Little Alarm Clock...Version 3

Earlier this week, just after Isaak woke up, I heard over the monitor:

I awake? Yeah! I awake!

Then I heard him run to his door, through the hallway, and into his sisters' room, shouting:

I awake! I awake! I awake!

And then we were all awake.

(And slightly less cheerful about it.)

Fall Treats

This evening the kids and I celebrated our first really cool Fall day with nice warm mugs of spiced apple cider that had been warming on the stove all afternoon.

And we all have to agree with Isaak, who finished his with a sigh and announced:

"Dat was good apple spider duice!"

The Blame Game

Me: Isaak, get your finger out of your mouth.

Isaak: Why dat unabbepable?

Me: Because your fingers are dirty, that's why it's unacceptable!

A minute later:

Me: Isaak, why were you chewing on your finger, anyway? Do your teeth hurt? (He's working on his 2-year molars.)

Isaak: No, teef not hurt. Daddy tell me to put my tinger in my mouf!

Me: No, he didn't.

Isaak: Mommy tell me to?

Me: No.

Isaak: (grinning) Mr. Nobody tell me to!

Probably! That Mr. Nobody gets blamed for a lot of things around here. :)

Pirates!

Yesterday in school, Jaela and Macey read about pirates. Their lesson was more about one pirate's place in history and less about descriptions or actions of pirates in general, so they were eager to learn more. I found that my bookshelves are embarrassingly short on books about pirates (except for a children's version of Treasure Island, which they've already read more than once), so we sat down together and watched the 1983 movie version of The Pirates of Penzance instead, just for fun. As usually happens when I watch that movie, I laughed until I cried!

This morning, as I sat at the computer ichatting with Mike, I could hear the girls playing pirate in their room. They found things to use as swords, knives, and guns, and contrived belts to hold them all. Macey instructed Anya in the finer points of using a powder horn to load her gun. (She might have missed a few details here and there...) A few minutes later I heard them discussing how full to fill their cups with rum, and then a rousing chorus of "Yo, ho, ho, and a bottle of rum!" There was a brief moment of quiet as they pretended to drink, followed by fake gagging, choking, and spitting, and "Ew! Yuck!"

They went from ship to captured ship around their room until they finally landed on an island that looked like a good place to bury their treasure. Unfortunately, Anya was too slow in getting back onto the ship, and Jaela and Macey decided to maroon her on the island. Anya burst into tears. "I don't like you guys marooning me!"

Luckily (for them), the other pirates had a change of heart, and made the ship wait for Anya, and their adventures ended peacefully.

...lets

The girls were discussing Jaela's twin stuffed animals, and I had to jump in:

J: I like having two matching animals, but I wish I had triplets.

Me: You want triplets?!?

J: I mean piglets!

Me: You would rather have baby pigs?

J: No, I want three matching animals...what is that again? Like twins, only three of them?

Me: Triplets.

J: Yeah, piglets. I mean, triplets. That's what I meant the first time!

My Little Alarm Clock, Revisited

When Isaak wakes up, he wakes up happy...and talking. This is what drifted over the monitor this morning from Isaak's room:

Knock knock, who's there?

I the pizza guy!

It's a joke!

(2-year-old giggles...)

Colors

Isaak: Mommy wearin' pink socks!

Me: Yep. What color is my shirt?

Isaak: Green! What color Mommy's pants?

Me: They're brown. What color are your jammies?

Isaak: Ummm...baseball!

Don't Look!

I like football. My kids like football. We like to watch football together.

Unfortunately, there are also commercials.

As a rule, when the commercials come on, I mute them. If I deem them "safe" for the kids to see, I don't worry about who is watching, or who isn't, but if they are in any way inappropriate for my kids to see, I shout "Don't look!"

And they don't look!

Yesterday I was watching college football by myself, commercials and all, when Anya came into the room unexpectedly. I had already muted them, but she glanced at the screen as I shouted, "Don't look!" She quickly looked away, and reassured me, "Don't worry, Mommy, I didn't see any bad stuff, only the word murder." (Do CSI tv show previews freak out any other parents out there?)

Today, we watched football again. After I had shouted another warning not to look at a commercial, and they all ducked their heads, someone asked me if they could watch the commercials muted until there was another scary-looking one. I told her no, and explained again how some commercials are not scary, but are definitely inappropriate for them to be watching, listening to, or reading. (Cialis or Viagra, anyone? Or perhaps a nice highly sexualized tv show preview? Sheesh.) I reminded them of what happened yesterday, when Anya read the words on a commercial without intending to. They remembered, and were again content to stick with the rules as they are already set up.

"It's all right, Mommy," Anya told me. "I didn't really read the word 'murder'. It's just that when I saw it I recognized how it was spelled."

Whew. What a relief!

Punchlines

Isaak to Anya: Knock-knock, who's there?

Anya: Who's there?

Isaak: Mr. Nobody! Don't cry, it's only a joke! (Insert contagious 2-year-old giggles here)

Because once upon a time, he heard his sisters say:

Knock-knock

Who's there?

Boo!

Boo, who?

Don't cry, it's only a joke!

They're 8!

Happy 8th Birthday, Jaela and Macey!

They requested carrot cake, decorated with frosting bunnies.

We sang Happy Birthday (and no one cried this year!) and they blew out their candles.

They opened all of their presents (except for the ones that hadn't come yet), and everyone had fun watching them...

...well, almost everyone!

For their birthday dinner, we went to our favorite (Mexican) restaurant. At the end of the meal, the waiters put sombreros on the girls' heads, desserts in front of them, and we all sang Happy Birthday to them (in English, because the waiters told us that they didn't want to be the only ones singing!). And at the end of the song, while everyone clapped, two of the young waiters that were standing behind the girls reached around and smeared whipped cream all over the girls' faces. Jaela and Macey were quite startled, and once we were all done laughing, they announced that they had enjoyed their "unexpected bath of whipped cream"!

They can't wait to turn 9!

Exercising Our Vocabulary

In the van last week, on our way to a restaurant to eat dinner, I reminded the girls that I expected them to behave like young ladies while we were eating.

J: OK, Mom! We promise we will behave like young ladies instead of like...

M: Scalawags!

Me: Scalawags?!? Where did you learn that word?

M: I don't remember...does it mean the same thing as hooligans?

Me: Yeah, pretty much the same thing. :)

There was silence for a few moments while they thought that over, and then Anya piped up:

"Mommy, I promise I won't behave like a hoola-hoop, too."