Wednesday: trying things

This morning we tried a new activity: can we put all the Duplos on the Duplo table?  I find it an interesting question, especially since you can't attach Duplos to some Duplos (i.e., they have to go on top) and there is a toddler.  I also started a time lapse video, but the angle was poor so I won't be showing it.

We didn't get all the Duplos on before lunch time and the youngest members of the activity were done with it.  However, Joshua did better than I was expecting, only taking a few off.  Once we got some windows on he played with those pretty well.  Isaac didn't put a lot on, but did bring a lot over.

There was a lovely rain storm this afternoon followed by an incredible rainbow.  We could see both legs and half of a second rainbow.  And the primary rainbow was so bright!  I don't think I've ever seen such a bright one before.  Ben managed to see the whole arc...lucky him.

We also tried hamburger enchilada with chicken.  It wasn't as good.  Not bad, but not as good.

Tuesday: refugees

I am sad that the governor of Michigan is one of the governors that wants to refuse Syrian refugees into the state (legality aside).  I was especially sad he was one of the first.

Is the possibility of terrorism scary?  Yes, defiantly.  Does that mean we should refuse to help those in need?  Absolutely not.

The thought of my friends or family, especially my children, being hurt in violence is terrifying.  But God says not to fear.  He says it over and over and over again.  Jesus shows kindness to the poor and needy over and over again.

We need to welcome the refugees.

Monday: a prayer fufilled

Isaac: I wish Dad could come home early.  [Note, it was about 10am].
Amanda: yeah, me too.
Isaac: Can we pray about it?
Amanda, surprised but happy: sure.  Do you want to pray or shall I?
Isaac: you
Amanda: Dear God, please let Dad come home early.  Please let him finish his work really, really, really fast. Amen.
Isaac: Amen.

Imagine my surprise when Ben pulled into the driveway at 3:30 this afternoon.  I shouldn't be surprised, I guess.  He hadn't finished his work, but Isaac's part of the prayer was still answered; the server Ben needed crashed and he was unable to work for the afternoon.

Sunday: puppy

Isaac thinks he's a puppy.

We say his name, for whatever reason and he says he's puppy Isaac.  This happens many, many times a day.  You'd think Ben and I could remember by now.

He crawls around on all fours on a regular basis.

He barks, although not that often.

He refers to puppy Isaac in the third person all the time.  "Puppy Isaac would like some water."

I forgot to mention it to Aunt C when she was babysitting.  Not to fear though...Puppy Isaac told her what was going on.  Probably several times from the sound of it.

It's a bit of an annoying stage, but not too bad.  Possibly more annoying for puppy Isaac since we can't remember he's a puppy.

Friday: Christmas presents

I'm reading a book about justice.  (Our church recommends a book each year, this year this is the book.)  Last night the reading was on being content with what you have.

This comes at such an interesting time, since it has been "making Christmas list" week.  As always, I feel like I already have plenty.  I can find some things for my list, but so much of that just things that would be fun.  Don't get me wrong - fun is good.  Fun items give people jobs.

Yet every year I always wonder what would happen if I only put donation items on my list.  I always feel like I would be a disappointment to people trying to buy for me, because choosing a charity wouldn't be as fun.  As I think about it though, I wonder why I should care.  As I think it through, I wonder if I would enjoy Christmas as much without tangible gifts.

So this is my possible notice to everyone.  Next year I might finally do it.  ...or I might not.  I have a year in which to think about it.

Tuesday: settlement

A while ago we got a mailing about a Lockheed 401k settlement.  We had to fill in some paperwork and send it back in.  Mine was easy; I haven't moved my 401k.  Ben's was a bit harder, involving a phone call.  Then he missed a signature so we had to send in an extra piece of paper.  At this point, our investment in Ben's side of the project is $0.90 in stamps and maybe 20 minutes.

We got a check yesterday for Ben's...$0.88.

*sigh*

At least we came out ahead on my side, by an estimated $0.43.

Monday: cameras and super speed

Joshua's favorite toys today were the cameras.  Neither has batteries.  I think he just likes pushing the buttons and the weight that they are.  Joshua was also rather cranky today.  There was a 15 minute meltdown in the morning...I want to be in your lap, no I want to be on the floor, no I want to be in your lap. Then tonight at dinner he kept saying "more" but we had no idea what he wanted.  Since the fever his appetite hasn't been great, so eventually we hand fed him some Cheerios.  It worked for a bit but wasn't really what he wanted.  He needs some more words.

Isaac and I played flags today.  It consists of chasing each other around and trying to pull off some flags that we got in a happy meal.

He's really into "super speed" the last few days.  He has his walking power (grape water), his running power (pomegranate water), and when combined with lemon water he has super speed.  (I'm running out of sippy cups.)

He also wanted me to take a picture of him going backwards on the horse.

Sunday: cleaning up, Christmas lists

Yesterday I worked on picking up the house.  This is a normal thing for me, but I feel like progress was made.  This morning Isaac came out of his bedroom and said, "Mom!  The table is so clean!  Good work!  You can have a treat." And gave me an M&M from his Halloween candy.  A little later he said that I should finish cleaning Joshua's room for a treat, and I said that maybe he should clean his room for a treat.  Well, that started a cleaning day.  Isaac did his room, finished Joshua's room, and started the basement before getting sidetracked.

Also, we started working on Christmas lists.  Isaac is so easy this year!  He thinks a lot of things look interesting, but not everything.  Many of the things he picked out look interesting to me too, so that will probably be fun.  My list, on the other hand, is currently rather boring.  Hopefully I can spice it up a bit, but even if not that's ok.

Saturday: fever

Joshua had a fever all day.  He woke up a bit late and seemed normal, but then barely ate breakfast.  Alone that wouldn't set off any alarms, but he was also content to just sit in the high chair.

The rest of the day he was just sleepy and clingy.  He had about an hour throughout the day of happiness.  But, cuddles sure are nice sometimes.

Friday: tragedy

Today's tragedy is that Cheesy Chicken Enchilada Helper is not available from Amazon and we used our last box this week.  This is pretty much the only "helper" that we eat anymore, and it is absurdly hard to find.

I finally got a picture with Joshua's face full of lovey.  He has two - elephant and bear.  They both got washed this past week because they were smelly.  Especially elephant.  Joshua likes to stick them in his mouth, and sometimes he'll walk around with his hands holding something else and it is pretty silly.  But he does love them. :)

Thursday: 46 months

Isaac turned 46 months several days ago!

Emotions/attitude: it was a pretty good month.  We've had some problems with listening the last few days, but overall pretty good.  He loves Ben and me.  He often says to me, "I love you so so so so so so so so.....so so much."  Which is fun...most of the time.  Ben usually gets "I love you ten much" or whatever number Isaac is feeling like.

Time scales: Isaac gets his time scales all messed up.  He has two: all day and tomorrow.  All day can mean often, today, or all the time.  Tomorrow can mean yesterday, tomorrow, a long time ago, or in the future.  It is often hard to figure out what he's trying to say.

Imagination: Isaac likes playing castle.  He is a puppy all the time lately...and by default the rest of us are dogs too.

Learning: They are concentrating on a letter a week at school and I can tell he's picking up on it.  He can sound out the first sound of a word and sometimes can even figure out what that sound is.  He is starting to write his name without prompting...below you can sort of see his name.  He got a little messed up around the As and crossed one out.  It also kind of wraps around.

Praying: Isaac has started to pray aloud about one time a day.  They are good prayers (see the video from a few days ago) although they sometimes lack complete sentences.  The prayer at the beginning of the month was "Dear God, [Thank you] for everything in the whole world and [help] everyone not break anything. And [thank you for] Jesus and thunder and lightning Amen."

He also wanted to take a picture of the pretty star.  I'm just excited because he's willing to sleep under my quilt again.

Wednesday: Oobleck

Today I thought we'd make Oobleck.  It worked because it was a beautiful day out!  It felt like a nice day in September, not the beginning of November.

Anyway, I'd recommend Oobleck.  1) Easy to make.  2) It's messy.  We did it outside, which was perfect.  3) It is the easiest thing to clean up ever.  A lot of it can be brushed off.  If it can't be brushed off, it just needs to hit a stream of water and it dissolves.  Awesome.  4) If you add color too it it takes a while for the color to fully mix, so you can see the color swirls for a while.  Like adding food coloring to water, but slower.  (Note: however, I'd recommend against having your young child get red food coloring in the same place he hurt his lip.  It looks bad and as though you are a bad mom for not taking care of your child.)  5) Isaac and Joshua enjoyed it.  It lasted for about an hour, which is pretty good.

Let's see...what else happened today?  Oh, I found out why people don't use a walking lawnmower to pick up their leaves.  It doesn't work well.  However, the lawn really needs to be mowed so I did it anyway, emptying the bag every two minutes.  But now the bin is full of long grass that grew really well and chopped up leaves, and I didn't finish mowing the grass.  It meant I could take a nap, which I was completely fine with doing.

I won a game of racquetball against Ben, 16-14.  He proceeded to win the next game as normal.  Well, let me take that back.  He didn't actually win because we didn't finish it because the first game took too long and our time was up.

Tuesday: more videos

Isaac praying.  It's his new prayer.


Joshua discovered jumping.  He did it once by himself, probably by accident, and then thought it was so funny when Ben would jump.  Joshua kept trying, but it usually looked as though he was jumping down instead.


Joshua has also started bringing drinks to the couch at dinner time.  Usually he doesn't fall.

Monday: a new record

We had a new record today!  Two bloody lips.  Isaac must have had a split lip...I saw it in Meijer and he was completely oblivious.  I asked him if it hurt and he thought a bit and then said yes, but I kind of wonder if he said yes because he was hoping to get something out of it.  However, Joshua did a face plant and fully understood that something was wrong.  My first instinct with bloody lips, I've recently learned, is to rush into the bathroom.  I then decide that I need a paper towel, which is not in the bathroom and sigh to myself.  I should really think about what I'm going to do when I see blood before doing anything.  Or have some paper towel in the bathroom.

Ben and Isaac "played science" tonight.  The second machine was a hit...he laughed and laughed and laughed with it.

Flurry has been feeling left out lately.

Sunday: time change

The boys have been sleeping in pretty well in the mornings.  There have been a few where I haven't had to get up until 8.  (And on a weekday it feels rather scandalous.)  It may have helped that I set the heat so that it doesn't kick on until 7:45.

Anyway, due to this lovely sleeping in streak the boys did well today.  Joshua woke around 6:45 and started creaking.  I was vaguely aware of it but Ben got up with the boys so I got to sleep in even more.  It was wonderful.

Saturday: funny Isaac sayings, Joshua in costume

Ben:  ... and I was talking to Ben about the problem at work...
Isaac bursts out laughing.
Ben: what's so funny?
Isaac: you were talking to yourself???

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Ben and I are talking about random things in the car.
Isaac: we should paint our house
Amanda: oh really.
Isaac: yeah, we should paint it black.
Ben: the inside or the outside?
Isaac: the inside.  I don't like white.
Ben: but if we did that we wouldn't be able to see we'll.

Isaac: we could just put more lights in.  We should paint it black.

Ben: but we wouldn't be able to see well!

Isaac: but I have special eyes.

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Ben: What do you want to be when you grow up?

Isaac: a big dog.

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Isaac, to himself in bed: The Bible verse says you can have a treat.

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We went to Cheryl's house to trick-or-treat this evening.

This is when Joshua saw Grandma. :(  It was an instant run away.

Joshua slowly warmed up.

Joshua likes to pick up books and read them.

Friday: Trick or treats and more!

Isaac decided to take a picture of the coasters today.

Then we had Joshua's 15 month well child visit.  He weighed 20 lbs 4 oz (14%) and measured 30.5" (24%).  Everything seemed fine except that his hemoglobin was still low.  I'm hoping it's because the first month we didn't use vitamins "with iron" because when I got the vitamins I didn't know it would be low and after I didn't realize there was a with and without iron.  It does surprise me a bit though, since for the past month we've been pretty good at taking them regularly...we miss maybe one day a week.  However, it must not be too low since we're not checking it again until his 18 month appointment.

We went Trick or Treating at Ethan's church.  Like last year.  It isn't cold and isn't too much candy.  I was a bit sad to see Isaac take several harder pieces of candy...he's ok with suckers, although they still get a little sticky, but I'm not sure how laffy taffy will do.  I guess we'll find out.

Isaac was a Lego Block.  A black one, of course.  With a candy holder brick too.  He couldn't hold the candy holder with both hands because the box was too big, so Ben and I ended up holding it.  However, Ben managed to fit into the box, so I expect that we have several years with this costume. :)

Joshua was Winnie-the-Pooh.  I'm hoping to get a better picture tomorrow to compare to Isaac in it.  The hat didn't stay on very long.

We went to Wendy's afterwards, and Ben was trying to spell something to me...

Ben: Should I give Isaac a s-t-r-a-w?
Amanda: s.....t........a.........can you spell it again?
Ben: s-t-r-a-w
Amanda: s.....t.......a......r......w....are you sure it ends in a w?

We were talking about it later, and spelling things for me just does not work.  My brain cannot process the words in any sort of timely manner.  Whenever Ben does it he can see my brain break and it's true!  I tend to just say things because I don't like being spelled at, but maybe I can spell a few more things because Ben actually can understand it.

Thursday: Wacky Day

It was wacky day at school today.  Ben was in charge of the hair, but it was a bit long to make it spiky.

Isaac wore stripes on stripes.  We tried to wear plaid shorts over the pants, but that wasn't comfortable.  It was hard to find clothes that clashed when his pants are all neutral.

Joshua's colors clashed.  He had mismatched socks too.

This evening Isaac kept saying his forehead hurt.  But then he would laugh and run so it was hard to figure out if he just wanted medicine or really had a headache.  I ended up giving him a syringe full of water.  It was "bedtime medicine."  And the flavor was "clear."  As I was leaving his room he told me that he was feeling a little better already.

Wednesday: 15 months

Joshua turned 15 months today.  To celebrate, he started saying "hi."

So let's see...

Eating: he's still eating medium well.  He eats table food fine, but I still have a hard time with vegetables.  Bread and graham crackers are a favorite.  He's nursing about three times a day.

Sleeping: He usually only takes one nap, but taking two isn't odd.  Even if he only takes one nap it is often only about an hour and a half.  He goes down for bed around 8pm, wakes up around 6am to nurse, and then goes back to sleep until about 7:30am.  He does a creaky door impression around midnight most nights, but often will go back to sleep.  I still get up with him an additional time at least twice a week.

Moving: He is now a full walker.  He's doing a great job and it's fun to see him wobbling around.  He has fewer and fewer falls every day though.

Talking: "ni-ni" (night-night) is probably one of the most common, although I'm pretty sure he also started saying "hi" tonight.  He can sign "more" and "all done" and "pick me up".  Those four words cover a lot of communication.

(It was orange day today.)

Interpersonal interactions: he still likes the immediate family, and sometimes prefers me and sometimes Ben.  Isaac can make him smile often, but Isaac also has odd rules that Joshua doesn't understand.  Maybe not so odd...things like Isaac can touch Joshua but Joshua can't touch Isaac.  Joshua is getting better with other people too.  Slowly but surely.

Playing: Joshua is a great player.  As mentioned before, he can stack things and likes to look at books and just amuses himself well.  A new favorite is to play with the bowls in the kitchen...I eat our animal magnets with a spoon.  But it always gets such a big grin from him that I happily have another boy who likes to feed me pretend food.(ok, ok...mostly happily. Isaac still feeds me pretend food all the time and I just don't get it.)  He has discovered the IPad and gets a little bit of time every week.

Uses: Joshua is starting to understand what things are used for...bowls and spoons for eating, quilts for pictures, phones for talking, combs for hair.  Above he had gotten off the quilt and then came back to it for more pictures.

Monday: stacking

A week or two ago Joshua started stacking blocks.  Yay!  Milestone!

We got groceries today, and half of the groceries were just sitting in the bags on the ground.  Joshua found them and started to play with them.  He was only playing with the cans, so I let him enjoy.  Then I saw this.

Hmm.  He's stacking cans.  That doesn't look super safe, but I decided it was ok-ish.  A few minutes later I saw this.

And that was the end of stacking cans.  But hooray for stacking!

Sunday: coloring

Isaac was looking for something to do this afternoon, so I suggested that he finish coloring his paper from Sunday school.  Then I figured Joshua may as well try to color too.  It went better than I expected, actually.  He made marks on the paper and didn't try to eat the crayons.

Saturday: the Martian

Ben and I went to see the Martian today.  It was good.  Not quite as good as the book, of course, but still very good.  I think it helped that I had read the book though as I was able to fit a few things together to have them make more sense.

In other news, I picked out books for Isaac at the library yesterday since he was doing Legos.  One of them I got just because it was black, and we are told several times a day that "I like black."  Unsurprisingly, it is the new favorite book.  Luckily, it's a pretty good one.  Only the first page has words, but the rest of it is a Rube-Goldberg machine.

And Joshua...he's just been super cute.  After he does something that he's proud of he claps for himself.  So he'll stack two block and clap.  Then another block.  And clap.  And another block.  And clap.

Friday: library

We had our dishwasher fixed today.  They said they would come between 10 and 2.  To me, this means that they would be finished by 2...although I guess that's not technically what they said.  The guy showed up at 2:03, without making the call saying that he was on the way.  Sigh.  Not really a big deal, but it did mean that we didn't go anywhere in the morning and that can sometimes make for a long morning.  Especially since I didn't want the kitchen to get dirty.  (Side note: I put the gate up so that the boys couldn't throw things all over the floor.  It kind of bothered them and at one point Joshua tried lifting his foot so he could step over the gate.  All he managed to do was get his foot caught in the cross-bar.)

We did have to return some books to the library, so we did that after nap time.  And we ended up going at Lego play time.  It worked well; Isaac made a creation and Joshua brought me board books, one or two at a time.

They display the creations for a week.

Thursday: updates

Nothing of note really happened today, so I thought I'd give some updates...

House flies: probably gone.  They were gone for about a week and then one showed up yesterday, but I got rid of it.

Fruit flies: going down but still present.  The traps aren't working as well, but I think it's because there are just fewer to trap.

Bed sheet elastic: worked very well.  The bottom of the sheet didn't move and happiness was restored to our marriage.  It felt slightly odd a few times, but overall not very noticeable.  The top quilt still moved around, but it also wasn't as bad as before.

Phone: I just started using a new phone.  I had to look a bit for an email app that I liked...but I haven't used it enough yet to know if I really like the app.  So far so good though.

Wednesday: naps

Joshua didn't sleep well last night.  The saddest part about this was that he decided to wake up just as I was going to go to sleep, so it meant that I was still able to think.  While thinking is good, I couldn't just crawl back in bed, turn the monitor off, and hope that would solve the problem as I was too awake.

Joshua then took a short nap in the carrier this morning while we were outside.  It was a beautiful day and Aunt C came by to help (err, do all of) the fall clean up.  Isaac and I putzed around, spray painting his Halloween costume, bringing some summer stuff into the garage, and just enjoying being outside.

Then, for nap time, everyone slept well.  Really well.  Joshua, who normally does 1-1.5 hours, slept for three!  Isaac took a nap too.  So that meant I also got a very nice nap and was actually the first one awake.

Tuesday: paper

We got a package in the mail today.  Isaac and Joshua proceeded to play with the paper.  This is probably one of the first times that they've played so much together.  And it is a good example of Joshua's walking...I've been wanting to get a video for a while.



In other news, it has been decided that Joshua is going to stay in the infant room at daycare for the rest of the year.  I'll admit that I was hoping they would move him to the older classroom, but it also seems as though they've thought about it.  He's not bored in the current classroom and there is someone else his age.  One reason they don't want to transition him is that we're only there for another two months.  While this seems like a lot of time to me, I also don't know how long it takes the kids to settle.  (I just hope that in a month they don't say, "oops!  He really needs to be moved now because of _____.")

Monday: Joshua's first haircut

I gave Joshua a small haircut today.  I was just going to trim around the ears but then cut a bit off the back too.  I realized that he had a little mullet happening.

Here's the new haircut.  You can't really tell a difference from the front, but he was giving such a great smile!

Sunday: kids

Isaac: Why does God want us to have a happy ending? [A question after reading our devotional]
Amanda: Because he really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really loves you.
Isaac looks pensive.  Amanda waits.
Isaac: Did Jesus have a flashlight?


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I was washing Isaac's hair, which lately has felt like torture to him every time I got a drop of water on his eyes.  A few days ago I got some water in his eyes and he didn't go into a convulsive fit, so I was praising him.  His response?

"I'm getting bigger so I can do awesome things now."

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Joshua now has a sign for more.  It is a single finger into a flat hand, nothing at all like the actual sign, but it works.  So this morning he kept saying more and then pointing to the cabinet...he wanted more graham cracker.

Saturday: 15 year reunion

Ben and I went to my 15 year high school reunion tonight.  I wasn't planning on going, but then a few people talked me into it.

It wasn't bad, but it didn't work very well for me either.  I have a hard time going up to people that I barely knew and starting a conversation.  I talked a bit with the people that I currently interact with and even with a few people that I haven't seen since high school, but ...we left pretty early.  And I'm ok with that.  I think I'd be happy to see them in a smaller group, but the large group setting just doesn't work for me.

Friday: normal

Today was a rather normal day, all things considered.

Thursday: black, vinegar, beach ball

Black: we all know that Isaac loves black.  Today he picked out black pants with a black T-shirt...not all that abnormal.  And he put his name tag sticker on from the gym yesterday.  Why?  Because his name was written in black.

Vinegar: I got a large jug of apple cider vinegar to kill fruit flies.  I thought they were dying fairly well, but then I ran out of vinegar about 36 hours ago.  Now we're back to where we started, but I have more vinegar.

Beach ball: Joshua kept trying to play beach ball with Isaac after school today.  Isaac would push the beach ball away and say "no", but I think that is kind of what Joshua wanted.  So Joshua would walk to the beach ball, pick it up, and bring it back.  (Walk!  So much walking this evening!)

I know, I need more pictures.  Maybe tomorrow.

Wednesday: tired

Oh, today I was tired.  A I-need-coffee-when-I-don't-even-drink-coffee tired.  We ended up in the basement to play for a little bit and I laid down on the carpet and gave comatose responses to Isaac's questions for a while.  Joshua put a toy wagon on me.  I left it there.  Isaac then came over and told me I was the best mom ever and I was so sweet.  It was nice to hear that, even as I was actually being a terrible mom.

Luckily, Betsy had wondered if we wanted to go to the park so we went there soon after.  And Joshua went back to sleep after his 3pm nap wake up, so I got a slightly longer nap than normal.

I feel like it is a bit funny to be so tired now, as Joshua is starting to sleep a bit better.  However, I'm still recovering from the weekend sickness and probably still from the lack of sleep last week.

Tuesday: in videos

Amanda: So Isaac, what are you doing?
Isaac: making electricity

Thanks to Dad for the wire coils and magnets!  (If you couldn't tell, everytime the magnet hit the bolt the LED flashed.)  Yay for the magic school bus.

Monday: nice day

The weather today looked like it might be the last really nice day for a while, so we went to a playground in the morning.  Playgrounds, when by ourselves, aren't always my favorite places to go.  There's so much ducking and squishing and angling around because I'm not the size of a child.  Anyway, we went to a different one from normal today.  We've been to it before but I think it is one of my favorites because most things are all on one level.

Joshua did a lot of good walking, although by the end he was tired and not doing as much.

By the end of the day though I was done.  Joshua was being clingy so I had him in the carrier and Isaac was being so loud and I was trying to make dinner while not letting the fruit flies get to it.  (side note: I think there is only one house fly left and the fruit flies are going down, but still definitely around.)  Isaac isn't a fan of the show we've been watching with dinner, and so lately has asked to sit somewhere where he doesn't have to watch.  This would be fine if he actually didn't watch, but he does.  So today he elected to sit in the corner by our bedroom where he couldn't see the TV.  This lasted about thirty seconds...but now there will be no more sitting in odd places.

Sunday

Last night I'm not sure how well Joshua slept.  I know what you're thinking, "how odd!"  However, it's because when I first heard Joshua cry the Orange Mist told me that it would take care of him.  This made perfect sense to me in my dream state so I went back to sleep.  When I woke back up, (two minutes later?  thirty minutes later?) I sadly realized that the Orange Mist hadn't kept its promise and found Joshua standing in the crib.  Usually he's just sitting, so I think it might have been a while.  As I cuddled him back to sleep he awoke with a scream a few times so I'm wondering if he's having nightmares.

Let's see...today I felt mostly better.  Isaac has enjoyed playing with some of Ben's old toys that came home with us on Wednesday; yesterday they found the micro-machines.  Joshua really, really wants to play with them and we've had several tantrums when he hasn't been able to.  He's had several tantrums lately, but today we had some of the bigger ones.  Joshua did get to play with Ben's trophies and that was pretty fun.

Isaac was an eating machine today.  Joshua did some excellent walking.

We recently got some sateen sheets and were having lots of issues with the sheets coming untucked during the night.  So I sewed a piece of elastic from one side to the other, about 15" up from the bottom.  We'll see if it helps.

Saturday: sleep 3

Well, Joshua slept a bit better last night.  My plan was to make sure to cuddle him until he was really asleep.  Maybe if he had a good night of sleep then following nights would be better.

However, I had a fever in the middle of the night so I didn't sleep well.  Sigh.  I have no idea why I had a fever and was rather surprised by it.

The day was ok, but I was a bit sick and tired.  I pretty much threw the kids at Ben as soon as he woke up and told him I needed a nap.  I didn't do much the rest of the day...some relaxing, a little bit of working.

Hmm.  I have a low grade fever again.  I took medicine.  Here's hoping.

Friday: sleep

I was exhausted today.  Joshua slept better last night, but still cried for at least an hour in the middle of the night.  Why?  He doesn't seem hungry.

And I'm still trying to get on top of the fly problem.

And there are a ton of things on the to-do list.

And I'm still awake.  I should have gone to bed by now, but I like doing my stuff too.  And I know I get a nap tomorrow.

Isaac is getting smarter every day.  Joshua is getting cuter.

Thursday: sleep

Joshua didn't sleep well last night.  He's been doing that lately.  Is something wrong?  Does he think he's hungry?  Is he just trying to win?  I don't know.  And I can't make good decisions in the middle of the night.  Even when I try to pre-make the decisions I think I end up make poor choices.

Anyway, Ben and I are both rather tired.  I think Joshua is too.  Hopefully it bodes well for tonight.

And Isaac wouldn't stop talking about the "science game" that Ben played as a kid and we brought home yesterday.  (Seriously.  Wouldn't stop talking about it.)  They finally got it out tonight but it was all corroded.  So it either needs some TLC or it would be a good Christmas present.

Wednesday: ups and downs

The day started at 1am with a weird sound, waking me from my sleep, happening about once every 20 seconds.  "Maybe Jesus has returned!" was my first excited thought, followed by a bit of fear.  (Let's face it, the unknowing is scary.)  Well, that thought was wrong.  Maybe something is buzzing on my nightstand.  After throwing my hand over there and moving things around in the dark a few times, I was guessing that wasn't the problem.  Ug, it's time to turn on the light.  Is it coming from my clock?  I thought so.  I unplugged my clock, and the noise continued.  What a weird clock!  I moved the clock to the kitchen, because obviously I had a possessed clock and I didn't want to hear it for the rest of the night.  Oh.  It wasn't the clock.  Bother, now I'll need to reset it.  It's the phone.  Why is the phone making such noises?  I closed the monitor app and it stopped.  Huh.

In the morning we went to pick up some of Ben's Very Old Stuff from growing up.  Many boxes.  Of course, Joshua didn't want to be without me.  So I put him in the carrier on my back and hauled boxes.  Not ideal, but he sure was happy.  Isaac was bored, but survived.  It surprised me a bit, because usually he loves playing at Grandma's house.  (Oh, also, he decided that Ben and I should become his age and we could all play together and Cheryl could take care of us.)  He did get some of Ben's old toys, and was rather excited about that.

It was beautiful outside, so Joshua and I went out for a bit while Isaac finished his nap.  I'm hoping to be more on top of the fall gardening, but we'll see what happens over the next month.  Joshua continued to be rather clingy.

The flies are back.  There are fruit flies too.  However, my fruit fly trap works pretty well and I have a good way of getting rid of the flies, although it isn't very fast.

Tuesday: red walls

Fall break!  I didn't have to work, but still brought the boys the boys to day care.  I went to Bible Study, did some work around the house, and took a nap.

Ben and I decided that Joshua's room might have the same color paint as our room.  I had always thought of his room as being a darker red, but when looking for paint today there was only one red.  We held up a chunk of Joshua's wall next to our wall and it is close.  I don't think it is quite the same, but the lighting isn't very good either.  However, it might be good enough.  We're going to try and see.

Oh, and we forgot Giraffe at home today.  Isaac asked where he was when we got to school, and when I said he was at home Isaac immediately said, "We need to go back and get him!"  I said I would watch him today while I worked at home.  I caught him trying to drink my mountain dew at lunch.  Isaac later told me that Giraffe doesn't like mountain dew.

Monday: meh

The boys were a bit sick today.  It started yesterday(ish) and continued today.  Isaac was a bit lethargic.  Joshua was talkative.

Isaac also had the worst meltdown to date.  It started because he was running late for his bath so it was going to be extra fast.  Therefore, I wasn't going to give him a color to change the water.  In hindsight, I probably would have given him a color.  But I wasn't sure it would completely dissolve before it was time to get out.  Screaming ensued.  Then I dumped some water on his head, called him washed, and took him out.  Then he just wanted to be back in the bath.  Lots more screaming.  I finally moved him to the time out area and told him he could come out whenever he was under control.  But I didn't leave too much...we got pjs on, gave hugs, had more screaming, etc.  I finally asked him if he thought he would change my mind and he said no.  That seemed to be the turning point, although all the way through the bed time routine he calmly told me he wanted a bath.  I continually told him he could have one tomorrow after school.

Isaac went right to sleep.

Weekend: cottage

This weekend we went up to the cottage and had an excellent time, marred only by the fact that Ben was unable to join us.

Joshua and I did some swinging  while others were on the paddleboat.

(Everyone has big smiles, although you may need to click to enlarge.)

Joshua got another ride on the swing.  He was happy to be with anyone except Dad.  (And even then, Dad got to hold Joshua once.)  By the end of the weekend there were a few times he even preferred Pat to me, which was rather surprising.

The walking kids enjoyed searching for just the right acorns to throw into the water.

...although they didn't really need to search as hard as they did.

Isaac helped Dad with some sanding.

And we went for a ride around the lake.

Yay!

Thursday: dangerous Jesus

Isaac kept talking about dangerous animals today.  I kept thinking that he was saying Jesus instead of dangerous.  And while one is a noun and one is an adjective, the sentences kept making a tiny amount of sense...just enough to make me be completely baffled over and over as to what he was saying.

Wednesday: 45 months

Isaac turned 45 months today.  He was rather stubborn about not letting me take a picture of him, so this one is the only one I got.  Well, I took another that I wasn't supposed to, but it isn't very good.

Favorites: Isaac seems to have lots of favorites lately...
*color: black, hands down
*stuffed animal: Giraffe.  Giraffe is still full of sad emotions, especially when Isaac leaves him.  The other day his first name (Giraffe) was taken by some clouds, but no one had told giraffe what his new first name was yet.
*dinner: chicken and tots...it's his "very best favorite"
*meal: peanut butter 'tella
*sweet food: donuts.  (Hooray!  He helps my donut addiction.)
*mom: Me.  I'm told several times a day that I'm the best mom in the whole world.
*dad: Ben.  Ben regularly gets emails that have videos saying "I love you Dad" because Isaac is so sad that Ben had to leave.

He still has some pretty strong emotions, but I feel like they're more under control than they were last month.  He isn't crying every day and time out has again become more rare.  However, his crying now includes some screaming...the good part?  He's usually calm soon after the scream gets out.

I also wanted to mention that I feel he is trust-worthy.  (Or at least as much as can be expected with a 45 month old.)  The other day I asked him to put himself in bed for rest time.  And he did!  He doesn't always do what we ask him to do right away, but he will at least tell us that he doesn't want to do it.  When we convince him that he does have to do it, I can leave the area and know that he will do it.  (Although, I'll admit, not always as fast as I was expecting him to do it.)

We had about a week where he said "poop"  all the time.  I think we got rid of it.  It was a combination of a lot of people telling him it wasn't nice to say and the threat of a bad taste in his mouth.

He rarely has toilet accidents anymore, even at night.

School seems to be going well.  He goes right into his classroom without a backwards glance.  (He is also super excited to see me when I come to pick him up, so it works well both ways.)  He can spell and write his name.  (Not very neatly, but he can.)  He can color inside lines, trace objects, and understands how to do simple math.

Several people have mentioned this month that he suddenly seems older.  The toddler is all gone, replaced by a very fun preschooler.