Best Friends

Maddie has become very touchy lately. She has to have her arm around you or your arm around her shoulders when we read books together every time. Today she and Ben we watching Tom and Jerry cartoons again when I noticed she had put her arm around Ben. It was so cute. I went to get the camera and when I returned, he had put his arm around her. They sat like that for a while, enjoying their show. I'm glad they are such good friends. I hope it stays that way forever.

Are We Ready to Ditch the Naps?

Maddie has been hard to put down for naps and for bedtime for weeks. She screams and cries and fights. It's exhausting. I've been wondering if it is a test of wills or if it is time for her to give up her nap. Today she was acting totally fine, happier than usual so I decided to skip naps and see how it went. She ought to be really tired and go to be really easily. This is what Brian found in our room when he came home from work around 4 pm.

Later when I went to wake her up, it looked like she had tried to get up, but just couldn't quite make it. I guess we're not quite ready to skip naps. Hallelujah!!

What Happened to Jacob?

Jacob was whiny last night and upset and squirmy for a few hours. Finally I fed him and put him happily in his bed at about 1:00 am. I woke up at 6:17 am and wondered where Jacob was. I hadn't heard him at all through the night, but sometimes that happens. Brian never sleeps well so if he's already up, he'll grab Jacob and give him a bottle so I can sleep. I know, he's a keeper. But, he didn't do the bottle thing last night. Jacob actually slept over 5 hours! What a good night!

Remote Control

Another Brian present. He installed a motion sensor in our main floor bathroom. It's fantastic. Maddie is now willing to wash her hands alone because the light goes on automatically for her. Between the automatic light and the new sink faucet life is good for my little girl. Knowing that I requested a motion sensor - remote control type of gadget be installed in my house makes me laugh today. Remote control stuff has a history in our house. When we were first married, we did the whole wedding and honeymoon thing like everyone else. We returned home and I moved into the apartment we had rented together. The first morning I spent there came with some surprises. I was jolted from a peaceful sleep by a floodlight switching on directly in my face. Okay, it was just the bedroom light, but it had been dark and now it was bright as noonday. "What the heck?" I wondered. I laid there for a bit, waiting for Brian to wake up. He did not. I waited and waited. It was WAY earlier than I needed to get up. I laid there, trying to sleep for about an hour. Then his alarm started going off. He got up. Finally! He was getting up. Nope. He pushed snooze (like the rest of us) for another thirty minutes. After laying in bed for an hour we finally got up, got ready for work and headed out the door. Being a love sick newlywed, I didn't mention the terrible morning events. Unfortunately for me, it happened again the next day. And the next and the next. I don't know how many days until I had to say something. I was loosing a solid hour and a half of quality sleep time every single day. I know I didn't make it a week though before I broke. The newlywed bliss was ended. We had to talk. In his defense, he had a logical argument for the insanity. It is easier to adjust and wake up to a lighted room. It is more natural for your body. True. And if I wasn't jolted from a sound sleep each morning only to lay in bed for an hour each morning trying to sleep with a pillow over my head, it would have been fine. Turns out that in high school Brian had worked at RadioShack. While he was gainfully employed there, he had purchased a snazy alarm clock that works with your wall outlets and light switches. You replace the standard outlet or wall switch with the RadioShack remote one and then your remote can be set to turn on or off any light or gadget. He had installed the remote light switch in our bedroom and a wall outlet to control the air conditioner. Once when Kristie came over she was confused by all the remotes and still to this day asks Brian when he's going to put the toilet on remote too. Through the years we have had tons of things on remote...the porch light, christmas tree lights and lights in the yard, air conditioner, fans, ceiling lights, etc. My favorite has been the Christmas lights on our tree. He has every kid we've ever known convinced that if they blow on the tree it turns on and if you clap your hands it turns off or vice versa. In Houston, the Boseman's daughter Rhiannon went home and told her mom that Brian was cooler than her daddy because he had a magic tree and she didn't like their tree anymore. Anyway, remotes have always been a part of our life and I assume they always will.

50% Better

Some of you may remember reading about "Scream-fest 2008" in July of last year. Both kids screamed at the top of their lungs through the entire dentist visit. Their next 6 month cleaning was this morning and I guess you could say we did 50% better than last time. Only Maddie screamed the whole time. This time I resorted to a straight up bribe with a high value prize for Ben. I didn't even bother with Maddie because I couldn't afford the risk of her failing. Then I wouldn't be able to take Ben for his reward if he was tough enough to earn it. As a point of reference, no fast food joint in Northern Virginia seems to have a playland. Isn't that almost morally wrong? All McDonald's and Burger Kings should be obligated to have one. Anyway, there is one in the area and I totally used it in my favor today. It's about a 20 minute drive from the house, but...it's across the street from the pediatric dentist office. I promised Ben if he would not scream and would open his mouth when they asked him too, we would go straight to the playland and get breakfast at McDonald's and he could play for a long time. Ben did NOT enjoy the dentist today, but he followed all my bribe instructions and earned the playland. He did awesome! They even asked him to do x-rays, which were COMPLETELY out of the question last time. Brian and I looked at each other and I felt my stomach drop to the floor. He had done so well, this could put him over the edge and he would loose the playland reward! Before I could protest for him, Ben jumped off the chair and followed the lady down the hall. All right!! Once he couldn't see me anymore, I followed and stood outside the door in case he freaked out when they put the things in his mouth. He gagged a bit, but doesn't everybody? He never cried and when he was done, I snuck back to the room and he came running down the hall to us with a super huge smile. It made me proud that he had done a hard thing alone. After we checked out of the office, Brian helped us load into the car. He headed to work and I took the three kids to McDonalds for breakfast. We dined on pancakes, sausage, biscut, scrambled egg and super big french fires (hash browns). I let them play for an hour and a half. I was bored out of my mind, but hey, it's not all about me and Ben earned it. Now the bad news. Since they had x-rays, they found four cavities between his molars. We better start flossing. In any case, we can either sedate him to fix them or have him strapped in a straight jacket with laughing gas. Both are extremely expensive and it seems like a waste since the teeth will fall out in a few years anyway. I've recently had two friends go through the same thing. I'll have to find out what they recommend, but if anyone else has advise I'm all ears.

Sledding Take Two

Brian took the kids sledding in the snow Tuesday. Tuesday night we got sleet and freezing rain. Wednesday everything was covered in ice. Brian worked from home again and I took Ben and Maddie out to sled again. It was less than successful. They could barely walk. Maddie kept falling and crying. Ben did okay and was excited. We climbed the hill together a few times and sledded down. Maddie got mad if Ben went without her. Then she would sit on the sled and not let us go down. She just wanted to sit and be pulled around. Finally she said she wanted to go inside with her Daddy. I pushed her down the hill on the sled while she screamed she didn't want to go down the hill. Then I walked her to the house. Ben was excited to be outside and sled alone with me until we got to the house. As soon as he saw her go in, he decided he was done. End of the day. So we didn't have much fun today. Next time I'll take the snow day.

My Husband Hails From Florida

Brian got up to shower and get ready for work this morning. I went down to the kitchen to get breakfast for Maddie. When Brian came downstairs I was surprised to see he was not in his regular work attire of a collared shirt and tie. He was sporting a classy neon orange t-shirt and blue jeans. I questioned, "So I see you're not planning to go to work today. May I ask why?" His reply, "It's a snow day of course." I looked out the window and laughed. "What? Are you from Florida? That's nothing. I thought you were from Utah." He assured me that he was from Utah but most people that live here aren't.

There was a liberal leave policy in place for the day because of the snow and he was choosing to take it. The day turned out to produce 2" of snow by dinner time. The kids did better today than ever before at letting Dad work except for one time in the morning. I got them all dressed in their snow gear to go in the backyard to play in the snow. I told them quite specifically that Daddy had to work right now and that he could maybe take some playtime at lunch. They were both finally all bundled up and the headed down the stairs...straight to Brian and asked, "Ready to go play outside Dad?" He was more than happy to oblige. He took them sledding in front of the house. Then Ben helped shovel the walks. They both had lots of fun and came back inside happy and hungry.

Then it was back to work and I made lunch and tried to entertain the rest of the day inside. Ben did some puzzles with me and Maddie found the dress up box and enjoyed some time playing doctor. I think we need Aunt Kristie to teach her how to use the stethoscope properly. Then she found the pool toys and just had to wear the swim gear for a while.