Are we having fun yet?

Monday, February 25, 2013

spring teasers

This day was sunny, no wind and 50 degrees. Obviously we don't need a winter coat, Mom. Mom needed one, but whatever. They were kicking the slide. Made lots of noise. Hilarious, right?

I think Whitney was working. She has seen me dead head these plants. I'm not sure if she wanted to pull the stuff off to work or to add to her collection, but she didn't make a soup or anything, so maybe she was working. Tucker just wanted to see what Whitney was up to. He didn't stick around too long

Whitney getting her chalk outline drawn.

Tucker getting his chalk outline drawn next to Whitney's

Whitney labeled the drawings T and W and put a smiley face on Tucker's. Tucker was pretty impressed withWhitney putting on the smiley face. He really liked it.

Playing in the wind, sand and water. It only looks warm. Whitney's hands were bright red and Tucker's feet were swollen in his boots, they were so cold

Tucker and Whitney were SO EXCITED to make sandcastles. They immediately started digging as soon as we got out of the truck. Jeremy in the background (our Papa)

Jeremy took us razorclamming Saturday. It actually turned out to be really fun. The last time I went was a year ago and the car trip was not worth the couple of hours of play we can stand in the cold weather. I definitely had a bad attitude about the car trip. I told Jeremy I would drive for the way out and then he could drive home. That made a world of difference for me. They were definitely fussy about it toward the end, but it wasn't my turn, so it was ok. Then, when we got there, I was in a good mood and we had a great time playing.

We tried following him out there to go razor clamming together, but the wind was too much. It was pushing the waves back in, even though the tide was out far enough to see where the clams were. Jeremy got a few caught before a big wave came in and got us pretty wet. Tucker got very wet, up to his hips, so he was done. I think the water rushing around him scared him a bit. He was laughing at first, but then didn't want anything to do with those waves later. The water was really cold, though, so I'm not sure which thing bothered him. I picked up Whitney, so it wasn't an issue with her.

We went back up the beach and Tucker got himself even more wet. Good thing I waited to change him. There was a very shallow stream that he could stomp around in, and stomp he did. He also had a blast throwing sand into the water and both liked watching the dry sand get blown out of their shovels. The sand was just tons of fun. This sand is very fine sand, unusual for around here, so that added to the fun.

We stayed until it was almost dark, so we got to see the sunset and the moon rise while we ate dinner in the car. Jeremy was still out stomping around in the sand and getting completely soaked while we ate. But we all had fun.

Before we left for our razor clamming trip, I took the kids grocery shopping and told them they could pick out a car treat. My plan kind of backfired a little on me as I didn't say what they could pick. Whitney picked out a odwalla smoothie and grapes last time. This time she spied the Oreos and said to me "Mom. I like those cookies with the cheese in them". So Oreos it was, but I had to do a little conniving to talk Tucker into the fact that he was also picking out the same car treat as Whitney. He didn't complain once he got them in his mouth. And neither did Mommy. I'm a little partial to them myself and have to talk myself out of getting them every grocery trip, so it wasn't hard to talk me into that one.

The other day we got out and about was Tuesday. It was gorgeous. I scraped all my plans for being productive and we were just outside. We went to the park for a bit and they said it was too warm for jackets. Whatever. We would have stayed all afternoon, but I said I would babysit some kids for a bit, but that was fun, too.

The oldest in the group was 4. Awesome. He can trace around bodies with chalk on the driveway. Tucker and Whitney wanted me to trace around their bodies in chalk. I'm getting fat enough that I really don't like standing up from the ground, so doing it multiple times sounded less than fun. But no worries, this 4 year old was so cute. He would explain where to put their arms so he could trace their outlines and they stayed put until he was done. He did a fairly good job. I think they liked working all together as little kids.

Whitney and I got a hair cut Monday. I think it was easily 6 inches of hair from Whitney's head. I thought that growing it out would work because then it would be long enough to tie back. Yes, that's true. Whitney's fine hair doesn't hold hair things, so I finally got tired of cleaning food out of her hair and watching hair drag in her food that I said, chop it off. Whitney totally agreed for the price of one sucker.

Jeremy came home from work just after she got her hair cut. We were getting our hair cut by a friend at home. Jeremy was a little shocked and asked Whitney where all her hair was. She responded "On the floor!". I think she likes getting all the compliments about her hair, though. The shortness of it doesn't seem to bother her.

The swim lesson update is that Whitney floated on her back for about 2 seconds with her swim instructor. Her teacher was pretty excited about it. So was I!

They are both picking up on more drawing skills. A result of being inside too much, probably. Tucker drew cat faces a bunch. Then he drew one with spikey hair all the way around and called it a pokey hair cat. Whitney drew pictures of her face on the white board, adding a bow in her hair versus no bow in Tucker's hair. Then she drew a face for me and a shirt below. She looked at me and put ruffles on the front of my shirt and bow in the back of my shirt. I thought it was so cute how serious she was looking at me then the board, so she could draw me accurately.

Tucker is getting good at letters. I was writing down which ones he is best at and then got a chuckle out of which ones they are. It's not that he can spell this word, but he happens to know how to clearly write H, I, and T.

One of Tucker's phrases that cracks me up almost every time is when he asks to eat Frosted Mini Wheats for breakfast. He asks for "Frosty the Mini wheat", like Frosty the snowman.

Friday I went to a friend's to learn some basic Japanese receipes. Jeremy came home loving the food he tried and wanting to eat it here. I wanted to learn to cook some of these so he can enjoy them, but I think he might want me to quit learning in a bit. Never comes out the same in another country. Whitney loved it. My friend taught me how to make hot pot Japanese style like what you would eat at home. But her husband is Chinese, so they always add these fish cakes to the hot pot because he likes them. So does Whitney. She ate about 5 of them. They taste a little too fishy and fried to me. Tucker loved the dip and put it all over the rice. He pretty much ate half of the rice cooker pot of rice she made. Like Dad says, Tucker can really pack it down. But then, so can Whitney. I think my friend really enjoyed having my kids eat her food. Her experience with Americans, and especially American kids is any fishy flavor is a definite not going to try it. Not so with Tucker and Whitney. Although, I'm not sure you can say fish sauce over rice is a really asian flavor. It could be argued either way.

Afterward we went to the kid's museum. They played with bubbles for 45 minutes straight. They had a bubble mixture that allowed the bubbles to stay around for a long time. They used a pipet the other direction, so they could blow through it like a straw and make lots of big or little bubbles. They had the solution on a tray. They had so much fun blowing bubbles bigger on the tray, blowing small ones in the air and holding them in their soapy hands. Tucker loved blowing bubbles to the other kids and Whitney liked blowing bubbles to a baby.

Last week of swim lessons coming up. Tucker is really going to miss the air dryers he sits under to dry his hair and warm up after the shower.

Sunday, February 17, 2013

case in point

This is for anyone that lives in a cold place. If you like warmth, gardens or sun, pick a residence in your cold area on the south side of a hill or mountain. It makes a HUGE difference. Below are pictures of daffodils. Ones that are in bloom and ones that only have leaves about 3.5 inches tall. The photos are taken about 24 hours apart. The ones in bloom were taken first. The daffodils are both planted on the south side of a building, fairly well protected from the wind and heat reflecting from the building onto them. They are about 1 mile apart as the crow flies in distance, the blooming ones 1 mile north of the others. The difference? One building is built on the north side of a hill and the other building is on the south side of a hill.

north side of hill daffodils

south side of hill daffodils

They wouldn't take these sunglasses off, even though it got cloudy

Tucker wouldn't take his sunglasses off for a close up shot of his face, so this is what you get

The cool kids

Whitney's close up photo op

Popping bubble wrap while wearing her "ring shoes"

Tucker asked for this photo. He wanted a picture of his Thomas snuggling with his car friends

It's spring already on the south side of the hills around here, but spring is probably about another month off on the north side of the hills. I have a friend here that totally agrees with me about the difference of which side of a mountain you are on. Very few agree with us, but very few of our common friends have homes on the north side of a hill like we do. After taking these pictures, I rest my point.

Valentine's Day was pretty fun this year. I think all the holidays are going to be fun this year. They are old enough to like the activities, but it's like it's the first time they've experienced it all, so it's extra fun.

Jim started off the day right. He had bought some See's candies, my favorites. Before he went to work, he surprised me with it. I couldn't wait to try a piece, so that meant I had to share. Tucker and Whitney both shoved the whole piece of candy in their mouth at one time. It was really hard to chew and keep it all in, but they figured out a way. I was sure they were going to choke, but they didn't.

Jim came home and cooked. It's been a really, really long time since he's been home for dinner on a weekend night and even longer since he cooked, so it was a great day for me. Especially since it was a swim lesson night. When we came home, dinner was already started. We had heart raviolli. Tucker ate only the white heart noodle ones, so Whitney and I ate all the red ones. I guess red is a color only for clothes. Whatever. Jim also brought home flowers for me and flowers for Whitney. That was a huge hit. And lots of other yummy treats.

We had a Valentine's party at their school that was really short and fast and fun. We decorated a cupcake and handed out Valentines. They were surprisingly good at decorating cupcakes. They get the concept pretty well, and don't beg to eat it or lick frosting until they are done. This is something I'm sure they'll get over, but I think they got the practice with Aunt B. They were most excited for the Valentine's they made for each other. Probably because I let them taste some of the candy after we made them. Whitney knew which one was for which kid by the first letter of their names, but got Tucker mixed up with another kid whose name starts with T. Close enough.

This week when we went to the library, they lined up all the small chairs in the kid section along the window seat in that same section. The way they lined them up was pretty funny. They pretended the chairs were trash cans and they were bringing them in. It happened to be trash day and we had just taken out the cans. Tucker can move our small one on his own. He even tells me to use my foot to tip it, just like him. It cracks me up.

Whitney practiced her lining up toys at home with all of her ponies. She lined our coffee table with all of them. I didn't realize how many there were until she lined them up. We inherited the collection from a friend that had two girls 18 months apart, so there are two of several of them. Works well at this house, too, amazingly. Later in the week, Daddy and Whitney put all the ponies in the bathtub. Whitney picked out a pink one with a pink body and very sparkly hair to represent Daddy. Then she put "Daddy" in and out of the bathtub.

We went to their three year old check up. The nurse complimented Whitney's scarf and noted how it was made "just like Mommy's". Whitney corrected her and said hers was pink and Mommy's was red. Get it right, Nurse. But it was pretty cute because Whitney talked a bunch to the nurse. While Tucker was getting weighed, the nurse was noting his strong, growing muscles and Whitney said "I'm turning into a Mommy!", which is what she says when we talk about getting bigger. The nurse just kept talking to Tucker. He must have thought she was cute, because he had nothing to say.

They tried doing the eye and hearing test. That was purely for our entertainment, I guess. The nursed commented on how they try isest with 3 year olds, but are never certain if they get the concept. They grasped the concept with the eye test. That was purely luck because it's all about naming shapes, and they currently are into that. It only failed a bit when Whitney would tell Tucker the answer or Tucker would tell Whitney the answer on a few, but in general they got it. Although, Tucker may have inherited mine and Jim's eyes. On the smallest lines, he couldn't quite get the apple from the circle, but we'll know for sure next year, I guess.

The hearing test they didn't get, but it was funny to watch. The nurse told them to tap my hand when they could hear a noise. They did on the first one, but after that, they left their hands on my hand. Whitney had a smile on her face, like "These are funny sounds!" and would shift her eyes from one ear to another. Tucker didn't really like the noise, I think. He grimaced on a few of them and would turn his head when it switched ears. I have no concerns about their hearing, just their selective hearing, which already occurs.

We got flu shots. Bummer for Tucker he can't get the spray like Whitney. Dumb asthma. It means he has to have the shot. But he didn't even cry out. I was surprised! He definitely flinched, but the dancing bear the nurse had helped out. Afterward he picked out a sticker first. He immediately picked out a Belle sticker. It was the brightest sticker in the stack, but I think Whitney was a little bummed and wanted that one. She searched and searched and searched to pick a sticker. She was finally happy when Tucker found another one of his same exact sticker. He found it and asked her "Do you want this one?" It was cute how he asked her.

He is 36 pounds and Whitney is 30 pounds. Tucker falls in the 70-75th percentiles with stuff and Whitney about the 30th or so except for height, which is 60th. This means Whitney is tall and skinny and Tucker is built rather thickly. Duh. Then Tucker went home and ate 4 bowls (kid bowls) of noodles, while Whitney only ate 2, but ate her veggies and meat while Tucker left those aside.

That night at swim lessons they got to jump in the pool from the side. They loved it! They played "splash" the next two days jumping off cushions or pillows on the floor. Whitney also noticed Tucker's swimsuit coming down a bit when he was in the pool and she helped him pull it up. Very cute.

Whitney no longer ignores the stomach, but I still thinks she's a bit disappointed. She commented on how "the baby is going to grow bigger and bigger until he grows into a Tucker". When Tucker is constantly tackling and winning, you can see why Whitney is less enthused about the whole thing. Tucker, on the other hand continues to love this idea. This week, when Whitney was play hitting my stomach, he ran over and pushed her hand aside and said "Take care of baby brother!" then gave my stomach a kiss. Since then, Whitney has been a little more gentle. Tucker noticed my stomach sticking out when I was sitting on the couch. He pulled his shirt up and stuck his belly out, saying "I have a baby brother in my tummy, too!"

One night when I went to check on Tucker, I couldn't find his head among the blankets. Duh. It was because he was under his fitted sheet. Made his own bed tent.

Tucker is pretty impressed with himself. He has a shirt that has large buttons. He buttoned it himself. It was only slightly obvious he buttoned it himself. I was pretty impressed, too. But now he takes a long time to get dressed because he wants to do it himself.

Whitney is such a good little cleaner. On top of cleaning up Tucker's toys, she also puts her dishes up without me asking her to. I love it!

Friday I called my mom because we had some earth shattering news. It was sunny. And somewhat warm. 55 or so. We played outside for an hour and a half. In that time Tucker figured out how to catch bubbles with his wand so that they didn't pop. That was absolutely hysterical. I trimmed a few branches that also were long. Whitney made a bird house for Rocky on top of him. It stayed together pretty well, even when Rocky got up to move. Looked pretty funny. Rocky didn't think it was so funny. Whitney made dirt eggs around the blueberry plants to take care of them and Tucker planted yucca plants in his bucket over and over.

I let Tucker play on the ipad for a bit one day. I was trying to figure out facetime on it and he had a hard time with me only playing on it. Daddy has been teaching him well to use the electronics. Tucker wanted a particular music video of his (happy train) and couldn't find it on the you tube icon, so he said "Oh yeah! We need to go to history!" and clicked on the correct button the first time.

Saturday the clouds rolled in, but it was still dry and "warmish". I gave them the option to go to the playground or to go exploring. Whitney picked exploring. We went to a new place with walking trails. Whitney had a blast that I was following her and letting her lead the way in going exploring. There were a bunch of these rock walls covered in a metal mesh that they could climb on and around. Tucker figured out first how to scale them. Whitney could do it, but didn't want to hurt herself, so she said she couldn't do it. Tucker went over and said "I will help you!" and grabbed her hands. Of course that doesn't work, but it was cute how much he wanted to help her. Tucker also found some handrails to swing on. Whitney thought that looked fun, so Tucker said "I'll show you how to do it!" and did a demo for her.

Tucker continues to love music. He is gaining such a large repoirtaire of songs. Even Jim noticed how much he loves to sing. He also repeats phrases from books. He likes this one "one thing I think you should know about ginko. It's fruit doesn't smell good, in fact it smells stinko!" He also has been singing the More we Get Together a bunch.

I finally broke down and went Tucker sun glasses shopping. Tucker has been a little sad about how Whitney has sunglasses and he doesn't. So we went looking for some his size. I went looking for his and there are only cool, big kid according to mom glasses. No little boy ones. It was very simple for him to pick out the ones he likes. The red ones. No other one compared. I was trying to dissued him, but nothing doing. So he has angry bird glasses. Not exactly my favorite charactor, but Whitney just calls them birds, so I'll leave it alone. Tucker loves, loves, LOVES his sun glasses. they had lots of fun wearing them this week.

Trying to work arms and legs together on pink crab. Whitney really liked pink crab

Tucker's turn. This view of him reminded me of what he looked like as a baby doing tummy time

No hands! The swim teacher wasn't holding on to them. They were scooting along the wall no problem on their own. Whitney's head is above the pink crab and Tucker's head is right next to the swim instructor's. The swim instructor was attatching the last kid to the wall from the pool play pen. Whitney was always in front because she could move so quickly