Mermaid crawl

It's starting...

Campbell is officially into everything. It makes it more challenging with the second one because Nolan gets upset when Campbell decides to go straight for Nolan's toys. Plus all those cars Nolan loves with teeny tiny parts don't exactly make the best baby toys.

I wouldn't say he's exactly crawling. It's more of a push-up and then dragging his feet. All I know is that baby has some major upper body strength. I kept telling him crawling is way less work. He doesn't care, I think he likes his mermaid workout.

Usually we start the day just putting him on the floor and letting him go to town. After a few hours of that, we're pretty worn out so today we made a barricade of pillows to keep the mischievous mermaid contained. He didn't care, he totally found a way out. All in all, Nolan was really easy about not getting into stuff. I think we have our work cut out for us with this one...

POPular guy

We had such a blast this past weekend with Pop in town. The great thing about Bill being retired now is that he can come whenever he wants and stay for however long he wants. We had such a great time and the boys just loved on him to pieces. I asked Nolan one night if he was happy that Pop was here and he said, "I'm glad he's here to love us." Seriously, he should write cards or something with the sweet things that come out of his mouth. He's going to be one smooth talker with the ladies, that's for sure. I have a feeling that these boys are going to look so forward to more Pop visits in the future.

Is your child smarter than a 5th grader...mine is!

I discovered within a month of my first year teaching that my 2 year old (at the time) was officially genius. He continues to live up to this title. I had a wedding shower to go to last night and I looked it up on Google to find directions. Nolan had just woken up from his nap and sees the map and screams, "There's the continents!!" Having absolutely NO idea that he even knew this, I continue to question him.

Me: Well, yes it is! Do you know what continent we live on?

Nolan: (no hestitation) North America

Me: Do you know any other continents?

Nolan: Asia. That's where panda bears live.

Me: (picking my jaw up from the floor) Do you know where giraffes and zebras live?

Nolan: Africa

Me: (yelling) Justin!!! You're not going to believe this!

Genius maybe? Dead serious that I have fourth graders that think that Texas is a country and have no idea what continent we live on. Then today I overheard him upstairs telling his daddy and Pop, "That's a Brachiosaurus." What 3 year old knows that? There was a part of me that was so proud of him for just being so darn smart but then another part of me that was freaking out a little that he has this whole other life where he's learning all these new things without me! How dare him.

Melt my heart

We've really been working on discipline lately. I think we really breezed through that two year old stage. It's so true that the threes are harder than the twos. The independence, the defiance, the attitude...whoa! Nolan has done so much better since his visits to the office at school every day a couple of weeks ago. I think after taking away his favorite toys he knew we meant business. I had to have a come-to-Jesus talk with him about how disappointed we were and that if he's good he'll get a sticker but if he's not we'll take his puzzles or cars away. That caught his attention. As a child, I remember that there was nothing worse than knowing that I disappointed my parents. Hoping that maybe I passed on that gene to him, I told Nolan that when he gets in trouble at school it makes mommy and daddy's heart sad.

Tonight as I was putting him to bed, I told him how proud I was of him for doing so well at school everyday and making good choices. He says in his adorable three-year-old voice, "Did I make your heart smile?" Just saying that makes my heart smile.

Let me count the ways I love you...

Will you be my Valentine?

I had a date today and it wasn't with my husband. Shhh, don't tell. Don't worry it was with Nolan. A lady from my church invited Nolan and me to come to a Reading Rocks Valentine Brunch that benefited the "I have a Dream" Foundation that whose creed is to make a difference though education by helping children from low-income families stay in school. You wouldn't believe how insanely cute the place was decorated. Each table had a book theme. We sat at the "I'm Dirty" table. Our chairs were covered in caution tape. Our table cloth was comprised of blueprints and we had a big tractor in the center with orange cones all around. There were at least 40 tables there...from Fancy Nancy, Bob the Builder, Dr. Seuss and they all were Martha Stewart worthy. They really did bring the books to life.

To top it off Robert Munsch, the author of Love You Forever (one of my all-time favorites) was there and did story telling with the kids. Nolan wasn't too sure of all of the fanfare at first but after some Curly's custard and a cupcake he thought the place wasn't so bad. It's amazing what sugar can do.

I just loved having some good ol' one-on-one time with Nolan. He's a great date. He even walked me to the car and gave me a kiss. I gotta make sure he doesn't move so fast on the girls when he gets older!

Did you hear that?

Nolan has been in the habit of not wanting to eat at dinnertime lately and then right before bedtime pulling the infamous, "but I'm hungry" routine. Last night we stood our ground and told him "too bad so sad" even though it was REALLY hard especially when he knows exactly how to get me, but I resisted. Tonight he ate his dinner after some coaxing, of course. As I was getting Campbell ready for bed, he told me that he was hungry again. Since he ate all his dinner I told him he could have some applesauce. So like a big boy, he went downstairs, ate his applesauce and even put his bowl in the sink. Afterwards, he was shouting upstairs to me.

N: Did you hear that mommy?

A: What, honey?

N: My tummy! It said 'I'm still hungry!'

I remember back just half a year ago when I wondered how in the world he was ever going to survive on fruit snacks and goldfish. Friends kept reassuring me that it was a phase and someday I would wish that he would stop eating so much because the grocery bill will be so much. We're not there yet, but I can see it coming!

Now I know where Campbell gets his pumpkin head

I couldn't help but see myself in some of the pictures that I've taken of Campbell lately. That poor baby and his round face. He couldn't help but get it from me.

Hot pink

Nolan's newest artistic phase is coloring. Not so much him coloring but he wants US to color and for him to watch. Tonight I was coloring with him in my lap and I said, "Will you find me a hot pink?" I don't think he knew what hot pink was so I helped him find one. As I'm coloring he asks, "Can I touch it?" I was a little confused at first on why he was touching the tip so carefully. He really thought it was HOT!

It's going to happen any day now...

Campbell is so close to crawling. He can get from point A to point B somehow. Usually it includes a big lunge forward and some belly scoots but hey it gets him where he wants to go. He's able to get up on all fours so our lives are about to be flipped upside down with no rest for the weary. When Nolan started crawling I lost a couple of pounds but after he started walking, I lost another 5 lbs! Maybe I should be rooting Campbell on more so I can shed these last 5 lbs!

Edible art

The boys' school is awesome about creating the cutest little artwork for me to keep and cherish. I have artwork with reindeer using their feet as antlers or bats using their hands as wings. I just love it. Well Nolan's newest masterpiece was this snowman made of marshmallows and pretzel sticks. He was so proud of his artwork that he wanted to hold it on the way home to admire it. He kept saying, "I made this mommy, isn't it beautiful?" Well take a look at what it looked like when we got home. There's nothing like a gluey marshmallow...yum!

It was bound to happen

"But I just..." Can I tell you how many times I hear that phrase daily from my 3 year old? Apparently, Justin tells me he invented that phrase as a child and his mom constantly got on to him to stop...I can see why! As a teacher, I'm a stickler for being disrespectful. The words "huh", "what?, or "yea" are not uttered in my classroom and I try to instill the same thing in my boys (well I will do the same with Campbell when he says something other than "dada" all the time). Sometimes, I wonder if my students have any sort of manners being taught at home with what I see at school.

Well lately Mr. Nolan has had quite the lip lately at school and been defiant. So now his teacher is probably saying the same thing about my kid that I'm saying about other people's children! One day I found out he was yelling at Mrs. Marla and had to go to timeout (rightfully so!) so now I check to see if he made good choices at school everyday. He knows that if he did, he gets a sticker and after 10 stickers he gets a prize i.e. watching a favorite show, getting to stay up 30 minutes later to play, etc.

He's always been brutally honest even if it incriminates himself but today he was on the playground and as I'm getting out of the car he's screaming, "I didn't yell at Mrs. Marla today or push Cayden!" I was pretty proud of him but a little embarrassed that he screamed it so loud across the parking lot. Well I stop by the office to talk with the director and come to find out, Nolan Case (as I refer to him when he's in trouble) has been in the office almost everyday this week because of his "No fits." Looks like someone has discovered that honesty is overrated. We definitely had a talk tonight and threatened to take away his puzzles which are is source of entertainment for hours. He does them over and over again each night. The director did comment how he's normally really well behaved and extremely smart (tell me about it...no really, tell me more!) She thinks that Nolan might be bored in class and starting to act out. Oh great, I can't wait to see what kindergarten has in store for us!

Go away bad dreams!

As you know, Nolan has at least 2 nights a week where he wakes up screaming as if someone is scalding him with hot water from his nightmares. It was at its worst after the big wreck that we barely missed last year. I understand the trauma in that one for sure but still don't understand why he's having nightmares still. I swear he lives in a bubble and the scariest thing he may watch on TV may be Mater from Cars. One morning after being weary eyed and groggy from a nightmare night, I mentioned how I'm at a loss about these nightmares to my mentor teacher at school, Beth. She had an awesome idea. She told me that she used to give her girls "bad dream spray" and every time her girls had bad dreams she would spray them away so that they wouldn't come back again. Her girls loved it and kept their bad dream repellent on their night stands. Hey, I'll give it a try. You know me...I need my sleep!

One night about a month ago, I tried it and it worked! Well last night, it was another nightmare night. He was hysterical and I was trying to calm him down. Through his tears, he tells me that he wants me to get the spray. Being that I'm half asleep and I only did it once and it was a month ago, I totally think he's talking in his sleep and making no sense. Then finally after he repeated it about four times, I remember the nightmare repellent. So I go to get the spray and hurry back. Picture this, it's 4:30 in the morning. I'm stumbling and I'm spraying water, ummm I mean the nightmare repellent in all four corners of the room. It seems to appease him and he goes back to sleep. Now I just need to teach him that he can spray this nightmare repellent himself.

So I come downstairs and Justin asks if he was ok. I slip back into bed but couldn't fall back asleep for awhile because I was feeling a little damp from the spray. I'm wondering when he's going to catch on that the nightmare repellent is the same stuff I put in his hair in the morning before I brush his hair.

Yee Haw!

I would call this another episode of Forced Family Fun but this wasn't forced...it was actually fun! We took the boys to the Fort Worth Stock Show. First I asked Nolan if he wanted to go to the Stock Show. Not knowing what it really is, he of course said no. Then when I really talked it up and told him that we would see horses, pigs, goats, he got his excited voice and told me, "and lions, too?" The morning of I was trying to get everyone up and moving and reminded him about going and he said, "I can't wait to see the monkeys!" So what if he thinks the Stock Show is the zoo.

He was dying to see the baby piglets and the ducklings and just went on a on about how much they were snuggling. And believe it or not (we hardly could), he actually rode rides...kinda scary ones too! It looks like our cautious scaredy cat is coming out of his shell! Campbell was a trooper. He's like me in that he loves to people watch and there were definitely a lot of people there to watch! We skipped nap time for Nolan but he crashed on the way home and didn't have any meltdowns the rest of the day. I told you it wasn't forced!