  He likes looking at trees moving in the wind.  But on a walk they went at a park.  They found lots of banana slugs and could dig in the sand at the end destination, so it wasn't a half bad walk. 

Yummy treats:  Cookies, ice cream, brownies, frozen yogurt.  And a pound of chocolate for Mommy that Ethan didn't like so much.  Darn it.  No chocolate for Mommy unless Mommy wants a fussy baby.  Rats and more rats.  but then, maybe eating a pound of chocolate in a week isn't good for anyone. hah!

Aunt B:  Took them  to the park and found lots of caterpillars and slugs.  Tucker told me about that about 20 times in a row about how "Aunt B said 'Tucker!  Watch where you are stepping'"  And he also prayed that night how he was thankful to "play with his friends" and "for the treats I ate".  Aunt B took them to the store and let them pick out a treat.  Definitely a thing for an aunt to do.

Beach and kayaking:  It was a beautiful day and I was so tired of missing out on all the outings.  So I decided to go with everyone to the beach, too.  It might have been a bit much for me and Ethan.  Still debating about the wisdom of that.  But it was also lovely to be in the sun.  I watched as Tucker splashed and jumped with Jeremy in the water, Whitney freak out about the plethora of dead fish on the shore (I had to agree with her on that one), Grandma kayak with T and W, and Aunt B hold Ethan in the shade.  He was pretty warm, so we thought he'd like a dip in the lake with just his feet.  Not so much.  But he isn't sick, even though Mina I(originally from Mexico) is certain he will catch his death with those behaviors.

Naps:  Mommy took a nap every day and pretty much stayed home.  Boring, but very necessary.  But I also got to snuggle Ethan lots and take a snuggle nap most days with Ethan.  He likes it!  And so do we.

Ethan continues to be adorable, snuggly and most days his alert times are in the day.  He tolerated his photo ops of changes of clothes fairly well.  He likes to smile and laugh in his sleep.  Or the chocolate effects are cute in his sleep.....  He has lots of cute poses and faces that we can't quite capture. 

One time I was putting him down and he raised his index finger and arm above his head, as if he was saying "Wait!  I still want your attention!"

Grandma An:

Park every day!:  I took naps or took Ethan to the doctor's every day while Tucker and Whitney got to go to different parks.  Ethan had four doctor visits in one week.  Why do they do it?  The favorite park was the beach park.  They got to dig in the sand and watch the tractor add more sand to the park.  New sand feels a bit crunchy.

Library:  They checked out the big down town library for the first time and picked out books that were in English and Japanese, plus lots of papa books.

Crafts:  They made the cutest father's day crafts.  See above.  My favorite one is the foot print one.  Not sure if Jeremy appreciated them, but I sure did.

Ethan weighed 7 lbs 3.5 oz on june 14.  No problems with eating.  He got his tongue clipped as one of the doctors appointments.

Both grandmas cooked and cleaned so mommy could heal.  Thank heavens!

Tucker likes to play gas can in the bathtub. He fills up the empty bubble bath container with water then inserts my hospital mug straw, then puts the straw in the boat to "put the gas in". He can also drag the kayaks about 10 feet (one at a time).

Ethan hates the cold, diaper changes and his arms stuck in a blanket.  Just like Whitney. 

W,E,T updates

Ethan's first home bath

getting dressed after bath

Getting hair brushed

Tucker was being very gentle, contrary to popular belief held by Ethan

Picnic bottle

Best chalk footprint of Whitney's.  She stepped in wet chalk, then on the driveway.

Papa helping her foot get enough chalk

W:

Whitney likes to draw faces on the white board.  One day she was in the office and wouldn't "tell papa what I'm drawing".  She drew a pic of pokey Papa.  Jim has it on his Iphone.  Maybe I'll get it sent and connected to this post.  She draws faces and people all over the driveway with chalk, too.

When Tucker plays batman, she plays princess.

She generally likes baby Ethan.  The first day he was home from the hospital, though, was  a major awakening for all of us.  W commented that baby Ethan "is happy a little and cries a lot".

Once we started getting more used to having him around (and Grandma and Aunt Hannah were here to play with them), she started making comments like "He is SO CUTE!", cuddling his toes and rubbing his head.  Occasionally she wants to hold him.  She also noted his cute nails.

Baby Ethan gave them presents when he got home from the hospital.  Whitney got a magna doodle.  She really, really likes that thing.  She has spent hours drawing on it.  The first night she drew an "E for Ethan".  She came up with that on her own.  She also used the triangle magnet to draw spikes for a dinosaur. 

Another night they were playing trains with Papa. He made a figure 8 track using some plastic Tupperware to hold the track above the other.  Whitney grasped the concept and used her blocks to support the train tracks on either side of the container with the right amount of block.

One night before bed Whitney told me "Ethan loves us because we help him". 

I showed her how to not touch the part of the binki that goes in Ethan's mouth.  She totally honed in on the germ thing.  She is very careful in handling the binki.  She likes to give Ethan his binki, too.  One night I was trying to hold him off a few minutes so I could finish bedtime with the big kids.  I let Ethan suck on my finger.  Boy, was that a no- no.  I got told I was giving Ethan my germs.  Yep, you are right, Whit.

The first night I was home from the hospital, Whitney asked me to sing the "I'm so glad when Mommy comes home" song.  A little adapted to show that she missed me.
E:

A very good eater.  He can slurp down 2-2.5 oz bottles in about 5 minutes.  At his 5 day check up, he had only lost 1% of his birth weight.  At his 12 day check up he was at 7 lbs 3.5 oz.  Eating?  No prob, Mom.  He was in the NICU for a little less than 48 hours after his birth for a temperature, not breathing and no tone.  Apparently the only thing going for him was his heart rate.  Whatever.  I think he was just pooped from all that long labor business.  It's his own fault he was tired and didn't have any energy for anything else.  All that stuff he had, I felt I had too, with him.  He livened up quickly, though, and started drinking plenty of fluid (see above), so he was discharged about 9 hours after me.  Way easier than 3 weeks in the NICU. 

He is also a fairly good sleeper and a calm baby thus far.  Granted, he is a newborn and just loves sleeping in general, but he doesn't fuss when Tucker and Whitney want to snuggle him or play with his feet and likes to play "peek a boo" with them for short periods of time.   Halleluh!  I'll take it for however long it lasts.  Probably not long.

He also can have long alert periods, longer than I thought possible for newborns.  Thank heavens thus far they are usually during the day or early evening.  He usually goes back to sleep after eating at night.

I should have known he would have been born around 9 pm.  He was always the most alert between 8:30 and 9:30 pm when he was inside me, too. 

He's a good little snuggler.  Either he has lots of gas or already likes to make facial grimaces that look like smiles. 

He is good at going potty on himself, too.  Once he got himself in the eye.  Cried about that.  Another time he got himself in the cheek, but he was also hungry and so was mouthing his hand like crazy.  He accidently got some of the "moisture" on his hand and sucked it up thinking it was milk I guess, but was really mad about the new taste.  Don't blame him.  That was really gross, Ethan.

Once he got rested up from all that being born, he has been happy and healthy.

T:

Tucker has remembered the food and the visits.  He told me about how he got a lollypop the day he stayed with my friend while I was in labor.  Whitney told me about the braids she got in her hair.

He also remembered about a week later going to the hospital to visit me and baby Ethan.  He was looking at my drinking mug two days ago and pointed to it, "there is the hospital!".  He got lots and lots of treats while I was in the hospital.  But amazingly, Jeremy also fed them lots of healthy snacks, too, and kept them fairly well on their sleeping schedule.  Thank heavens!

The first time Tucker came to visit me in the hospital, he was getting over a cold, so he couldn't go see baby Ethan in the NICU like Whitney could.  No prob.  He walked into my room, said hi to me and then patted my stomach and said "Hi baby brother!"  Nothing like honesty.  Then we had to have a whole discussion about how baby brother is no longer in Mommy's tummy (even though it looks like it).  I showed him how he could press on it really hard and nothing kicked back.  So they smashed in their stomachs, too, to show there are no babies in it.  Although, Whitney seems convinced there is a baby sister in there now.

Tucker has only asked to hold baby Ethan once or twice, but likes it when Ethan watches him do stuff.  He also likes to smile at Ethan.

Tucker has started a new thing.  Blaming things on "baby Tucker".  If something got wrecked or drawn on, then it was baby Tucker that did it. 

Tucker got Fiery Flynn as an addition to his Thomas tracks from Ethan.  Um... No one is allowed to play with Fiery Flynn.  Jeremy noted that Thomas is like Woody and Fiery Flynn is like Buzz.  Yep.  Thank heavens for Thomas that there is Whitney.  Since Thomas got set aside by Tucker, Whitney now has a train to play with.  She plays with Thomas and another train (could be James one minute or Gordon the next) while Tucker plays with Fiery Flynn.  It's not Flynn.  It's Fiery Flynn.  No nicknames, please.

Oh yeah.  I also had forgotten all about the tree guys.  They came at their scheduled time, the next morning after Ethan was born.  Hah!  Apparently one more thing for Jeremy to do while home with the kids.  It ended up being great, though.  I had asked them to leave the wood chips for our yard.  Um, yeah.  Tucker and Whitney have been playing on that pile for the last two weeks.  For hours and hours.  I think Tucker might be a bit allergic, though.  It really set off his asthma for a few days, but he's adjusted.

Tucker also has had fun playing with water in Papa's SCUBA bins, making footprints with their barefoot feet wet in the water or with chalk on them, making circle prints with the sieve while wet, looking at catepillars while at the park or on Papa's shoulders on the back deck, throwing the Frisbee around, giving peanuts to the squirrels, and playing batman with his baby blanket Grandma Kim made.

W and T:

We had a first episode of things happening while Mommy is tied up with nursing.  There were dry erase markers out, unbeknownst to Mommy.  We now have a green Tucker drawing of lines and a green Whitney drawing of a face on the carpet.  Hmmmm.  Guess Whitney will have to move into her new room and her bed will always be in the same spot.

While they were at the park one day, they found a new game.  They were running barefoot, but with their jackets on.  A compromise of what is and isn't summer.  Anyway,  They took turns holding each other's hood like a leash and the other crawling around.   They were pretending to give their doggie a walk.  Pretty cute.

They also showed a park playmate the "button" game.  There is a large circle that has the brand name of the playground equipment brand at the bottom of the slide.  Tucker and Whitney always "push the button" and then the other other one slides down the slide.  They showed another girl how to play with them, so the three of them could take turns.  It was pretty cute. 

Papa got them more sand toys, including a plastic wagon each.  The thought was that they could help move wood chips to the back yard.  But they got otherwise distracted.  They have built ramps in the dirt pile, as well as steps and ovens to make all sorts of games.  They call the wagon game "red wobble"  I don't get it, but it does involve parking the wagon.

Once we ate at the hospital café as a family.  I was having a hard time moving then, so I wanted Tucker to come to me to share some of my food.  No success.  My own rules bit me in the butt.  They couldn't stand up in their chairs to reach, because that was dangerous.  They couldn't get down to come around and get a bite because that meant that their tummies were full and happy (something I enforce because I hate cleaning).  Aaggghh!  but I guess I'm glad they understand.

I think I'll upload pictures later because they are really slow in uploading right now, but there you have it.

Oh yeah.  My brother Scott was visiting the night I went in labor.  You can ask him about his adventures in navigating the roads around here.  But he didn't miss his plane, even though I was in labor when I was supposed to be taking him to the airport.  Details.

I started this post before Ethan was born.....

Not sleeping super awesome, which does nothing for my memory.  I've decided that's the reason for early senior moments that start when motherhood starts.  lack. of. sleep. consistently.

Anyway, I've probably already written some of this, but am too lazy to re-read previously created blogs.  Did I tell you about the Hello Kitty sheets?

I got Tucker microfiber sheets which feel much smoother than the cotton variety Whitney had.  So Whitney would sit on Tucker's bed to feel them, which was really annoying to him.  Jeremy got Hello Kitty sheets, microfiber style.  Oh dear.  Once we put them on, Tucker was on Whitney's bed.  He really likes Hello Kitty.  A big, huge meow-meow.  The other day he was pretending that Whitney's pillow was the mommy meow- meow talking to his stuffed meow-meow.  And of course, that went over REAL well with Whitney.

Another thing that Tucker has been doing awhile, but I can't remember if I wrote about it is his saying "I want Papa to give me too much" every night.  This is in reference to how much toothpaste is on his toothbrush.  Still makes me smile about it.

Jeremy brought up a story about Laos.  They gave him the food or soda in a bag when he would buy stuff from street vendors.   I never thought about putting soda in a bag.  I guess it works.

They had a ton of fun with Papa.  He's been home way more these past two weeks.  I'm still not used to it.  He built castles with Whitney and the next day she could hardly eat breakfast because she wanted to make some more castles like Papa made.

But it was really cute that Papa left unbroken glow sticks on their beds for them to play with at bedtime when we left the room.

Whitney is starting to get the concept of small, medium and biggest.  She told me had medium muscles compared to Whitney's small ones and Papa's biggest muscles.  I'm excited.  I got upgraded to medium sized muscles.

The whole mimicking my behaviors is very intimidating.  I have to really watch what I'm doing.  And if I don't, I just watch them and see what they are seeing.   I use the word destroyed a lot when I'm talking about what Tucker did (to the toys, etc).  The other day Whitney worked really hard on making her bed.  Tucker went in and took all over her blankets off.  She ran out screaming and said "Tucker DESTROYED my bed".  She has  a bit of flare for the dramatic.

They have this new game that is hilarious.  It's called stinky diaper.  They throw the plastic ping pong ball out of the mesh cup holder of the outdoor chairs by hitting it from the bottom, yell stinky diaper and laugh hysterically.  I don't get it either.

Jeremy bought a power washer.  A necessity around here.  We've ignored that necessity for almost 3 years.  Now if the deck is wet, it is very slippery for the amount of moss that has grown on it. He works on it in little bits.  The other day it rained after not raining for 5 days.  Apparently 5 days is a long time to remember what it looks like when it rains. Whitney looked at the wet deck and said "Why did Papa power wash before he went to work?"  I guess she made that connection because the last time the deck was wet was when he was power washing.

I think she is hoping summer is more exciting here than it is in other places.  She really wants to run around barefoot with shorts and short sleeves on.  She pointed out to me that the leaves were all grown out on the apple tree, "so that means it's summer, Mom".  Meaning, let me wear the summer clothes I just picked out instead of the pants and long sleeves that you insist I need to wear today. Yeah. I know, Whit.  I forget that it is warm in other places, too.

Whitney wanted to make herself with play dough.  Which meant that she wanted me to make her out of play dough.  I made more of a stick figure looking Whitney.  But she fixed it by making herself some hair to put on the head, with a hair bow. 

A really cute picture I wish I could have taken was them wrapped up in their own blankets, playing with their own leap pads on their stomachs on the floor next to each other.

I also wish I could have the camera back to tape record some of the stuff they say.

Tucker calls tater tots "teeter tots".  Did I mention how good he is at serving himself ketchup.  Reality is hitting this house.  Ketchup is a food.  For sure.

Whitney was helping Tucker feel better this week.  He was upset about something for awhile and she really wanted to help him.  She ran to get one of his favorite books to read to him.  Even though reading books cheers her up more than Tucky.  But then she said " I know what cheers him up.  Stinky diaper!"  and he started laughing.  She was right!  He keeps asking her to hold her hand to cheer him  up, but she found another way.

Another time we found Whitney pinned down by Tucker.  She was screaming bloody murder again and saying "tucker said I'm a dragon, but I'M NOT A DRAGON!"  It comes from the book Alexander and the Dragon.  They both like to run around and say "come out dragon or I'll BASH you!"  Apparently Tucker was playing pretend that Whitney was the dragon and wasn't coming out of her room, so he bashed her.    Aaagghh! I thought reading books was a good idea.  I have to really watch the books I pick for them!

Oatmeal is not Whitney's favorite breakfast food.  We have it a bit much for her.  It's my fall back breakfast, which happens a lot.  Tucker loves it.  Anyway, in order for her to finish eating enough for her to have a "full and happy tummy", she asks me to feed her.  Obviously it tastes better with raisins in the bite.  She usually picks out the top raisins, then asks me to feed her.  The other day she handed over the bowl to me, but then spotted a raisin shadow at the bottom of the bowl and told me "Dig here!" as she pointed to the spot.

Her Papa decided it was a good idea to put the flat Hello Kitty sheet on her bed.  He asked why I didn't have one on.  I told him it was because I didn't want another bed to make.  If I'm going to put on covers, they will have to make their own beds, then.  Whitney loved it.  That night she said she didn't need burritos or tacos because now she could have a sandwich instead.

Making the bed every morning has been a bit of a challenge, though.  Tucker is actually a little better at making his bed when reminded.

Saturday we decided that we are a family living in the pacific northwest and need to go out in this "summer" weather of ours.  We went to the beach.  Completely waterproof.  Tucker made "water pies" (adding sand to a bucket of water), threw rocks in the water, and filled and re-filled a bucket that had a huge crack in the bottom.  Looked a bit more like a spout.  Tucker still soaked himself completely through.  But the sun did come out for the last 2 hours and so we celebrated by opening all the windows in the car.  Whitney got a bit chilly.  The air wasn't warm.  She said "I don't like being cold.  Not one little bit". 

They played pretend to look at the stars.  This also comes from the book Tell me Again About the Night I was Born.  The last page is the family laying down to look at the stars.  They pretended their room was the house and the hallway was "outside".  They wrapped themselves up in their blankets burrito style and laid on the floor looking up at the florecent light bulbs.

Some other invented games include playing bunk beds on the coffee table.  One kid sleeps on top, one on the shelf below.  This game gave me a bit of a start because when I walked in the room, they were both pretending to sleep and it being on a table and all, Tucker looked dead.  Not a pleasant thought.  They play "bounce" which means filling up their toy kitchen pots with small toys and bouncing the pans so all the toys come flying out.  At least they are old enough to pick up the toys again, although clean up at night gets a little long.  They also play "crack egg open" by taking all the small toys round easter egg like shell and hitting it with a toy so it opens up.

A friend of mine was wondering which child would assume the middle child role.  Really?  It's a question?  Anyway, Tucker has already found someone to blame.  Baby Tucker.  If he breaks something or destroys something, he says Baby Tucker did it, like he did it a year and a half or longer ago.

Tucker was discussing how the toilets at Costco don't work (not true, he just was saying that so he didn't have to sit on a self flushing toilet).  So Whitney's solution?  And I quote: "Jeremy will have to fix them". 

the moment you've all been waiting for

snuggle mommy, one week old

Photo op one week old

photo op one week old

Stats:

Ethan Wesley

6 lbs 14 oz

19 inches

Born last Monday, 21:06.  After my water broke at 22:30 the night before.  you do the math.  Glad he's our last.

Nicknames: Baby Wheat-thin, mini T


About the nicknames.  He reminds us a lot of Tucker.  So he was coined mini T by Grandma An

One morning Whitney was explaining to Tucker what the events of the day would be.  She said we were going to see baby Ethan, but, Tucker, being hungry, said, "Oh!  Wheat Thins?  I want some Wheat Thins!"  It made Jeremy laugh, so the kids caught on and now call him Baby Wheat Thin and laugh hysterically.

Maybe more later.  Will have to figure out how to make this blog much more compact......

belly pics

Bah Humbug.  I really liked the camera we had until it got stuck half way between open and shut again.  Last time that happened was in September, not too long ago, but I thought it was because I dropped it in the sand.  As far as I know, nothing has happened this time, except it was in Jeremy's pocket a bunch.  Maybe he has sandy pockets.  Wouldn't be the first time.

So I'll be explaining a bunch with words again.  Sorry!

We went for a walk on Mother's Day.  For some reason Tucker was feeling very snuggly.  He snuggled the flowers.  He snuggled the rocks.  But he also snuggled Mommy and made my day.  I wish I had a camera when he crawled under rhody bush and found a bunch of flowers blooming to snuggle.  He looked up at me in such a perfect picture pose.  But alas.  I actually didn't have a camera.

Whitney LOVES birthdays.  There have been a bunch of birthdays in the family and friends, so it's been at the forefront of her mind I believe.  She makes me lots of birthday cakes, usually with "strawberries" or "blueberries" in them.  Those are the pink and grey blue rocks she adds that we have in the yard.  Then she ends with a nicely pitched version of happy birthday.  I absolutely love it!

This past week a few surprising things happened.  Jeremy got home around 6:30 most nights of the week.  It was also sunny and "warm", summertime temps for here.  It was so, so lovely.  Amazing how rapidly my mood improved.  Fancy that.  The big kids felt the change, too.  They haven't been wanting to fall asleep before 9 pm, it's been so exciting.  Oh well.  I've heard the other parents say their kids aren't going to bed until late, so it's probably just a summertime struggle I'll have as long as we live here.

One of the things we did one of these nights was play basketball with Tucker.  It's worded that way on purpose.  Tucker directed the family team.  He would tell each of us when it was our turn and how far away from the basket to stand for our skills.  He wouldn't give us the ball until we were standing  where he wanted us.  Embarrassingly enough, my distance isn't too much farther away from Whitney's.  Papa could pretty much stay where he was and throw it really far.  But Whitney hasn't been into basketball too much, so it was really cute seeing Tucker encourage her to try and try again until she also got a few baskets.  Apparently this was very exciting.  Usually when I snuggle the big kids right before bed, Whitney talks to me a bunch, but Tucker flops around or sings to himself.  Not that night.  He talked to me for 15 minutes about playing basketball with Papa.

We also tried some candy from Thailand this week with Papa.  One of them was those sour coated dates with the seed still in them.  I still haven't figured out what that stuff is, but it makes my mouth pucker.  He also brought home some milk durian  candies.  And I learned about that particular fruit.  Apparently it is a love it or hate it fruit with lots of controversy.  Apparently it is very stinky.  So stinky, in fact, that Jeremy showed me a picture that is posted on a subway train in Singapore.  They have the usual pictures of no food or drink or smoking.  And in that list is a picture of a durian fruit saying no durians on board.  I had a really, good laugh about that.

Tucker talked a bunch on Monday morning after he had run all those errands with Papa on Saturday.  He normally doesn't fully participate in Joy School, often playing nicely off to the side, but Monday he was telling everyone about all the stuff he did with Papa.  Definitely loves his Papa.

Whitney was pretty cute about all the Papa time, too.  She asked who she was going to play with for Activity Days this week.  I told her Papa would be home to stay with her.  She said "I sure do like Papa".

With the warm weather we have also reclaimed our backyard.  The lack of the need to poop scoop to be back there has also helped in reclaiming it.  We've been playing on the deck and the underneath side.  Our yard  isn't totally fenced in and Tucker can easily open one of the side gates, but for the most part, it is an area where I can let them play now.  They've invented backyard games.   Tucker plays basketball with some hoop looking holes in the holly tree.  He also really likes to pick the holly berries off the tree, lecture anyone in hearing distance about  how you can only pretend eat those berries and then throw them up so high "it went on the roof".  He also enjoys reaching the berries for Whitney that she can't reach for her soups.

Whitney loves knowing flower names.  We have a camila bush in our backyard that is just ending its blooms.  The flowers fall off whole on the ground, so she has been collected her favorite blooms and saving them to float in bowls around the house.  She also picks not as perfect blooms and pulls them apart to use the petals for soups.

Their entertainment and media is definitely still very much a part of their play.  The other day they were playing "banana" with the rake and laughing hysterically about it.  Playing banana means mimicking the behaviour they see the minions in the mini movie associated with Despicable Me.  The other day they watched a bit of Madagascar and they were laughing hysterically at the penguins (minion like in movements, I must say) and the giraffe falling down all the time.  Now they play penguins.

Lots of Tucker's one liners and sayings come from stuff they see or read.  He likes to walk around saying "oh what a ride!" or have Whitney push him in the laundry basket saying it.  It is from the book Fish Out of Water that he loves to read at least 3 times a day, if not more often.  He and Whitney have started playing "Mr Nobody", something they were very entertained with from Joy School.  It's an imaginary friend of theirs.  Whitney loves walking around the house saying Angelina Ballerina.  I finally checked out that book for her and we got out the stuffed animal version of Angelina to read it to.  She is in love.

Whitney has gotten a bit tired with all the late nights.  She had gone into her room to feel her sheets and read Angelina Ballerina.  It was about a quarter to seven.  I was playing with Tucker and didn't hear anything for awhile, so I went to check on her.  She was dead asleep at 7 pm.  Sweet!  I was not about to change her into pjs.  She slept until 7 am the next day, but was very confused about why she still had clothes on.  Tucker was concerned for other reasons.  Since she was asleep, she didn't get a bath.  Tucker asked me with a very serious face "Is Whitney stinky?!" before going to bed himself. Yep.

Whitney drew a "J" in a circle in one of her watercolor pics.  She said it was baby brother in mommy's tummy.

Whitney could only go up to her knees that day, and so her knees got wet!

Tucker only going in up to his knees.  Amazingly, they stuck to the rule

talking to each other in those tube things.  Whitney is closest, Tucker is in the distance.

Playing on the train together

Playing in the fort

We've been enjoying a few days at the park.  One day was warm enough for them to take their sandals off.  Well.  Warm enough for here.  The next day was back to regular temps and they were very sad they couldn't take their shoes off.  They've been enjoying jumping off the rocks at the park, too, since they aren't wet any more.  I love it when they help each other jump off rocks or slide down steep rocks or slides by holding each other's hands.  Melts my heart.

Tucker asked Jeremy to play Thomas with him.  That involved Papa setting up the track and the both of them staring at Thomas going around and around the track for 15 minutes.   Tucker would fix Thomas if he went off the track.  Tucker filled up Thomas's "wagon" with the fish from the fishing game he brought back from Japan.  Tucker likes to instruct us in correct orders.  He told Jeremy "first the track, then Thomas" when Jeremy mentioned Thomas needed new batteries.  He also said "first potty, then bath" when running to the bathroom to get his turn in the tub.

He also pointed out that Thomas is a boy, just like Tucker and Papa.  Boys night out in the living room, I guess.  We were having one of many who's a girl and who's a boy discussions the other day. I had a good laugh at something Tucker said.  It can be taken two ways.  We were talking about how Mommy is a girl. Tucker then said Whitney was a "little Mommy".  I think he meant that Whitney is a little girl, but it could be taken that she is a little Mommy in the truest sense to him.  I haven't decided.

I like the fact that I can take a little bit advantage of his boy love of mechanical things.  He squirted all the windows down with Windex for me and also squirted the vinegar on our wood floors.  Quite a good little helper that way.

We played with oobleck today.  Tucker loves that stuff.  I was impressed that Whitney remembered the nickname for it.

We also played tent.  Tucker liked smashing Whitney's, so it didn't last too long.  He wanted to play glow stick, lantern and with the other glow in the dark or light up toys they have for wintertime.

They played caterpillar this week.  They each found a caterpillar that they went on adventures with.  They usually let it crawl around in a shovel they carried about.  Tucker put one of his caterpillars in the dump truck and "dried him off".  Mina was doing laundry and he had the truck below the dryer vent.  I think the caterpillar crawled off the truck, because soon after that they had to take turns with their caterpillar friend.  Whitney figured out how to use two shovels to help the caterpillar back on a shovel.  She didn't want to touch it.  Neither did Tucker, but Tucker kept trying to convince her to pick one up.

They had a ton of fun with Daddy on the weekend.  We decided to clean up around here from the past 2 and a 1/2 years.  They got a power washer and rode around on the flat cart at Home Depot.  Whatever.  I let them push.  forget rides.  I'm already tired.

One of the errands was for Daddy to get his and Tucker's hair cut.  Didn't work out so well.  Well, I guess it depends on who you ask.  Tucker didn't want a haircut, but Whitney sure did.  So she got one and he didn't.

They also went to the dump with him to get rid of all these non working appliances that were kindly left by the previous owners.  Tucker had a blast pulling stuff to the truck and lifting what he could into the truck bed.  He's pretty good at it.

And of course they got a treat, lots of them, while with Daddy.

Some funny stuff Tucky said this week.  He calls brownies "frownies".  Not frownies.  They make me smile.  He also got a little upset at his left over pizza at lunch.  He broke in two pieces.  He doesn't like his food broken for some reason.  He was crying hysterically and kept asking for tape to put on his pizza.  I see the logic..... kind of.

Whitney likes comparing how she is the same as other people.  She said "Whitney and Papa collect rocks".  She says collect so cute.  You understand her, but the pronunciation is off on collect.  She also said that "Danny and Whitney both like cutting paper" while she was cutting up little shapes like "octagons" from paper.  Danny is the kid in the book It Was Jake! who cut up paper for fun.  The one that drives me the most nuts, though, is how she compares her toes to Papa's toes.  They have the same toes, which means they both like to pick up objects off the floor with their toes.  Which means she likes to do clean up with her toes.  It. Takes. Forever.  Tucker pretty much does clean up on his own now.  I have to plan lots and lots of time for clean up.  Because I'm not picking up toys or anything else off the floor at the moment.

For Joy School this week I made a man out of pipe cleaner.  Random, but Tucker loves Man.  He brings him everywhere.  He puts him to sleep in the iphone box he got from Papa.  He likes to cart the box around, too.

Tucker tripped the other day.  So he's been showing the family his owies.  The first time he showed Whitney his owie he said "Whitney, want to see my owie?"  She looked at it and kissed it.  He was so excited he ran to tell me how kind she was.  Yep.  Whitney told me this week that girls help their mommies.  She certainly does.  But they both helped weed today, so they are both my big kid helpers.

all of these pics are from a friend's camera and are purely belly pics