Wasn't in a rush to reach this one!!

While waiting for C to be dismissed, O often plays in the side yard of the school...

Me: "O, if you want to play outside, you need to put on your coat."

O: "No! I don't need a coat! It's warm!"

Me: "It's only 40 degrees. You can either put on your coat, or wait in the car."

O (begrudgingly putting on his coat and stomping out of the car): "I don't need a coat! I don't like you! And I don't love you anymore!"

Yes, there it is. The "I don't love you!" milestone. Wow! That came out of nowhere. Amazingly, I don't think C has yet said this one to me, but here's O coming out with the dagger at just shy of 4!

Me (swallowing a sigh): "That's not very nice. But that's fine. If it's cold, you still need to wear a coat."

O makes a growling sound and then runs off, promptly faceplanting on the sidewalk. After making sure he was ok, I couldn't help but chuckle at the karma of it all. "See, you were mean to Mommy, and look what happened. Let that be a lesson to you..."

I wonder how long before he comes out with "I hate you!"

Bright Spot

Baby A is now 12 weeks old and I am beginning to see his personality develop. So far he seems to be a fairly serious baby, and spends most of his time quietly looking around and taking everything in. But a couple of times a day, for just a minute or two, he'll suddenly be full of smiles. And oh the excitement that creates! C & O start jumping up and down. "Look Mom! He's smiling at me!" I rush to get the camera to try to capture the elusive moment. I rarely do because the smiling bursts end almost as quickly as they start.

But in those brief moments when I see this...

 Or this...

...life is perfect.

"You Wanna Be... A Loser Like Me!!"

As a former choir and band member, I've really been enjoying the show Glee since it premiered. The show follows the trials and tribulations of a bunch of high school students trying to start a Glee club. The characters on the show work hard to persevere despite being picked on, and continue to develop and share the joy they find in song. I love the message that despite what people think, music is cool!

Music has brought me a lot in my life...discipline, confidence, some of my very best friends, and even my dear Hubby, who I met in my college band. Who knew woodwinds could mix so well with brass? Looking back, I have no idea what my life would be like without music.

So far, the boys seem to enjoy music too. They love to listen to the Glee soundtrack (among other things) in the car, and we often have "dance/jam parties" to their catchier tunes. Right now C says he wants to play the trombone, and O (inspired by his favorite show "Little Einsteins") wants to play the violin. I've started looking into the best ways to teach them how to read music, and am trying to determine the right time to start them with piano lessons. I haven't quite sorted it out yet, but hopefully I won't screw things up!

For now they just love "rocking out" with their toy instruments. I can't tell you how happy it makes me when they say "Hey Mom! Maybe we can jam today?" Here they are "jamming" to Glee's latest song "Loser Like Me".

Future bandies?

I do hope that the boys continue to love music as they grow up. Maybe they'll even be in the band! But even more importantly, I hope they'll have the confidence to pursue whatever their passions are, even if their peers say it isn't cool. I hope that while they're having fun, they're also internalizing the song's message. And that they'll never lose those joyful smiles!

Not so Subtle...

O's preschool teacher pulled me aside at drop off the other day, and said "I have to tell you the funniest thing that happened yesterday! O and some of the other kids were playing house in the dramatic play area. They all were having so much fun working together putting things in and out of the house and blocking the doors. When I asked them what they were playing, I was expecting some sort of "keep out the bad guys" answer because some of the kids have been into superheros lately. But instead O said the name of their game was...

"Put the Baby Outside!'"

(hmmm....I wonder if he's trying to tell me something....)

Let's go fly a kite!

Buzz Lightyear Kite

(Note the lack of snow on the ground for the first time in months!)

 

It's finally beginning to feel like spring!!!

Quirky Qwirkle

My big boys have been lucky enough to receive quite a few "big brother" gifts since Baby A was born, and the biggest hit so far has been the game Qwirkle. We've played this quite a few times already and I love it because it's fun for adults too. It's like a cross between Uno and dominoes with more complicated score keeping. C loves finding the matches and the grownups love figuring out how to score the most points on each turn. O doesn't quite understand the game yet, but he gets in on the action by passing out the game pieces.  And we all love the thrill of completing a "Qwirkle" (a row containing all 6 matching pieces).

One of C's favorite things to do at the end of the game is to say what he thinks the final pattern looks like, because it works out differently each time.  Here are some of our recent masterpieces with C's descriptions. Don't the brightly colored tiles look so pretty?!

"A one legged dinosaur"

"A weird house with two chimneys"

"A triceratops"

Thirds...

Last week C had a birthday. Unlike last year, C didn't ask for a theme cake. Instead, he seemed to care more about flavors, and asked for a chocolate and strawberry cake. So I made him this...

Yes...that's a "6" made out of strawberries.

I know.

I thought it must be a mistake too. After all, I can't possibly have a SIX year old! Because just yesterday he was this little guy!

And now, he's a kindergartener who matter-of-factly informed me, "Hey Mom! In 3 years, you can make me this cake again! Because when you turn it around, it's a 9!"

Only 3 years from 9?!? That alone was enough to give me pause, and then I realized that he's already one third of the way to 18. One third of the way to spreading his wings and going off to college.

Don't mind me when I hide in the corner and cry a little...