Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Tuesday: videos

It's always interesting to go in Isaac's room and see what interesting thing he has thought to do.  Today it was put his puzzle pieces on the doorknob.  I was going to just take a picture but he decided to narrate it instead:




Then Isaac and Joshua were playing, pretty much as normal.  They've never done this exact thing before, but do tend to do things like this on a normal basis.  Especially the running and screaming. :)  And yes, I did think about stopping it at one point so I didn't have to deal with a cracked head but instead kept filming.  Everything ended up ok, so it was the right choice.


Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Tuesday: post crossings

A while ago I heard about PostCrossing.  You send some postcards and then you get some back between anywhere in the world.  We've now sent five and just received our first one back!


It's from India.  The other side of the world.  Isaac often has been asking if the other side of the world is sleeping when we're awake, so I had a nice example of it this time.  (He actually asks it a surprising amount right now.)

The idea is a pretty neat one.  You start by sending 1 to 5 postcards.  Once the person(s) receives it, your name goes on the list for someone to send one to you.  You can also send another once yours is received.  So really, you should always get as many postcards as you send.

Monday, November 14, 2016

Monday: gymnastics and a party

Gymnastics went rather well today.  Joshua just hit that sweet spot where he realized he's supposed to be doing whatever the teacher is doing...I saw it for the first time at story time on Friday.  He's delayed by about five seconds and can't do it all that well yet, but it is so cute and a step in the right direction.

Isaac had his first birthday party.  It was for someone from school at a nearby play area.  I had never realized this place existed before, but I expect we'll be back once in a while.  There was a large play structure, an area with toys, and a toddler area.  Isaac wore himself out, but was always smiling whenever I saw him.


Sunday, November 13, 2016

Sunday: towers

Today ended up being rather busy, but it started off with the boys building towers with Ben.




In other news, Isaac cleaned his bedroom super fast today and it was awesome. For everyone.

Friday, November 11, 2016

Friday: outsmarted by our two-year-old

Circuits have been out the last few days. Isaac made one that he calls "the flashlight". It is two LEDs in parallel with a normal light and switch. When you turn the circuit on, the LEDs turn on. When you hold down the switch, the normal light also comes on.

Joshua was playing with it and, I think with only one jumper wire, managed to make it so that if you hold down the switch the normal light turns on and the LEDs turn off. I had tried to do this before, so I made a note of what he did and continued on my way.

Isaac thought it was cool, but then took it apart. He may have changed a few things, but not too much.

But then neither Ben nor I could recreate what Joshua did. I spent about five minutes working on it, Ben spent about 15. We were out-smarted, rather literally, by our two year old.

(Here is Joshua with his circuit. At one point it made an obnoxious sound, but then I disconnected one of the battery terminals and he just put the jumpers all over.)

Thursday, November 10, 2016

Thursday: reasoning doesn't work

A: Joshua, can you please push those cords back under the stand?  They're not toys.
---
A: Joshua, don't touch that button [on the power strip]!  Push it back under the stand.
--- Joshua's little finger reaches for the button again.---
A: Joshua, no!  Push it under the stand!
---
---The little finger reaches out.---
A: ok, time out.
---We do time out.---
---We sit together by the cords.  I check to make sure they can easily be pushed back under the stand while Joshua throws a tantrum.---
A: ok Joshua, please push these under the stand.
J: no!
---
A: ok, please push them under the stand.
J: no!
A: ok, you have three choices.  You can push the cords under, throw a tantrum, or go to bed.
J: tantrum!
A: ok.
I: Joshua, you can push the cords in.  It's easy-peasy!
--Joshua slowly calms down, but still refuses to push the cords in.---
A: ok Joshua, do you want to push the cords in or go to bed?
J: bed.
A: ok.

After Joshua was in bed Isaac and I ate some cake.

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Wednesday: raid love

I was raiding on WoW tonight and asked for someone to call their repair mount so that I could repair...and half the raid was suddenly mounted up.  I'm not really a great raider and don't talk much, so I was rather surprised at the large response.