Monday, August 26, 2013

Little Dude turned two.

 Tommy turned 2 on the 16th...good thing he doesn't know his dates, because we had cake on Saturday.  Grandma and Grandpa sent presents for all the kiddos, and fun was had.  Probably our last birthday without a kid demanding a party.
And what to say about this little tyke?  T is for Tommy and for Temper and for Tantrum.  He is Mister If I don't get my way I will scream until you give in.
He's also destined to be the class clown, amusing his sisters at every turn with silly faces and gestures.
He's the daredevil.  The only kid we've really seen bleed.  Because when you are jumping off of everything, and getting in to it all, you are bound to get a little banged up.
He likes to announce "HAND" as he extends his so that he can lead you where he wants to go, which is, most often, to the kitchen for cookies. 
Amazingly agile, he could climb the stairs like a big boy months ago.  He's our little mimic, repeating everything the girls say.  Tonight at dinner it was "Chuck E Cheese" over and over in varying voices to Dani and Tori's delight. 
He is, by far, the best snuggler of the three.  When you pick him up, he wraps his arms around your neck and places his head on that sweet spot on your shoulder made for baby heads and just snuggles.
He is love.  He is energy.  He is chaos.  He is our Tom Tom.
 And he loves his sisters.  "DANEEE. TOWEEE" he calls, often when they sneak away to do something else.
 
 We went to Animal Land a week ago.  Tommy had no fear.  He touched every animal he could, feeding them, petting them, and at one point, picking up a huge piece of deer poop that we thought was a rock.....ugh.
 He's game for rides, and whatever his sisters have in store for fun.
 On the safari ride, one camel followed us, and was fixated on Tommy.  All I could think was "please don't bite my kid's face off", but the camel walked along us, sticking with Tommy as he petted her nose and said hello.
 And then, of course there was some cake.  Dani helped me bake it.  What a difference a year makes.  He wanted a fork, he always wants a fork because his sisters use one.
He's an amazing boy, our little Tommy.  No doubt, because he has grown up with two smart, older sisters, his vocabulary at his age is amazing.  He's the king of the funny face, and without a doubt makes Wes and I laugh at least once per dinner.  He's our little fireball, and I love him to bits.  Happy Birthday Tommy!
 
And, before I forget to add some of the recent fun things the kids have said.....
We've had a bunch of work done in our house recently, and I was somewhat friendly with the contractor beforehand...so that meant that he shared a number of meals with the family.  One day, his car broke down and he took a cab to our house.  We would routinely bring him home.  On day three of no car, he mentioned at dinner, "I just feel naked without my car."  Dani leaned over to me and said loudly, "Why does Mr. M think he doesn't have any clothes on?  He's wearing clothes!".  I looked at Wes, perplexed (probably because we weren't paying too much attention to Mr. M), but Mr. M caught on--and pointed out to us what she meant so we could explain.
 
In other news, and funnies, Dani is starting Pre-K next week.  We received a packet in the mail two weeks ago with information from the teacher, and which advised us of the dress code:  solid color collared shirts and pants/shorts/skirts in designated colors.  Reading it, I explain to Dani that she will need to wear solid shirts to school.  She looked both disappointed and perplexed.  "Mommy, will the shirts be hard?", she asked.  I looked at her, not having a clue...and asked what she meant.  "Mommy, solids are hard...you know that," she said.  There has been some talk of liquids and solids with water and ice cubes, but it's easy to forget how literally words can be taken.  Ice cubes are solids, and they are hard, so wouldn't the shirt be hard too?
 
These kids, all amazing in so many ways, but I feel like I'm leaving Tori out.  Perfectly potty trained, she's been accident free and wearing underwear to bed for about 6 months...amazing.  At newly 3, she can write most of her letters, as she showed me with chalk on the sidewalk yesterday.
 
They are amazing little peeps, my kiddos!

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Long overdue.

Wow--this post is LONG overdue.  I haven't posted in nearly two months--which has never happened.  I got so caught up in life, kids, work, etc., that I just did not make time to blog, and I thought "no biggie".  But when I started thinking about it tonight, I reminded myself that this blog is, for all intents and purposes, the baby book for the kids, the record of our lives that I have printed and bound every year for the kids to have someday, and I realized that posts to facebook won't be anything tangible years down the road that the kids can read, and hold and touch.  So...I'll do better.  And until then, here's the summer in a recap.
Father's Day--the kiddos greeted Big Man with "I love my Dad" t-shirts.  Getting three toddlers to smile and look at the camera at the same time is impossible.

 We spent so much time outside, squirt guns in hand, in the big and little pool.
 We have a gender-neutral dress-up policy.....Tommy's wardrobe is compliments of Dani and Tori.
 We were invited places, and actually showed up, despite being outnumbered by kids who could scatter upon arrival.  Here's Tori at a graduation party.
 And Dani at the same one--they love putting on "party dresses" to go somewhere. 
 At times, they felt like they were in baby jail, just waiting for release.
 Meanwhile, Tommy just sprouted. 
 Grandma and Grandpa visited and, of course, that meant a trip to the beach.
 Grandpa braved the deep waters of Caroga Lake!  (Grandpa is actually an accomplished swimmer and diver, not that he'd need it in the lake!)
 Grandma showed Tommy around.
 Dani and Tori saw their first fireworks this summer.  Their reactions were priceless.
 It was just awe.  Tori yelled, "Mommy, look it's pixie dust!"
 Swimming.
 Dinnertime silly.
 And there are just so many things I didn't capture because I didn't post them when they came up--sorry kiddos.  A few funnies I can think of:  Dani is starting Pre-K and we received the orientation packet.  School has a dress code so I told Dani we needed to get school clothes so she could dress accordingly with solid shirts and pants.  "Will the shirts be hard?" she asked.  I asked what she meant...."Solids are hard, Mommy, not like liquids," was the response. So we explained the concept of solid colors.  We've had someone doing some home improvements  (painting, etc)  "Mr. Mark" who has had dinner with us a time or two while he was working...the other night Mr. Mark (who had taken a cab to our house as his car would not start) remarked at dinner that he felt naked without his car.  A minute later, Dani leaned over to me and asked, "Mr. Mark has clothes on, why does he think he's naked?"
It's been a zany few months...and I promise it won't be so long for me to update.
 Sister hugs!