How did that happen?

Vincent has an amazing ability to come up with what he thinks is a great idea and then convinces everyone else that it is a good idea.  Not only can he convince you it is a good idea, even if you previously told him he couldn’t do something, but you don’t realize you have been played until it is too late.  I usually end up thinking "How did that happen?"  Here are a few examples from the past couple weeks.

A Fort

While we were skiing in Michigan a couple weeks ago Vincent wanted to build a fort.  Everyone was ok with that and Brandon helped him build one.  Then Vincent wanted everyone to come in the tent with him.  It was guaranteed that he would be able to convince Grandma and Mommy to come in the tent but everyone else was going to be a challenge.  Vincent was convinced that everyone should come in the tent and he wasn’t going to take no for an answer.  He convinced his Uncle Joe, Aunt Jill, Grandma Dawn, Aunt Alyse, Joe, Cecilia and I were all crammed in the tent with Vincent.  Actually at one point he left and we were all just in there by ourselves.  We were a little scared to leave in case Vincent came back and yelled at us!  It takes a lot of skill to get 6 adults convinced to climb into a tent together and stay there for 20 minutes or more.

Easter Eggs

All kids love making Easter eggs.  Today Diane watched the kids while I went to Vincent’s parent teacher conference and to a hair appointment.  Vincent managed to convince Grandma to color Easter eggs after she told him it wasn’t a good idea and I discouraged it as well.  He said something along the lines of “Oh, come on.  It is just like a fun craft!”  When I came back to pick the kids up there was a plate full of gorgeous Easter eggs.

Potty Training

Tonight Joel was throwing a fit about getting his diaper changed.  I don’t know why but he didn’t want it changed.  Vincent decided it was time for Joel to be potty trained.  He said “Ok, Mommy we have a new rule in the house.  Everyone has to wear underwear and no diapers are allowed.”  I told him that wasn’t a good idea and Joel was wearing a diaper.  Then Vincent came over to where I was sitting on the couch and said “Um, Mommy we need to have a talk.  There is a new rule and everyone has to wear underwear now, except Cecilia.  That is the new rule.”  I told him to tell Joel about the new rule and see what he thought about that rule.  Vincent walked over to Joel and said “Joel we need to talk.  Wearing underwear is a lot of fun and then you can be like me and daddy.  Diapers are yucky.”  Joel just said “No.”  Vincent turned to me and said “Mommy, why don’t you talk to Joel.”

Vincent and I then had a discussion about why potty training Joel now wasn’t a good idea and that I didn’t want to clean up the floor when Joel had an accident.  Vincent volunteered to clean up the mess himself.  He also went upstairs and found underwear that fit Joel and brought it all downstairs.  I tried to put diapers on Joel again and Vincent hid both a cloth diaper and disposable diaper from me.

Joel is not thrilled about Vincent's plan

Joel ended up wearing underwear, he was forced to sit on the toilet and was crying about it.  He was not happy!  I decided to let him have a jelly bean anytime he sat on the toilet, because Vincent had me convinced that this was suddenly a great idea.  After cleaning the floor 5 or 6 times in 2 hours and Joel being miserable I decided it was time for a diaper.  Vincent was not happy!  He was still thinking that Joel should only wear underwear and even sleep in underwear.  He kept saying “It’s easy.  You just go to the potty when you have to pee.”  Up until August Vincent was still having accidents once a week and he still wets the bed once or twice a week, so this potty training is so easy attitude was making me laugh.  

Vincent getting ready to put underwear on Joel

At one point tonight Vincent literally attempted to put underwear on Joel by himself and even attempted to drag him to the bathroom several different times.  It turns out Joel will do anything for a jelly bean so I was able to assist Vincent with promises of jelly beans.  Joel did pee on the potty once tonight but unfortunately it ended up all over the floor, however Vincent cleaned it up without even complaining.  We ended the night with a compromise everyone was happy with, Joel in a diaper with underwear over the diaper.  I am pretty sure Vincent is planning to continue the potty training tomorrow.  As long as he keeps feeding Joel jelly beans I think everyone will be happy.  Although they will probably run out of clean underwear by noon at the rate they are going through them!   

Dinnertime Invasion

We have several baby gates in our house (more than I would like).  They are used to contain the children and also to keep them out of certain areas.  As a general rule I have the gates to the kitchen open most of the day.  Around 5:30 pm when the kids get hungry, dinner is still cooking and the kids all start invading the pantry I shut the gates to the kitchen.  I leave the children in the living room and I stay in the kitchen to finish cooking dinner.  The kids are never happy about it!  They stand at the gate and whine and beg for food like wild animals.  Vincent, Joel and Cecilia can be good all day, we can have a great day, but there is a switch that is flipped in them between 5-6pm and they turn into hungry animals that will stop at nothing to find food.

Sometimes they can be distracted with their favorite tv show, but for the most part they just stand at the gates and hope I will give in and give them a snack.  I do sometimes.  The problem is that Joel has figured out how to open the baby gates.  He can’t open the gates the proper way, so he lifts up the bottom of the gate and swings it open!  Not only does he free himself but also Cecilia, Vincent is usually distracted by the tv.  Cooking dinner while keeping two small children from climbing on chairs and table and stealing crackers out of the cabinet is not easy!  

It amazes me how much these two look alike in pictures!  They are cute for wild animals.

Brad is used to getting texts from me around 5-6pm that say “ETA?”  Basically I want to know if I have any reinforcements arriving anytime soon or if I am fighting the battle alone.

For those of you that think I should let the kids be involved in cooking I do let them help at breakfast and occasionally at lunch and rarely at dinner.  The problem at dinner is that they act like they have never eaten any food in their entire lives (even if they had an afternoon snack an hour earlier) and they abandon me to raid the cabinet.  I am hoping they will outgrow this interesting behavior, but for now we will make the best of it.

Joel and Speech Therapy

Joel has a limited vocabulary that is quickly expanding.  Joel has never been a big talker, but with the help of his speech therapist he not only is trying to talk and imitate what people are saying but he is starting to string 3-4 word sentences together on his own.  He is using his words to ask for things instead of just dragging you around and pointing until you figure it out.  One of our biggest breakthroughs happened on Sunday when he started saying “I” instead of “Joel.”  That same day he also asked me to "sit down Mommy" at the table and to "hold me standing up (he gets that from Vincent).  All of these things sound really simple and most almost 3 year olds don’t struggle with these things but it is progress that I have been hoping for and praying about for many months.  Because without these improvements we were having days filled with tantrums, frustration and things getting thrown at me because I couldn't figure out what Joel wanted.

Joel "reading" in his sleep hat.

Joel’s newest obsession is John Deere tractors.  He LOVES them!  He wants to watch John Deere movies with Vincent, he sorts out and plays with all the John Deere Tractors and he sings “I love John Deere.  John Deere America’s plow.  John Deere.  I love John Deere.”  It kills Brad!  For those of you that don’t know, farmers are very attached to the color of farm equipment they use.  The farming community is mainly split between green and red or in our case yellow.  Giving someone a hard time about the color equipment they use could lead to a nasty exchange of words.  When my nephew and little cousin were younger (3 or 4 years old) they literally almost got into a fight about what color tractors were better.  The fight ended with one of them saying “Don’t say those words, those words aren’t nice.”  Adults had to step in and distract them because they were standing nose to nose and it wasn’t going to be pretty.  So when Joel won’t say much but he will sing a John Deere song Brad just shakes his head.  I think he has mixed feelings about Joel’s new ability to share with us his preference for John Deere.

Joel and his Lightning McQueen shoes.  He loves them.  I don't.

Lately I get the most joy out of hearing him talk to Vincent and Cecilia.  The other day in the car he said "No spit Vincent!" and he also says "No, bad Cecilia!"  I enjoy it because he is using his words and not hitting his siblings as often which makes my job 100x easier.  While Joel is talking more if you aren't around him a lot you may not understand everything he says.  He tends to drop parts of words off when he is learning to say them, for instance this week Francesco Bernoulli is "Chesco Noulli".  Or his new favorite Veggietales movie Incredible Vegetables is "edible ta-bles."  I know those aren't easy words or common words but in our daily life they are said many, many times a day.  Not as many times a day as "Mickey Mouse" but it is very close!

Joel at speech therapy

 

Saturday Night Date Night

Brad and I have a really exciting social life and a couple weeks ago we actually had a Saturday night date night....hanging drywall.  Doesn't that sound like fun?  I had worked that day and we played hard with the kids all day and by the time they were all in bed at 10 pm I was tired.  Brad had been talking for a couple days about hanging the drywall and in my mind it did not involve me.  I had planned that he would get someone (not me) to help and any time not spent on drywall would be time I had to work on my very long to do list.  Brad’s plan and my plan were not the same.  Friday night he asked me about hanging drywall on Saturday and I said sure, again thinking I really wouldn’t have to help.  I was in denial and I don't really know why.  Saturday night when I got the last kid to bed, Cecilia, I thought it was so late that Brad wouldn’t want to start a project (still in denial).  I was wrong and Brad was all ready to get started hanging drywall.

Brad preparing for the last sheet of dry wall on the ceiling

Brad carried one sheet of drywall from the shed at a time.  It sounds easy but it was windy and there was freezing rain!  I stood at the door ready to run outside and help if it looked like Brad or the drywall was going to blow away.  It almost happened a couple times.  The drywall we were hanging was mostly on the ceiling of our living room from the damage our washing machine did this fall.  Brad and I climbed up on ladders with the drywall and I quickly realized how hard this was going be, drywall is heavy.  It feels even heavier when the drill your husband is using stops working and he has to switch to another drill that was not meant to be used on drywall.  I was only obligated to hold the drywall up long enough for Brad to put just enough screws in to hold it up.  Then I was free to get off of the ladder and give my arms and head a break.  After 3 plus hours and a lot of frustration we completed the job!  I was very happy that it was done.  Toward the end I may have napped on the couch while Brad was getting things ready for the next sheet of drywall.  I couldn’t help it I was exhausted!  

Me looking gigantic in my work pants and sweatshirt holding up the last sheet!!!  I napped on the couch shortly after the picture was taken.

 Brad and I have done a lot of home projects together.  Some are definitely more fun than others, but we always have fun working together.  That doesn't mean there isn't whining or a little teasing or a little complaining, but we are at least able to laugh at ourselves and each other and I think that is what makes it work.

Cecila the Aggravator

All three of our kids have different personalities, but Cecilia’s personality appears to be blossoming at a younger age than the boys. I am guessing a major portion of that is that she has two older brothers to watch and keep up with. All things are pointing to the fact that she is a very sweet aggravator. I have actually had to tell her to leave her brothers alone and to be nice. She likes to grab at their faces and ears and squawks like a pterodactyl. Sometimes she will grab at them and say “tickle, tickle, tickle”. She laughs and thinks it is all very funny. Her brothers don’t always think it is that funny, especially when they are already upset about something and she attacks them.  Yesterday when Cecilia was playing in her room, while I put clothes away, she was rolling around on the floor, laughing and saying "tickle, tickle, tickle" as she tickled her own belly.

Ms Cecilia at Christmas

She loves playing with the race track and any toy that looks like it should belong to her brothers.

Cecilia has been climbing on furniture for at least a month now. She can climb on the toddler chairs in the kitchen, on the couch if the cushions are off (it happens more than I would like), Joel's little trampoline, and as of recently she can climb on the dining room chairs. She will actually push a small chair around the kitchen until it is up against the island and then climb up and look for food. A couple weeks ago I made cookies and she used the chair to go after the cookies.

Trying to put the truck together.

Cecilia standing on a chair and stealing cookies.

Cecilia now has 4 teeth! The first ones came through right before Christmas and she got her third one on Jan 13th and her 4th one followed a few days later. She still has very little hair. It is getting a little longer and a little darker, but there just isn’t very much of it there.  We try to occasionally put bows or headbands on her but she doesn't like it at all.

Notice the bow sitting on her shoulder. 

Goofy!

As of Jan 9th Cecilia is walking! She still crawls most of the time but she is spending more and more time walking. It is so much fun to see her walking around. She will even dance a little if the right song comes on.  Cecilia is very independent. She insists on feeding herself but if you put food on her highchair tray to slow she is quick to let you know!

Don't tell my brothers that

I have no idea how she got her arm out of her sleeve

She babbles all the time but she also says some real words. They include: “hi” with a wave, dadda, momma, tickle-tickle, and dig-dig (dog). She loves the dogs!  She will also put her arms up and open and close her hands when she wants to be picked up. My favorite is when she babbles back and forth with Joel. Joel sometimes acknowledges that Cecilia is talking to him and sometimes he tries to ignore her. Although Cecilia doesn’t take no for an answer and continues to talk to Joel and babbles and shrieks louder and louder until he says something to her or at least looks at her.  It will be interesting to see their relationship develop!

The picture is blurry but Joel and Cecilia look so cute in their matching pjs

Cecilia doesn't like to miss out on anything!  She has been refusing to go down for a nap lately and I am sure it is because she is scared we will do something without her.  Although sometimes she is so tired she just can't handle it anymore and she falls asleep in the middle of playing.

Sleep finally got her

This is what happens when you wake up too early in the morning.

Cecilia is a bright, funny, smart, determined little girl and it will be interesting to see where life takes her or where she takes life.

Cecilia found 2 of Joel's Lightning McQueen Cars!