Taking a Walk with 3

Thursday was a beautiful day. We had nothing planned for the afternoon which is the way I like it. At a minimum, I was going to send the kids outside to play. My best intentions were to actually get some exercise.

As the afternoon progressed, I realized once Eleanor got home from school that things were quickly going downhill. Hayes and Eleanor were fighting over EVERYTHING. They were about to beat each other up as they constantly fought for whatever the other had. (Why is it that when they have rooms full of things to do, they fight over 1 pair of ears that go on these magnetic people they have created.) They were quickly amassing strikes through our discipline philosophy of three strikes and you're out. (Hayes ended up with 6 for the day, a Carroll family record, that resulted in no screen time for two days for him.) With this turn of events, I was hell-bent on getting out of the house. I was going to get some exercise even if the kids kicked and screamed!

Later that night, when Thomas got home from work, I reported to him that I took a walk that afternoon. He looked incredulously at me (we have a double stroller and a single stoller but no triple stroller that would fit all three) and asked, "How? Did Eleanor ride her bike?"(That would have been a disaster in the making since she would have gotten tired after our first block, and then I would have had to push the double stroller AND the bike back up the hill at the bottom of our street.) I told him that I did not let E ride her bike for obvious reasons, and that they all walked with me. I made the two older kids take turns in the stroller. Ben got to remain in his seat the entire time. E and H had to switch at each stop sign. Hayes had a major breakdown at the bottom of our hill with our first switch. He did not want to walk so I started to leave him at the corner. Once he figured out that Mom was dead-set on walking, he realized that he needed to get with the program. He quickly caught up to me, held my hand, and started to walk. With the next switch, Eleanor decided that she wanted to run and off she went. On Hayes's next turn out of the stroller, he followed suit and ran more than I've ever seen him run. He even ran up a big hill we have in our neighborhood. He was having so much fun that he did not want to get back into the stroller at the next stop sign. We actually successfully finished my usual route (30 minutes around the neighborhood) without any more complaints. Hayes even declared that on our next walk, he would run!

On a side note, E claims she sprained her ankle while sleeping Thursday night. She hobbled around the house as she got ready for school Friday morning. I did not dare tell her this, but I bet its from her running on the walk. :-)

Breakfast - The Meal of Champions Only For Some

It is so interesting to compare Eleanor and Hayes in the morning when it comes to breakfast. Eleanor never knows what she wants to eat, barely drinks her OJ, then takes only a few bites of whatever we've selected for her to eat, and fights taking her vitamins. Hayes, on the other hand, immediately places his order when he arrives in the kitchen (and its usually two items), chugs his OJ, and jumps up and down to eat his vitamins. This morning, Eleanor had some of "Mommy's cereal (Carroll code for Heartland cereal) in a little bowl." (We pour milk into her cereal even though she does not want it.) Hayes asked for "Mommy's cereal in a big bowl with milk and a waffle with syrup." Here is what was left of their breakfasts: We pointed out to Eleanor (just in case she had not already noticed) that Hayes eats so much more than she does at breakfast and she quickly retorted with, "I eat WAY more than he does at dinner. . . " That silenced us because we knew she was right!

What is Gourmet?

Eleanor brought this pencil home from school on Friday. The other night at dinner, she showed it off. You can see on the label that it is a "Gourmet Scented Pencil" that is made from recyclable materials. She decided to pass it around to let us all smell it since she had declared that it smelled "really good". So, around the table it went. I smelled it, Thomas smelled it and then Hayes smelled it. I could not figure out what it smelled like and neither could Thomas. When it was Hayes's turn, he took a whiff and said, "It smells like Fruit Loops!" Thomas and I both quickly took another sniff and determined that he was exactly right. This GOURMET recycled pencil smelled like Fruit Loops. Only a little tot could have placed this scent! I'm not sure, though, that I would have every labeled it Gourmet . . .

Ben is 8 Months Old

I am a few days late, but thought I would document some things about Ben as an 8-month-old:
- He has been crawling for a few weeks now (see my blog entry about this HERE) and crawls all over the house.
- His two top canine teeth are almost in. Actually, the one on his top right looks like it might have broken through this morning and the one on the left will come in any day now. Its a little strange to me that his canines are coming in before his top center teeth but that's the way its going.
- He is a much pickier eater than I remember his siblings being. He always seems to make a face when he starts eating and the fruits really make him pucker up. I can't really even say what foods he likes other than some veggies such as squash, carrots and sweet potatoes.
- We have introduced him to yogurt in an effort to "slow down" his digestive system.
- He gets 4 bottles a day - one at each meal and then a "snack" around 3:30 in the afternoon.
- Bedtime is usually shortly after 7pm and he is always awake by 7am.
- We have conversations throughout the day. He makes some sound and then I repeat it back to him. We have the best time talking.
- He sleeps with his little dog blanket. He especially likes to suck/gnaw on the dog's nose. I think it must make his gums feel better.
- He smiles every time he sees Baxter. I'm not sure the feeling is mutual. - He is a very long baby. All of the 9 month clothes of Hayes's seem to be too short. Unfortunately for him, I'm not about to go out and buy some new clothes with the seasons changing.
- We lowered his crib this weekend. We knew it was time when we walked into his room and he was on his knees, holding onto the side rails.
- I'm starting to see signs of stranger anxiety. When he sees an unfamiliar face, he'll look at me or Daddy and then go back to the new face, and then back to us to get some reassurance.

Inside Sports

I just heard myself say to Hayes,"You are NOT playing golf in here!" Why is it that my kids think they can play sports inside the house? They have tried playing football, golf, soccer(!) and basketball inside, with all of the required running included. Specifically, Hayes likes to plays golf with Ben's stuffed animals. Also, he and Eleanor tried to get away with playing soccer in the living room over the weekend, but I nipped that in the bud. Finally, Hayes has gotten into boxing due to our wii(!) and now "boxes" against his characters all over the house. I'm ready for some warmer weather so that I can send them OUTSIDE to play sports and spare our poor house!

Like Father, Like Son

When I first met Thomas, one of his claims to fame was his memory of classic movie lines/scenes. He would perform entire scenes at your request if he was so moved. He has quite a repertoire, but some of my favorites come from the movies Caddyshack and Back to School. Hearing him as Rodney Dangerfield and Sam Kinison always cracks me up! Now, it has been quite some time since Thomas has performed like this. Lucky for him, we have another family member who seems to have assumed this role . . . Hayes! Today at lunch, I discovered that he has lines and lines from the movie Cars memorized. He just started saying them and went through what I bet is a scene in the movie. I just sat there in shock and listened. When he was done, I came to two conclusions about the situation: (1) it is a little embarrassing that he has memorized these lines because that means he's watched Cars one too many times and (2) he is A LOT like his dad and that's a great thing!

What's For Lunch?

This is what Hayes eats for lunch EVERY day (seriously). He even helps me by getting the ingredients out himself. Lately, he's requested that I cut his sandwich into two triangles, but sometimes he asks for little squares or two rectangles. Then, when he is done with his sandwich he ALWAYS looks like this:
I don't know if its just routine to him or that he really, really likes PB&J, but I can't complain since its so easy!

Love is . . . by Eleanor

"Love is hugs and kisses. Love is Valentine's. Love is my Mom and Dad. Love is my teachers."

This was written by Eleanor on February 10 at school. As is the custom in the class, Ms. Howell gave them the words "Love is _" and they had to finish the thought.

Bedtime Routine

Every night we follow a simple routine with the kids in order to get them to bed. As Hayes likes to remind us on an almost nightly basis, it's "pajamas, brush teeth, read books, THEN go to bed." If we change the order of these events, Hayes quickly corrects us and reestablishes the proper order. (Mixing things up does not bother Eleanor. She probably prefers it, depending on her mood.) Once the kids get in bed, we say their prayers. The prayer I recite with both of them is "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep." The version we say is the following:

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray thee, Lord, my soul to keep;
See me safely through the night,
And wake me with the morning's light.

Both kids recite it, though some nights they ask me to say it for them. We then sing "Amen" at the end. I give them both a hug and a kiss and they are off to sleep, hopefully!

They both are big on saying Ben's prayers with him and giving him a kiss at night. Ben gets a double-dose of the prayer - one from E and one from H. If Ben goes to bed before one of them has kissed him or said his prayers, that child throws an absolute fit. It is fun to watch the older two apply our nightly bedtime routine to the newest member of the family on their own accord.

Constant Music

Sometimes it takes someone from the outside to point out something so obvious, you don't even notice it yourself. When Mom and Dad were visiting, Mom kept drawing my attention to the kids' music. Both Eleanor and Hayes make music in some form (usually singing or humming) throughout the day. I noticed at dinner tonight that they were both singing different songs throughout the meal. (Thomas is out-of-town.) E even wrote a song during dinner. Here are her lyrics:

"I love you.
I love you so much.
I love you more than candy.
I love you as sweet as you are.
I love you more than anything."

I have since heard her singing some more and discreetly wrote down the lyrics:
"Give me some love.
Its Valentine's Day.
I want to dance
All the way to China."

And another song:
"Blue, yellow and red all mixed-up together
Blue and red make purple.
Blue and yellow make green.
All we see in the world are these colors we like to make."

Not too shabby. We might have to think about copyrighting some of these before they become hit songs!

** Written 3/9/09: Thomas joined Eleanor for lunch at school last Friday. He sat at a table with some of her classmates. Two of the boys told Thomas that Eleanor always sings while she is writing in class. (As I've mentioned before, they write every day.) The class really likes this about her. She was totally embarrassed when Dad brought it up at dinner, but I think it's so cute and totally captures the Eleanor I know!

Hayes's Story

Hayes told us all a story tonight at dinner. I don't remember him ever doing this before so I wanted to take note of it. He introduced the story by saying to us,"Mom, I want to tell you a story . . ."

One night, I was here at the house all by myself. There was no Mom, or Dad, or Eleanor, or Baxter or even Ben here. Then Swiper the Fox came to our house, and he was going to get me. I ran away to Batman's house, and he was very nice. Then Swiper went to James and Leslie's house (our neighbors), and they went to Batman's house too.

He's really into Superheroes right now and has always loved Dora. I think its a great story for reflecting the phase he's currently in!

Mimi and Papa's Visit

Well, Mimi and Papa are on their airplane right now, making their way back to Florida.
We had a great time with them and are so thankful for all of their help! With Mimi and Papa around, Mom and Dad were able to go out to see a movie and go to dinner, take walks, shop, run errands and have some fun with the kiddos! The sunshine was out in full-force again so the kids played outside much of the day. The kids rode around the street, played golf, soccer and even some croquet. Ben got into the swing for the first time and his siblings pushed him back and forth. He was unsure at first, but Mimi claims that he was enjoying it in the end.Until next time, Mimi and Papa . . .

Holiday Confusion

"It's not Halloween!" I have to keep reminding my kids. They have candy ALL OVER the house! They have spent good parts of the past few days counting their many pieces. They both ask to eat at least one piece before and after a meal. Hayes even slept with one of his packs of Skittles last night. He then came down to our room first thing this morning and said, "Mom, I've been nice to Dad. Can I eat my Skittles before breakfast?" What?! Since when do kids get so much candy for Valentine's Day? I think our house will be attacked by the Candy Monster one night this week, and I'm sure that he will find every last piece of our candy . . .

Someone Knows How To Ride A Bike!

Look what Eleanor did for the first time today (and notice that smile on her face)!We are so proud of her! Papa took off her training wheels yesterday, and the lessons started shortly thereafter. As of last night, she was riding/gliding half-way down the street, but was not pedaling while doing so. Today, she asked to go back out to practice some more. We were amazed by her interest level and so happy that she kept trying and trying without giving up. She can now bike half-way down the street, turn around, and bike back up the hill. She seemed to be having a blast!

With all of the excitement outside, the boys followed Eleanor's lead and got on their rides. This weekend, Mimi and Papa treated Ben to his first rides in the red car. He had so much fun!Yeah for Eleanor!

Valentine's Treats

Mom and Dad flew in yesterday to share the long Presidents' weekend with us so we have been very busy. We have spent much of our time getting ready for and celebrating Valentine's Day. Yesterday afternoon was spent in the kitchen, getting the food ready for Eleanor's class's Valentine's Party. What did we make? Valentine Cookie Pops, straight from the Pillsbury website. Eleanor decorated the tops. We then made fruit skewers in an attempt to provide a healthy alternative to the cookies! This morning, the kindergartners had a 45 minute Valentine program in the school gym. They sang a BUNCH of songs with a lot of heart.We all greatly enjoyed their performance and effort. Both brothers seemed to have had a ball. Hayes listened intently to the entire show while Ben smiled and laughed at everyone around us. Finally, I delivered the goodies to E's class party after lunch. It was a little crazy, as things usually are once kids have had some sugar, but here they are trying to sit still. :-)

Wondrous Washing Machine

Tuesday is my laundry day. I walked out of E's room where I had put away some of her clothes, and this is what I saw. He's always been fascinated by the washer and how it spins. I've always been thrilled that I can keep him interested/distracted while I do laundry. Today, the first laundry day since he started crawling, he did not sit and watch it as long as he used to, but he did last for a good five minutes.

The Tongue

I get this look a lot! Ben LOVES to stick out his tongue. He does it when he's eating. He does it when he's crawling. He does it when he's just sitting and looking around. If you stick out your tongue back at him, he gets a big smile and sometimes even starts to chuckle.

It's A No-Shirt Paint Day While Dad Is Away

I decided to let the kids paint this morning while Ben supposedly was taking his morning nap. Eleanor often begs me to let her paint so I thought it would be something easy and fun for them to do together. (Thomas is in LA at the Grammys.) They were already dressed and did not want to have to go back upstairs for their paint shirts so I told them they had to take off their tops if they wanted to paint. Off went the shirts and away they went! Ben's nap only lasted about 30 minutes, and the painting did not even last that long. E & H quickly started fighting over the paints so Hayes called it quits.

It's That Time Of Year

It seems like all three kids are sick. Both Hayes and Ben have pink eye and are now on medication. When we went to the doctor to have Ben diagnosed with pink eye yesterday, I also learned that he had his third ear infection since Christmas. In the middle of the night last night, Eleanor came down complaining about her ear hurting too. I sent her to school with the hope that the pain was temporary! All three of them have an ugly cough. With the household in this sickly state, I am really looking forward to some warmer weather this weekend with the hopes that we can get outside and breathe some fresh air!

On another note, when I went to get Ben out of his crib this morning, he was sitting up! This morning is the first time he's ever done that - gone from rocking/lying down to sitting. I'm a little disappointed that this development has occurred so quickly because we were never able to capture his rocking on camera. (Our video camera broke down Christmas Day, of all days, and we just got a new one this week.) He rocked confidently for a month and it was so fun to watch. My little baby is moving on . . . :-)

Here Comes Ben!

Well, we have a crawler in our midst! I don't know if I want to laugh or cry. I am thrilled that Ben has reached this milestone, but know that our vigilance must rise exponentially. We now have to watch his every move and that is hard to do when there are often two other kids around who want attention as well. Now, his crawl definitely is not graceful or smooth, but it gets him where he wants to go.

Yesterday, I put Ben down on the floor in his room right beside his crib while I ran downstairs to throw away his dirty diaper. By the time I came back up, he was close to his bedroom door. I was so shocked! Earlier in the afternoon, he had sort of crawled around the playroom by the books, and I realized then that he had gotten the hang of it. He even pulled himself up on a basket where we keep our overflow books. I was folding laundry and turned around to see him on his knees, holding on to the basket, grabbing at the books inside.

May the fun begin!

Role Playing

I wonder what a psychiatrist would say about this . . . Every time Hayes watches a cartoon, he assigns family members to play certain roles. For example, he watches Little Einsteins on the Disney Channel nearly every morning while I get my act together. As soon as it starts, he says, "Mom, I'm Leo, Eleanor's Annie, Dad's Quincy and you are June." He even sometimes assigns the role of Rocket (the Einstein's space rocket) to either Ben or Baxter. He does this EVERY morning. He also watches Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and does the same thing, though our roles switch, depending on his mood. Hayes is either Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck, and I'm often Daisy, but I have also played the roles of Minnie, Goofy or Pluto. Eleanor is most often Minnie while Thomas fills whatever role is left. If Ben's lucky that day, he's assigned a role too!I've tried to get him to let me change roles in Little Einsteins, but he won't allow it. He's not flexible with that show, but is more than willing to move people around for Mickey Mouse.

What Makes Ben Happy?

I know I've mentioned this earlier, but its worthy of an entire entry all to itself. . . I've learned a little trick to make Ben happy and content, and its especially handy when I need to get stuff done upstairs. What do I do? I plop him down on Hayes's floor right in front of the GeoTrax course and let the train go. Ben just sits there and bounces up and down as he happily watches the train go around the track again and again. It is a sure-fire winner, and I am so grateful that Santa decided to bring it to Hayes this past Christmas.

Shaky Thing

Hayes calls my ponytails "shaky things." Every time he sees my hair up in one, he'll climb behind me and pull the ponytail holder out. Then, he rubs my hair all over the place. It is slightly annoying because there are some days when I just want to wear my hair up. But most of the time, I find it endearing. I've asked him why he does this and he says, "Because I like your hair down."