You might live in the Arctic if...

Yesterday evening Bear looked out the window at the large round thermometer we have there. He has been learning numbers at his pre-k class, and is getting pretty proficient with them.
"Oh my gosh mom!" he called to me. "Look at this! It's pointing ABOVE ZERO!"
Yes indeed my dear, it was about 18F yesterday. Then I had to explain to him that in our crazy system, it can be above zero but still below freezing. He grinned and said "It's so warm!"

the weather according to google this morning  

This morning Wolf walked home from his music lesson (the band teacher at the school sweetly offered to simply give him private lessons twice a week, since the rest of the sixth grade band has basically dropped out...it's a non-credit class and most of the kids never took it seriously). It's about a half mile walk, carrying his saxophone. As he came through the door, he proclaimed "Mom, it was so warm out there today I walked home like this most of the way," and he demonstrated, instrument case jauntily on his shoulder, jacket hanging open, no mittens, no snow pants...

And to think, just three weeks ago it was -41. (And, for my non USA readers, -40F = -40C, just for reference...)  At -41, you wear the snow pants, fleece or wool jacket, 600 fill down coat, stocking cap, coat hood, a pair of thick mittens (or two), and a scarf around your face...and your snot still freezes and you get icicles in your eyelashes.

We've passed imbolc too (which marks halfway between solstice and equinox), we have light during the day and even into the evening.


It kinda feels like springtime.

All I'm missing is flowers.

Interview with a Wolf

(with thanks to The Road Less Traveled for coming up with the question list)

1. What is something mom always says to do?
get up off my duff

2. What makes mom happy?
when I do [get up off my duff]

3. What makes mom sad?
when I don't [get up off my duff]

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
she tells me the joke about the guy and the oscar meyer weiner truck
(what, you don't know that joke? A guy finds a genie. It gives him three wishes. He wishes for a fancy car *poof* there is a porche. He wishes for a million dollars *poof* there is a deposit slip in his hand. Then, as he sits there thinking of what he wants for his final wish, the oscar meyer truck drives by in the distance, and he begins to sing along "Oh I wish I were an oscar meyer weiner!")

5. What was your mom like as a child?
explorational (His word, I swear)

6. How old is your mom?
30

7. How tall is your mom?
6 ft (*snort!*)

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
knit

9. What does your mom do when you’re not around?
watch movies with dad

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
cuz of your knitting

11. What is your mom really good at?
knitting

12. What is your mom not very good at?
making me mad

13. What does your mom do for a job?
babysit

14.What is your mom’s favorite food?
strawberry cake (he said he meant strawberry shortcake)

15.What makes you proud of your mom?
her knitting (wow, I had no idea he cared so much!)

16. What do you and your mom do together?
talk about stuff

17. How are you and your mom the same?
we like science

18. How are you and your mom different?
she can stand the kids all yelling at the same time

19. How do you know your mom loves you?
she gives me stuff

20. Where is your mom’s favorite place to go?
 the hotel restaurant (it is the nicest place in town, there are only about 4 options)

Art Imitates Life (as we know it)

Remember how all the buildings in Kotzebue are built on stilts, rather than on foundations (so that the snow can blow through under them rather than piling up)?

Bear has reached the stage where he likes to draw pictures. LOTS of pictures. And he always draws houses on stilts.
He also makes people with ears--they look a bit like monkeys. It's very cute.

Link Roundup

Alaska:
Orange Goo at Alaskan Village found to be Fungal Spore, Not Eggs at NPR (news story about a town not far from here...it's in our same school district).

Attachment Parenting:
Babywearing Through the Ages at 9 Davids (lots of fun babywearing pictures from all over the world and all over the timeline)

Believing "children are resiliant" may be a fantasy at Psychology Today (discussing resilience or 'surviving' as opposed to thriving, and some educated guesses as to why kids today are not doing very well...science vindicates attachment parenting yet again).

Funny:
How Harry Potter Should Have Ended (youtube video, thoroughly amusing, although only if you're familiar with the stories and movies)

Intactivism:
Intact or Circumcised: A Significant Difference in the Adult Penis by DrMomma (this post has some graphic photos, but they are very educational as well).

"If we surgically amputate the eyelids or fingernails, we will face the repercussions of making an organ that was designed to be internal, external. In order to survive this damage, the organ must adapt...it is the same with the glans of the penis..."

Kids do the Darndest Things:
Kids do the Darndest Things (I've been adding new stories to the blog...if you haven't been there in a while, go visit! also, there's a new URL)

Makin' Stuff:
5 ingredient (vanilla) ice cream recipe from allrecipes.com (and I can verify the validity of the freezing method--which does not require an ice cream maker--although I recommend stirring every 20-30 min after that first hour).

My Faith:
Hi, I'm Jenni. I'm an intellectual, granola mom, and miscarriage activist living on the Last Frontier. I'm a Mormon. (My new "I'm a Mormon" profile, which I actually submitted last spring but they take a while to get them actually up).

Fasting For the Goddess at Daughters of Mormonism (a podcast interview with a dear friend of mine, who has proposed that if we want to know more about Mother in Heaven, we should pray for answers--and she offers up the third sunday of each month as a time to join together in doing so)
 
Saying Goodbye to my LDS Home at Project Conversion (if you haven't seen this blog, it's very cool. A guy giving 12 religions a legitimate try for a month each...July was mormon month, and this is his final post with some of his conclusions about the faith)  
And I will end with a quote from this last link:

This reaction, of thanking me for just listening, is a common theme I find with all the faiths. People don’t want to argue or convince me that every other faith is wrong, they just want people to give them a chance–to listen instead of criticize or judge. It surprises me every time it happens.
Are we that bad at listening? Why are we so quick to condemn those who think differently than we do?
You know, I used to think that I was doing something unique with Project Conversion, that I might start some theological revolution, but the more I do this the more I realize that all I’m doing is listening. When my kids were babies, they cried to communicate. I can’t imagine how frustrating it must be for an infant trying to communicate and no one listens or understands. Is that what religious strife is, everyone fighting, pitching a fit because we stopped listening to one another?

“Well, I don’t understand those people. They do things differently so how can I listen or even want to?”

Here’s a suggestion: Take a year of your life and devote it to living among, listening to, and devoting yourself to those outside your current orbit of understanding. That’s right. That means turning off the talking heads on that right-wing, left-wing or no wing cable channel and learn something for yourself. Want to know what a Hindu really thinks? Ask a Hindu and then ask about ten more because they each have different ideas. Did you know it’s the same way with other faiths?

Monopoly with a Three-year-old

This week my husband brought home Alaskan Monopoly (he inherited it from someone at the school I think). Anyway, Wolf was very excited to play it, so tonight after dinner we set it up.
Bear was on my team, since three is pretty young to try to play on his own. After about our fourth turn he got tired of waiting for turns and started playing on his own.

First he traded out everyone's playing pieces.
Where's my piece?
What were you?
I was the car.
Oh, well, I think you're the hat now.
I thought [someone else] was the hat.
No, he used to be the hat, but now he's the battleship, gee, weren't you paying attention??

Then he started playing with the houses and hotels.
Wait, you can't have a house on Juneau, you don't own all the reds.
I didn't put a house on Juneau!
Oh, it was Bear, Bear, you can't just build houses on the board, you have to do them on the table.
[Bear grins and puts a hotel on the board]

And then there was the money.
Here mommy, you can have a pretty pink money.
Oh, thanks honey, where did you get that?
From Daddy.
Oh, well then give this other pink money to daddy, ok?
--and--
Hey, I thought I was broke, I just mortgaged three properties to pay you, how did I get a $500 in my money?
You must not have noticed it
Um, I'm pretty sure I checked...
[Bear grins innocently]

Top Ten...

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a boy in possession of a long skinny thing anything, will make of it a sword weapon.

And then he will run around the house slashing/shooting at everything and everyone.
Even though mom has tried to encourage a peaceful home environment by not allowing 'violent' toys or games...

Top ten 'swords' or 'guns' in our house

1. Mom's knitting needles, even the short DPNs
2. pieces of wooden train track
3. sticks
   
4. plastic hotwheels track
5. rulers
6. duplos & legos
7. marble run segments
8. lincoln logs
9. vacuum attachments
   
10. his own hands

There is no escape.

Accept the inevitable.

Wolf, age 4

Friday Fragments ~ My kids are such animals

A few snapshots from the last few days...


Before Eagle was born, I started telling Bear the story of the Three Billy Goats Gruff, only I put in the names of our three boys for the three goat brothers... Tonight Bear asked for a story, so I started to tell him about the three brothers who were goats: The Wolf goat, the Bear goat, and...
Bear interjected, "I'm a cow."

~~~~~~~~~

Today we were in the car when the following conversation took place.

Bear: Mom, can you hear that noise?

Me: what noise?

Bear: the butterfly noise

Me: a butterfly noise?

Bear: yeah, the butterfly clicking noise.

Me: oh, no, I don't hear that.

Bear: I hear it. I think there's a butterfly back here.

Me: oh you do huh?

Bear: oh it's on me, it TICKLES!!!

~~~~~~~~~

Last night Wolf must have been nearly asleep when he came shuffling out to the living room. "Mom," he said "what family is the platypus in?"

These kinds of questions can keep one up at night you know. (It's a good thing mommy knew the answer!)

"It's a monotreme, which means it's a mammal that nurses its babies but it also lays eggs. There is only one other animal that's a monotreme and it's called the echidna."

"Wow, cool, ok..." and he shuffled back off to bed.

Weekend Fragments

Liz over at Eternal Lizdom does "Friday Fragments" where she publishes a post full of little things--events from her week or random thoughts that have been on her mind--not things that go together usually, just a bunch of stuff...
Today's post is something like that;
only not on a Friday.

~♥~☻~♥~☻~♥~☻~♥~

Tuesday night Wolf was horsing around with my exercise ball (aka birth ball) and tossed it through the air in my bedroom, resulting in a collision between ball and overhead light...light cover is shattered, ball is punctures, and he got a pretty good gash in his side (it bled a lot but was minor enough that a couple of bandaids sufficed).
I was admittedly more than a bit frustrated, partly because of standard rules like "you have a playroom and a bedroom, so don't play in mom and dad's room" and also "the exercise ball is not a toy," but most especially because he did almost exactly the same thing (tossed a basketball and busted a light) when he was 3, and THAT incident resulted in a trip to the emergency room and 8 stitches between his eyes. He seems determined to be a "school of hard knocks" kid though. I guess it's teaching me the virtue of patience.

~♥~☻~♥~☻~♥~☻~♥~

Thursday night Hubby was base jumping bowling goofing off with a couple of his players after basketball practice and he busted his ankle. At the time he thought it was just a twist or a sprain, so we iced it and he put it up...but Friday morning it was still extremely painful. The school athletic director taped it for him and lent him a pair of crutches and I took him in for an x-ray. It's a spiral fracture to the fibula (if you're like me and forget which is which, the fibula is the smaller bone on the back which facilitates movement of the ankle and foot). The break is just above the ankle, but thankfully all the ligaments and tendons in the actual ankle are intact, so it's not nearly as bad as it could have been. So now he's got crutches and an inflatable boot/cast thingie and he's going nuts. Our apartment is accessed via an exterior staircase, which is more than a little hassle for him. The doctor wants to see him back in just 2 weeks though, which is promising. Hopefully he'll be healed sooner rather than later. In the meantime he can't move very fast, and it's hard for him to drive so I'm doing a lot of shuttling.
Once again I am very thankful for insurance, and reaffirm my belief that everyone should have a right to free (or at least affordable) medical care.

~♥~☻~♥~☻~♥~☻~♥~

Friday we got paid. This always makes me happy, because it's a once-a-month thing, and so payday means that I get to get caught up on all the bills and go grocery shopping (which, yes, I do 80+% of my grocery shopping in a once-a-month trip). The last week or so it had really felt like I was "cookin somethin outta nuthin" every day...but no more! Hubby is particularly happy to have meat in the house again, as I tend to use a lot of beans and lentils when we get to the 'nuthin' stage.
I also have to boast just a little bit. Safeway has an endearing practice of putting how much you saved at the bottom of your reciept--both in dollar amount and in percentage. I aim for saving at least 20%. This week's reciept (remember this is most of my shopping for the month) I saved 32%. Oh yeah, that's how I like it to look!! ☺

~♥~☻~♥~☻~♥~☻~♥~

Eagle has sniffles and Bear has an ugly cough. Thursday night I was up with one or the other about 6 times, so it was no shock that by Friday afternoon I wasn't feeling well either. All the running around for Hubby's busted leg didn't help, but both the kiddos were great little troopers. (Wolf was at school through most of it, but has been a great help at home ☺)
Eagle has been nursing a lot so I'm a bit engorged again as my supply surges to keep up with his needs. Friday night I tucked blankets around his carseat (to make it stable) and put him in there to sleep so that he'd be more upright and be able to breathe better, but I still ended up needing to take him into the bathroom to steam him out around 1am and again around 6. The upside is that since we were up anyway, I gave him a chance over the toilet, and he had no hesitation putting something in on both occasions--and had an almost perfectly dry diaper in the morning! It seems that he doesn't like being wet any more than I like letting him be wet. I was pleased when Bear toilet-taught himself at 24 months, but if things continue like this Eagle may well be months ahead of his brother.

Spelling Stories

Each week Wolf has a list of spelling words. As part of his homework he's supposed to either write a sentence for each word, or a story using all the words. He usually opts for the sentences, because trying to make a coherent story out of a list of random words is daunting, but a couple of times I've looked at his list of words and seen story just begging to get out, so I've helped him make a story with them. They are awfully cute and I thought they should be preserved. (When I told him I'd like to copy the stories to share he got quite excited.) ☺
Keeping in mind that these are written for/by a 9 year old boy, enjoy!
(spelling words are italicized)




Orion and I went on a trip by ourselves. You have to understand our background. Orion always gets homesick whenever we go to an airport, so I thought this time we could go by railroad. I was just putting on my seatbelt when Orion barfed everywhere. I had never seen anything like it. He barfed everything he had eaten since breakfast. Meanwhile I already knew we would go home by afternoon. That night as we sat by my fireplace, we talked about the ninety-nine places we want to go Maybe next time we will go on motorcycles and then Orion will be all right. It's a good thing our trips are all make-believe, otherwise I might not go with him again; that barf was really bad!

The End

(The teacher wrote back that this was "the best spelling word story [he] had ever read!")

Don't you think they should make electric jackets? It would work like an electric blanket.

I made the mistake of bringing up this peculiar topic with my friend Fred. Fred didn't hear me, he was too busy telling me about his tropical trip. He told me an aquatic story that made me sick to my stomach.

He was at a public beach with his pet squirrel when he decided to go surfing. He went to his dad's truck to get a surfboard but the only one left was crooked. He decided to go anyway. He went out on the water but the wobbly board made his back ache so he decided to lay down on the board and look at fish.. He saw a beautiful speckled one swim next to him and then sink again. He didn't stop to question why, he struck out after it. Unfortunately something else had decided to track that fish too. Fred saw the shark just in time to avoid attack. the shark bit the speckled fish in half and Fred swam away very fast.

I'll stay home with my electric jacket thank you!

The End

Kids Do the Darndest Things

Today's kiddo moment is from the archives so to speak...I wasn't blogging yet when Wolf was doing goofy toddler/preschooler things, but he was as amusing as Bear has ever been (even though he hasn't gotten as much print space), so this post is devoted to him.

When Wolf was about 4, there was some kind of disturbance up the street that involved a police car being parked in front of the house for an hour or so. Wolf was fascinated of course (he was in the "I want to be a policeman when I grow up" stage). He and daddy stood outside for a while and looked over at the car and talked about how police officers help keep us safe. A little later that evening as Wolf was saying his prayers at bedtime, I heard the following from his room:
"Thank you for policemen, for keeping us safe, and for helping us...BJOOOOO! BJOOOO! BJOOOO!"
[yes, he was making shooting noises mid-prayer!]
Daddy had been sitting with him as he prayed, and he told me afterward that it was all he could do to not laugh out loud...but thankfully he kept his cool and Wolf went on to finish his prayer without realizing just how much he'd entertained his parents.

Kiddo Moments

Just a few moments from the last couple of weeks...

~~~~~

This last Sunday as we neared the end of our church meetings I could see that Wolf was tired and hungry and ready to go. We just needed to get through the closing hymn, so I encouraged him to open the hymnal and read along (he still struggles a little with reading fast enough to sing along with most of them). So he was sitting there with the book, following along, and as we got to the end he snapped the book shut...only he snapped it in that millisecond of silence after everyone has stopped singing and before the closing prayer has begun... The *pop* of the book closing resounded through the entire chapel. Wolf looked at me with what I can only describe as a hamster face: huge eyes and a tiny mouth.
I managed to not giggle.

~~~~~

Bear is in that beloved toddler stage wherein he is fascinated with the goodies he finds in his nose. (We call them "snuggerts.") The other day his nose was quite runny and at one point I told him I was going to wipe it (for the umpteenth time), and he said "no mommy, don't wipe my nuggerts, I'm gonna eat them!" and he licked his upper lip for emphasis.
A few days before that I was awakened by him standing over the edge of my bed, peering into my face at close range. "Mommy," he explained, "you have a nuggert, I'm gonna get it for you," and without further ado he stuck his finger into my nose and started digging around. Of all the ways to be wakened up, this is definitely not in my top ten!

~~~~~

I'm trying to help prepare Bear for the changes ahead with the impending birth of Eagle. I talked to him about how there was a little brother growing in my tummy, and that in a little while the brother would come out.
Bear shook his head "he not come out."
"Well he has to come out sometime honey, he can't stay in there forever."
"Baby come out right now?"
So I explained that the baby has to stay in for a while longer so he can get bigger, but that after the snow comes, then that is when the little brother will come.
Bear pointed knowingly to my belly button and said "he wiww [will] come out dere."
"Nope, he will come out the birth canal." (Both older brothers will be present for the birth, so I didn't feel the need to explain further at this point.)

Both boys like to hug and kiss my tummy and try to feel the baby kick. At bedtime we sing three songs--one for each boy. They enjoy helping pick which song to sing for little brother. A few nights ago I was laying on the bed next to Bear giving him some bedtime cuddles and he started wiggling his fingers around on my belly. I asked what he was doing.
"I'm tickling the baby."
Oh, ok, so I started giggling and wiggling a little for him in response. He thought that was great, so he tickled with renewed vigor...the problem is that my belly actually is ticklish, so for all of his amateur technique, it started to legitimately tickle, and I don't tolerate tickles very well on an already sensitive belly.
Let's just say it got a little bit crazy, involved much giggling from all parties, and probably delayed bedtime a good deal more than it should have. ☺

Bear-isms

(click the image to see other Tiny Talk Tuesdays with Mary at NotBefore7)

Bear is in the stage where he wants me to kiss everything better. One time a couple of weeks ago he came for a kiss and I gave him several (just to make sure). He said I was "kissing it too big" and gave me a dirty look.

Skip ahead a week, and he comes to me to have something else kissed all better...I laid on the required kiss and he stuck the injured part back in my face and said "Kiss it too big mommy, kiss it too big!"

He also likes to pour his own juice--he's become a real juice-aholic lately--and I've discovered that it's because apparently I don't put enough in the cup. Several times now he has told me that I need to "pour it too big."

~~~~~~~~~

You may remember the Twinkle Potato incident of a few weeks ago... well, for about three weeks that was the only song he wanted at bedtime. I told him I didn't know how it went, so he sang it for me.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Potato [giggle]
Swimming in the Doggy Dish
[giggle giggle giggle giggle]

Now every version of "Twinkle twinkle" that he sings involves swimming in the doggy dish. I keep asking myself if I ever sang "twinkle fish" that way, but I can't remember...I probably did, but I don't know!

~~~~~~~~~

Bear has decided to be a potty-user. He's been very self-motivated about this, and within the last couple of weeks has more or less finished the job.
A couple of days ago I was sitting on the bathroom floor next to him as he sat on the toilet, and he explained to me that he had just made "sheen-gun poo" (that's "machine gun poo" for those who don't speak Bearish). Um, he wha?! (I know I didn't teach him about 'sheen-guns, but I guess Wolf did, because Bear says most anything is a sheen-gun. Sticks, legos, tiny crystals of snow...)
So I asked him "why is it sheen-gun poo?" "It's shee- gun poo mommy!" "Well, does Wolf make sheen gun poo?" "No" (as though it were obvious). Mommy? no, Daddy? no!, doggy? No, no, no. Only Bear makes sheen-gun poo. And apparently he always makes it--because he always tells me about it.
Oh well, at least he always makes it in the potty. ☺

The Powuh

When a 2 year old has an 8 year old brother, he gets a head start on learning about stuff like super powers and bazookas.
[oh, by way of clarification, Bear is on a bit of a potty strike this week--he keeps asking for diapers, so I'm going with it. I am excited that he's been so self-motivated, but I'm not going to push him if he needs a little break.]
This morning I was sewing and Bear was playing near me when I got a whiff of you know what. So I got everything out and laid him down to change his diaper.
"You pooped," I announced (I'm trying to help him maintain awareness at least).
"I poop!" he gleefully responded, "powuh poop!"
"Did you say power poop?"
[enthusiastically] "Uh-huh, powuh poop!!"
"Oh, that's very strange."
[singing] "A, B, C, D, powuh poop H, K, K, K, LMN, O, P..."

I swear, I don't know where he comes up with this stuff. He learned the alphabet from his musical teddy bear, but the power poop...I have no idea!

"My Nose!"

This weekend we had some glorious sunny weather, with quite mild temperatures (high 30s or low 40s I'd estimate). We've had a lot of snow this year, and while some areas get plowed, others do not, and there is a good sized field right across from our apartment that does not get plowed at all. I'm not sure what our total snowfall has been this year, but I think it's been around 10 feet since Christmas. Of course there's always some melting and compacting every time things warm up, so in areas that never get touched the snow is not that deep. In the case of our field, it's around 3-4 feet deep (depending on the area).
I figured sunny day + deep snow + two little boys (and a mommy) who are subject to depression and who are missing their daddy while he's gone for 11 days = let's go playoutside!!!
So we got out the snowpants and wool socks and boots and hats and mittens and coats and went out to play. While the snow was 3+ feet deep, it was sufficiently compacted that we only sank into it a few inches. That was enough to slow myself or Wolf a little, but it was nearly knee-high for Bear, so it slowed him considerably.
I taught Wolf how to play fox and geese (which is not nearly such an exciting game with only two people--since Bear was too small to get it) but the dog kept running through the middle of the game and we decided she was a really dumb goose.
Wolf spent most of his time climbing the piles of snow at the edges of the field (where the plows pile it up) and then 'skydiving' off them onto the field.
Bear mostly wandered around picking up chunks of snow and sucking on them. [tangent--Do all kids do this? I don't remember eating snow myself, but both of my boys love it. I have long since given up on trying to get them to stop eating the snow, and instead have focused on getting them to select their treats off of relatively clean snowbanks rather than the ground. ] Anyway, Bear wandered around eating snow, and periodically falling down and then calling "hewp mommy, hewp!!"
One time when I was helping him up he started to wail "my nose, my nose!" I thought perhaps he had gotten his face in the snow, and began trying to comfort him, but he immediately made it clear that his concern was not directed at his face, but rather at his hands. He had dropped his chunks of snow, or (in his words) his snows. Being only two, he drops the first S, and so was very very concerned about his "'no's."
I got him new snows and he was happily on his way.
Ahh the fun of linguistic acquisition!!

Twinkle Twinkle Little What?

Sometimes when I am putting him to sleep, Bear likes me to sing to him (other times he wants me to play a CD or even just "shhhh mommy," but sometimes he likes me to sing). As most toddlers do, he likes repetition and familarity. His favorite song for me to sing to him is "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star."

Twinkle twinkle little star
How I wonder what you are
Up above the world so high
Jesus put you in the sky
Twinkle twinkle little star
Look how beautiful you are
(this version courtesy of Jr Asparagus and the veggietales)

The problem with twinkle twinkle of course is that, even switching between the original and Jr's variation, I can only sing it so many times before my brains start melting out my ears. If you have kids, I'm sure you've been there... so a couple of weeks ago I started shaking things up...

Twinkle twinkle little Bear
You have lots and lots of hair
That's good cuz if you were bald
You would look really funny
Twinkle twinkle little Bear
Go to sleep please with your hair

(you understand of course that I make these up as I sing them. Sometimes they rhyme, sometimes they do not, usually they are pretty cheesy, but occasionally they are positively brilliant.)
One night (after a dozen verses about Bears, Wolves, both kids real names, dogs, stars, moons, etc) I sang something different

Twinkle twinkle little fish
Swimming in a little dish
Please do not fall out of there
You would drown in all the air
Twinkle twinkle little fish
Stay inside your little dish

Bear adored this one. For the next week straight he would get mad if I sang twinkle anything else, he just wanted "Twinkle fish!" (He got daddy to sing twinkle fish--daddy sang about a fish on a dinner dish...clearly we think about fish in different ways!)
Well, this week he's on to something new, only this time it didn't come from me. The other night I asked him if he'd like mommy to sing, and he said "sing twinkle" I said ok and started into a rendition of twinkle fish. He stopped me and said "NO! sing twinkle potato."


Go visit Tiny Talk Tuesday for more posts of the funny things our tiny ones (and not-so-tiny ones) say.

Tiny Talk Tuesday

So, as my regular readers know, I use cloth menstrual pads. I make them with scraps of fabric left from other projects. I happen to have one that has the same print as my son’s flannel blanket. Bear recognized the fabric when he saw me take the pad out of the cupboard last week, and he said “my blankie!” and tried to grab it. I said no, your blanket is in your bed; this is mommy’s. He said “mommy blankie?” Um, well, sure. Close enough for a 2 year old, right?
But kids remember more than you might think. A couple of days later, he saw me getting a different pad (different fabric), and got all excited and said “Mommy blankie!!”

-----------------------------------------------------

I refer to my kids as Wolf and Bear because those are nicknames we actually do use...Bear is only 2, but "bear" is his middle name... Wolf (age 8) identifies with the wolf as a sort of totem...
Well, this morning we went to wake Wolf for school, and discovered that he had slept naked (he had jammies on when I tucked him in last night!) He explained that it was a full moon, and he was hoping that he might turn into a wolf overnight, so he had taken off his clothes just in case. ☺

For more kids saying amusing things, check out NotBefore7's Tiny Talk Tuesday (click the button)

Oh My!

Bear (just turned 2) was playing behind me as I wrote that last post. He is not wearing pants but I have not worried about that because he's been very independent in his toilet-usage lately. But just now, as he was behind the curtains looking out the sliding-glass door, I heard a little noise...I thought hoped that it was just an upturned sippy cup. Then Bear pulled aside the curtain, grinned, and announced "I make peepee!"
Aww gee.
So I sat down with him and reviewed what are good places to make peepee--in the toilet and in the potty. "We do not make peepee on windows," I said. He looked at me very seriously. "No peepee door," he agreed, pointing.
Yes, we do not make peepee on windows or doors.
Geeze!


(oh yeah, you can go see more TinyTalkTuesdays here!)

Celebrating

Bear celebrated his birthday by keeping me up a lot of the night (our ongoing night-weaning took a turn for the rougher last night), and then by pooping in the big toilet BY HIMSELF today! He usually comes to me and says "I go toilet, I go toilet" as he jumps around, and I go with him and help him sit on the toilet. He prefers the toilet to the potty, I think because he likes to flush, but he can't get up there by himself very well. Well, this morning I guess he dragged the step-stool in, climbed up, and I knew nothing until I heard a flush and then he came running to me and said "I go toilet, I poop!" and sure enough, he needed wiping!!!!
He's had a couple of close calls, but that would be the first time he's successfully made a poop in the designated receptacle on his own (early EC experiences not counted of course). He's been very self-driven in all of this--I've left him diaperless, and he's indicated that he wants to use the toilet rather than have a new diaper on. Well, power to him! It's making my life easier, even if I spend a disproportionate amount of the day sitting on the bathroom floor while he makes another three drops of peepee! ☺

Wow, I need a baby, cuz this boy is not a baby anymore.

Which eggnog were YOU drinking?!

Our family does not drink (religious prohibition), so while my 8yo son Wolf knows what alcohol is, he's not familiar with the difference between, say, a glass of wine after dinner and getting thoroughly drunk.
Enter the eggnog:

On Christmas Eve we joined most of the town for the annual party. It runs all afternoon with lots of food and chatting, and is a family-friendly event. We got there on the early side, and the hostess was just finishing up making the eggnog, so we helped her set it out in two huge bowls on separate tables--one batch with booze in it and one without. I made sure to let Wolf know which bowl he should get his eggnog from, and throughout the afternoon we periodically informed newcomers of which bowl was which. At one point, my sweet innocent son explained to someone "this is the plain eggnog, and that one is for alcoholics."

See more kids saying the darndest things at Tiny Talk Tuesday.

In Which I am a Burly Alaskan Woman

My facebook status as of 4:03pm

I just got back from some SERIOUS BACKWOODS BUSHWHACKING to get a Christmas tree. With a 30lb toddler on my back no less.

CB at 4:05pm December 6

You are a burly Alaskan woman! Nice work!

GC at 4:18pm December 6

You ARE the WOMAN!!!

BN at 4:18pm December 6

That's so traditional Christmas of you! Even if it was tough, I bet it makes for a nice memory. :)

So, we live in a rural area...so rural in fact, that the official policy of the national forest (yes, you got that, federally protected wild forest) is that everyone who lives here is welcome to hike on up and cut themselves a Christmas tree. No charge. I suspect that deer take out more trees annually than Christmas-Tree-hunters.
This morning we bundled everybody up and headed up the mountain. When I say 'up' you should understand that I mean that in a most literal sense...several portions of the 'trail' are 70-80% grade (in other words, you climb up with your hands and feet). Please keep in mind that I did this with a 30 lb toddler on my back...a toddler who kept saying "walk, mommy, I walk!"
The 'trail' is narrow, and substantial portions of it are a stream bed. In other words, when you take a step, you may put your foot into 3 inches of snow; OR you may put your foot into 3 inches of snow AND 3-12 inches of very soft very wet mud; OR you may put your foot into 3 inches of snow, 1/4 inch of slushy ice, and 3-? inches of water. Really really cold water. Walking up this trail is not for the faint of heart--there's a reason I've never gone up it before in the 15 months we've lived here!
I did a lot of holding onto branches of the shrubs and trees we passed...they were wet, they soaked my gloves, but they helped me keep my balance on the steep, wet, slippery, muddy, slushy, unpredictable ground! A few times Bear hollered "ow!" as cold water or a slippery branch flew at him, but for the most part he had the easy part of the trip. I got my pants wet halfway to my knees (but not inside my boots!) and I fell on my tooshie once...not to shabby, all things considered.
Wolf, on the other hand, felt the need to investigate nearly every pond we passed...these are places where the stream pools up...keep in mind that we do live in a rainforest, so there are LOTS of these pools. This pool was frozen over. I watched him poke at it with his stick, then step onto it, then step out toward the middle...then just stand there as the cracking sounds echoed beneath him...then as he fell through he whooped and hopped off. (Of course, he subsequently waded back in...)
Wolf got wet and cold nearly up to his waist.
Hubby, with the tree (which he then carried back down that same precarious trail)
Upon arriving home, I stripped everybody down and threw all the cold, wet, muddy clothes into the washing machine, and stuck both kids in the shower to warm up. Hubby put the kettle on and we all had some hot cocoa.
The tree is relaxing downstairs in a tub of water while we try to figure out how to put it up without a tree stand (since our stand is in a box in storage in Utah).