Friday: on why it takes me an hour to unload the top of the dishwasher

At 5pm today, I had a simple goal: finish unloading the dishwasher.  I only had to do the top; I had done the bottom earlier and Isaac did the silverware.  It went something like this.

I unload one item.
Isaac needs help opening his new game.
I unload one item.
Isaac wants to play his new game.  (It turned out to be more of a one person game, which was perfect.)
Joshua is playing outside on the deck; he gets a quick check.
I unload one item.
Isaac needs help.  I move him to the kitchen and help him.
I realize the high chair really needs to be cleaned before dinner and bring it into the kitchen.
Isaac solves the puzzle and would like help getting the next one set up.
I clean the high chair tray.
I help Issac with the next card.
I glance at Joshua.
I take one item out of the dishwasher.
I help Isaac with the next card.
I hear Joshua yell, only to find that he had released all the water in the water table.
I go down to turn on the hose.
I go up to refill the water table.
I go inside, only to find out I didn't fill it up enough.  I fill it up more.
I go inside and get Isaac started on the next card.
I go downstairs to turn off the hose.
I go upstairs and get three items put away from the dishwasher.
I help Isaac with a card he's stuck on.
Joshua is done, but needs a diaper and clothes change.
I get Isaac started on the next card.
I put away one item.
I check Joshua and decide I should spend some time with him.
I help Isaac with the next card.
I put away the last of the dishes.

It was about 5:50pm.

In other news, all our stuffed animals got put to bed this morning.  Both boys enjoyed this game.

We went to the library after playing at a playground and got the Chico Bon-Bon stories again. (Monkey with a tool belt, Monkey with a tool belt and the loud noise)  I read them both twice, Isaac read them himself at least once, and Ben read them both once.  Oh Chico...I have a love/hate relationship with you.

Thursday: downtown Zeeland

This morning we went to Zeeland bakery with Pat and then walked around downtown Zeeland for a bit.

After the bakery we stopped by the game store and enjoyed one of their demo games along with the train track.  Joshua and Isaac loved holding Pat's hand (especially Joshua).  We stopped by the bike store as we continue to try and figure out the best bike carrier solution and then did one more circle with the boys in strollers.  It was hot, but very nice.

Wednesday: addendum about Isaac

1. In the middle of the afternoon, as I was doing some stuff in the bedroom I hear Isaac say, "I'll catch you if you fall. I'll catch you if you fall." I knew what Joshua was doing and was pretty sure he could handle it, but it was nice to hear that Isaac would help him, probably getting hurt in the process.

2. Ben was in Isaac's room and asked what some new looking rubber bands were for. (They went with one of his new presents.). Isaac responded that they were for shooting at the fan, and when you hit the fan it would fling it somewhere else. Ben asked if it was a mom-approved activity, and Isaac responded, "no, Iapproved this activity during little rest time."

3. Isaac, "is Joshua going to be more fun to play with when he's two? What if I say 'no thank you' and Joshua still doesn't listen to me?"

Wednesday: some of it went well

The day started out fine.

Then Joshua accidentally caused my phone to fall, and the screen shattered.  As I was trying to figure out if it still worked (it did) and give myself two minutes to think about what to do next Isaac would not stop talking to me.  After the third time of telling him to wait because I just needed a few minutes and I'd get back to him shortly, I cry yelled at him.  He laughed.  Yes, I'm sure it was amusing.  However, that was the wrong response.  He went in time out.  That let me have my time out.  (It finished...we hugged, we talked...all the normal stuff.)  But blah.  (I found a place to fix the screen, but it will be a few days before they can get the part.)

Anyway, next we went to get the boys haircuts.  It was Joshua's first professional haircut and he did a great job.  He just sat in my lap, not saying a word.  He moved his head a bit, but not excessively.  The front still isn't as straight as I was hoping, but the rest of it is thinned out.  I don't have a picture since he was sitting in my lap.

Ben and I played racquetball tonight.  I really played quite poorly, but I did have one awesome shot which caused Ben's shoe to come off.

Oh, and Joshua left this for me.  Maybe he's trying to tell me that he would eat some steak?

Tuesday: zoo and a problem

Ben had the day off today, so we went to the zoo.  We had a good time...it was pretty empty when we got there and we were just finishing up when the boys were done.  We went to an Indian restaurant since we were in a city that has Indian food.  (It was ok.  Not great, not bad.)

Joshua loves birds, so I thought he'd enjoy feeding the birds.  Not so much.  They got too close and freaked him out.  I had him leave the cage before the food was gone.

This afternoon we took our weekly stroller/bike ride to water the flowers.  Only to find out there is a serious problem with my plan - the plan was that Isaac would learn to ride his bike and then we'd have a nice stroll to water the flowers.  Well, it turns out that once they figure out how to ride a bike they go rather fast.  Even when Isaac wasn't trying to go fast he went faster than me.  So I was running half the time.  Isaac can now get himself started from a stop, which was the biggest problem he had last week.  I think I'm going to get a bike seat for Joshua so that I can bike with Isaac...because running is not fun.

A few days ago: 54 months

Isaac turned 54 months old a few days ago.

Family: He finally loves Ben infinity much.  He insists on telling me that "I love you more than you love me."  I've tried to stop it since I don't really like it, but it hasn't worked.  He seems to be enjoying Joshua more...he likes making him laugh and helping him say new words.  Isaac happily still holds my hand; something I love.

Eating: Isaac has been extra hungry this month.  Several times he would eat dinner, his treat, a graham cracker, and then start in on the fruits and veggies.  He is a slow, slow eater, but with all of that food it isn't uncommon for it to take 1.5 hours for him to eat.  He has a few foods that he definitely will not eat (scrambled eggs, for example) but isn't too picky over all.

Silliness: Isaac loves to be silly.  (Above is his silly picture.)  He is always a puppy, although he refers to himself in third person and in a funny voice when a puppy.  This month we learned that puppy is still learning how to eat, and so somethings took a few extra tries.  He's been doing more climbing, standing on one leg, hopping, etc things...it makes me wonder if gymnastics influenced it.

Playing: his favorite things are still marbles and legos.  (I often hear the marbles when he's supposed to be getting dressed.)  He got some new fun things for his birthday and he's been playing with those a lot too.  I put the puzzles away since he hasn't gotten them out for months, and then he asked for some during quiet time.  I brought a few up, and am not sure that he did them.

Attitude: Besides a few minor listening incidents, Isaac has been really good lately.  He's really fun and tries really hard to get people to laugh and smile.  He's trying to scare Ben and me; he's gotten Ben once but hasn't really gotten me yet.  Oh, I'm not sure if this fits in this category, but Isaac is amazing at delayed gratification.  We got donuts on Wednesday and he decided that he didn't want to eat his until Thursday because that was his birthday day.  We've noticed this in several other places too.

Work: Isaac has been somewhat willing to do work around the house, but we just set up a chore chart for him.  He gets some money just for being part of the family.  The chores are to say 5 s-blend words (snow, stop, spit, etc.), feed Flurry, put away the clean silverware, water the plants (4x/week), help with laundry (1x/week), and clean his room (1x/beginning of the week).  So far it's worked pretty well.  Most of the chores take him a total of 15 minutes at the most, so it's easy to have him do even if it's at the end of the day.  (Cleaning his room, on the other hand, takes a while.  Especially since he doesn't want to do it.  Our solution is that he doesn't have to, but no ipad (or other fun things), until he has done it.

Conclusion: Isaac is usually a lot of fun to be around and while he prefers "playing" with us he's really quite happy to do anything with us.  He's becoming quite independent while still enjoying having us around.

Sunday: puzzles and fireworks

I had a few extra minutes this evening and so worked on some puzzles with Joshua.  He was a pro.  So I got out the four piece puzzles.  He had the right idea, but execution wasn't great.  But that is good...something to work on.

Isaac got to go see his first fireworks tonight.  He took a nap this afternoon, as part of the deal, and then he and Ben went to Travis' neighborhood for them.  He loved them.  They were rather loud, but he just covered his ears.  Ben said that Isaac was saying "Bang, bang" in between the explosions and bouncing all over the place.  When they lit off a small one he would get a bit disappointed and wonder when the big ones were coming again.