Tub terrors

Although I have lots of pictures and other things to write about since Christmas just passed, I had to write about our latest events during bathtime. The events mostly pertain to Abby being afraid of the bath, and the source of Abby's fears is Matthew. A few weeks ago the kids all took a bath together. We haven't been doing that much lately since they're getting so big, but we were short on time and I decided they could all go in the big bath (in Jason and my room) together. So they all happily got in, then after a few moments we noticed there was, um, stuff, floating around in the tub. After a few moments, I realized what it was (lets just say that Matthew, while he likes to take care of his own wiping on the toilet, is just not very good at it...) and we all got quickly out of the tub and took showers.

So fast forward to now and Abby is terrified of anything floating in the tub (other than toys). Anything. Hair. A speck of lint. And I mean speck...like the size of a grain of finely ground pepper. She gets in the tub and refuses to sit down, asking and pointing at every little thing in the tub, "What's that?" Then I try to scoop it out with my hands or a washcloth (which is not an easy thing to do), while she becomes increasingly terrified and shakes and starts crying as she says, "It's coming closer!" I try to tell her it's just lint from her feet, but she will not be persuaded that it's anything innocuous and continues to basically freak out when my efforts to remove every little bit of lint fail and they come closer to her. She won't even sit in the tub anymore. She used to love the tub. And now it's just a source of terror. Poor Abby. Oh how she cries and cries until I finally take her out of the tub and we decide to take a shower. By we, I mean that she and I take a shower and she's so distraught that she doesn't want to take one by herself and will only take one with me. (So I do feel that I'm being a little manipulated in the showering thing...but will deal with that later). Fortunately, she also likes showers and doesn't mind getting her face wet, so we shower up and she's happy and more importantly, clean.  I hope this phobia doesn't last long, but for now we're dealing with aborted baths and relying on showers.

Winter fun

We've been enjoying the cold and snow lately, and when we haven't been able to go outside much we've been enjoying making cookies. I gave each kid a batch of cookie dough to cut out cookies and the boys really did a good job. Abby mostly pushed her cookie cutters in lightly and repeatedly, not quite making a thorough cut, but she did do a thorough job of eating a lot of dough. In fact, she threw a fit of all fits when I took the dough away and told her she couldn't eat anymore. I had never seen her throw a fit like that, it was extensive and very loud. I have since experienced another fit when I made cookies again a few days later and limited her consumption of cookie dough. That girl really likes dough. 

Waking up

The kids all have their own distinct ways of waking up. Sam, almost every day, comes into Jason and my room at 6:30. That's when his clock turns yellow. I have no idea how long he's up prior to that time; occasionally when I get up before that time and peek in on him, he's already awake and other times he's not. Anyway, he comes in at 6:30 and sometimes he excitedly says, "This is your morning wake up call!" Other times he comes over to my side of the bed and asks to get in and cuddle for awhile. Other times he goes into the bathroom or closet if Jason is in one of those places getting ready. Regardless, Sam is a morning kid. He's happy, wide-awake and in a good mood. Unfortunately, I don't always greet him with such enthusiasm as I'm not quite so excited at 6:30 in the morning. But he's a good sport.

Matthew wakes up a little differently from Sam. While he used to get up really early, he now gets up a bit after Sam. And he's generally not as chipper as Sam either. Matthew is a slow-to-warm-up kid. He takes his time easing into new situations and getting comfortable with new people and he eases into his day as well. And don't you dare approach him in the morning before he's had an appropriate warm-up time which means that he has had plenty of time to lay in bed, sucking on the tags on his blanket for awhile and he will get up when he's ready. Often Matthew screams and hollers in the morning for Mommy or Daddy to come see him as he waking up and I've tried in the past to send Sam in to tell Matthew that he can come into our room. To which Matthew responds with a tirade of angry words for his brother. Sam doesn't go in to see Matthew in the morning anymore. Once Matthew has his warm-up, he's a chipper, quickly dressed kid and ready to go, but before then, you'd best stay away until your summoned.

Abby is much more gentle in her waking up. She generally doesn't make a peep in the mornings and the only way I know she's awake is that I can hear her bed creaking as she's rolling around. When I do go in to get her (anytime between 7 and 7:30), she usually greets me (or Jason) with a quiet, "Hi Mommy" or "Hi Daddy". Sometimes you'll get a gentle "Get me out." It's a simple command and is obeyed quickly. Other times, Sam wants to go in to "get Abby up" and he goes into her room and gets her riled up for the day. On those days, Abby usually ends up holding onto the side of her crib and excitedly jumping up and down as Sam is jumping up and down next to her bed (sometimes Matthew goes in to greet Abby too and they all have a jumping and hollering wake up).

 And I wake up, usually by Sam (occasionally by Jason when he gets up to get ready for work), at 6:30.

One week ago...

One week ago we had a couple of inches of snow on the ground. Sam was ecstatic. At 6:30 in the morning. So was Matthew. They came into our room full of joy at the white covering on the ground (which melted by the end of the week). When Abby woke up shortly after them, they showed her the snow and she then held up her nearest stuffed animals and dolls to the window and said "Look, Sheepie, snow!" or "Look, Baby, snow!"

After a bit of celebration indoors Sam declared, "I'm going outside now," and the boys went downstairs to get on their boots, coats, hats and mittens. I was still in my PJs and was about to tell Abby that she was going to stay inside with me, but her excitement about the snow got the best of me and I took her down and got her wrapped up in boots, hat, mittens, and coat. Then I bundled up a bit and went outside too. It was 6:50AM. 

The kids had a snowball fight with one of our neighbors and we were out for about 15 minutes before I got too cold and told them it was time to go in for breakfast. Later in the afternoon we were outside again, this time for a long time, building snowmen and throwing snowballs and just running around. Abby does quite well with her boots on and seems to enjoy the snow and wintry outdoors just as much as the boys. Here are some pictures of our afternoon a week ago, the snow is gone, but it will be back again soon.

Leaf raking

Every year raking seems to be a quite enjoyable time for our family. The boys are getting better and better at it and Abby is trying, although she generally ends up reducing the size of the leaf piles rather than contributing to them.  Despite the wet leaves from the rain earlier in the day, there was still a lot of fun to be had at our house today. After filling up the truck with leaves the it was time to decide who got to go to the dump with Daddy. Since he has only two car seats in his truck it's a contentious time for the kids. Who gets left behind? I try to spice it up by saying, "Who gets to stay with Mommy?" but none of the kids seem to buy my attempt at making being left behind a treat. They know better. Sam and Abby got to go this time around, leaving behind a dejected Matthew. Next time he'll get to go, leaving behind another dejected child with Mommy.

Happy Halloween!

All of the kids fully participated in trick or treating this year. Last year Abby didn't go out beyond one of the neighbors and Matthew only lasted for a few, but this year they all made it. We went to the trunk or treat at Ken and Cheri's church over the weekend, so Abby had the process down when we went around our neighborhood on Thursday. We visited our neighbors on the back of our property first. They welcomed us into their home and as we walked in, Abby held up her bucket ready for a treat. No small talk for her. We are still working on the finer points of manners. The kids all made it through all of our neighborhood and had a good time going from house to house. It got rather cold, windy and a bit rainy after awhile, but fortunately by that time we had already made it to the end of our street and just needed to get back quickly.

We visited about 10 homes and got plenty of treats. Abby is not too quick to share while Matthew and Sam are pretty generous. Either way, Jason and I get plenty of treats too with what Abby takes a bite of and decides she doesn't like and the boys' sharing. Abby was a bumblebee (or butterfly) after the walrus costume was rejected, Matthew was Thomas the train and Sam was a Ninja Turtle (we don't know which one).

Fortunately, we caught Abby with her eyes open as she still closes her eyes most of the time when a picture is taken of her. Matthew is still into the big open mouthed smile phase, thus the expression on his face. I don't know what face Sam was making behind his ninja turtle mask, but he sure looks like a tough turtle with his combative arms.

Doctor's appointment

Abby had her 2 year check up yesterday. The boys enjoy coming along for appointments these days as they have learned that they all get stickers, regardless of if they are the patient or not. Abby was a pretty good patient. She got a little upset when she was weighed, but during the exam she was very brave. She had to have her finger pricked for a blood sample and she didn't cry at all. Sam said she was braver than he was at his last appointment. I don't know if that's quite true as Sam bravely held back tears and only a few escaped when he got a shot and Abby saved up plenty of tears when she got a shot later in the appointment. Matthew was definitely the loser in terms of bravery and he cried quite extensively when he got the flu mist in his nose. Oh how terrible!

The boys entertained themselves during the appointment by playing doctor. One of them would lay on some of the chairs in the exam room while the other was the doctor. The doctor would then grab an appendage and bend it back and forth aggressively pushing it this way and that while asking "Does this hurt?" The patient would then laugh and wiggle around and try to escape from the doctor's examination. When comparing the two doctors, I would definitely prefer Sam as Matthew was quite rough and seemed rather more interested in causing pain than in finding out what was causing the imaginary pain.

Abby is growing up so quickly. Here are her 2 year stats:
weight: 25.5lb (53rd percentile)
height: 36" (94th percentile)

Someone's two!

Abby just turned two, going on 15 it seems sometimes. We had the Kirchhoff family over for pizza and cupcakes and Abby had a grand time playing with her cousins. She relishes the attention and definitely is not shy about it. She opened her gifts and after nearly every gift she had to be persuaded to open another as she just wanted to play with her new gifts rather than open more. She got some jewelry, clothes, a baby doll, a toy kitty and puppy, and a book.  All have been thoroughly enjoyed especially the kitty and jewelry. In the pictures below Abby is wearing part of her bee costume (minus the wings) which she claims is a butterfly. She tried on the walrus costume (which is a tradition), but after wearing it for a few minutes she said, "Different one" and wanted to take it off. Hence, the bumble bee.

During the singing of Happy Birthday, Abby bowed her head and closed her eyes. She apparently was thinking it was some kind of prayer. It was quite cute. She perked up a bit to eat some of her cupcake, then declared "Want to sleep" and that was the end of that and she went to bed.

And here she is two years ago...

And one year ago...

Vacation

This past weekend we went up to Alexandria, MN with Ken and Cheri. The kids traveled well, slept well, played well and fished well. It was a nice trip and we stayed at a rental home on Lake Carlos. Despite some rain and cold, the kids had a lot of fun playing with Grammy and Papa and playing games and other activities that Mom and Dad don't usually do with them. Sam turned out to  be the best fisherman as he caught 8 or 10 fish, including 2 small large mouth bass (I think they're bass, see the picture at the end) from the dock. Matthew caught a few small fish and when asked how big his fish were he holds his hands a few inches apart. Apparently he hasn't learned to exaggerate with regard to his fishing accomplishments. Abby did not fish but did overcome her fear of the dock and kept us busy when she started running back and forth on it. She also slept well which we were a bit apprehensive about as she hasn't slept away from home very often and has used the "cave apparatus" at Longville and Grandpa Don and Grandma Sue's house when she's slept there. But she was completely fine. Ahh. I think road trips may be sooner in our future that we had thought before the trip. The cousins and Uncle Brian and Aunt Stephanie came up for a bit and the kids greatly enjoyed playing with them, as they always do. It was a beautiful trip, a beautiful time of year to be at the lake and we look forward to another trip up north next year. 

This past

Trip to the zoo

Today we spent a whopping 4 hours at the Minnesota Zoo. I was anticipating a trip of maybe 2 hours, but the kids were real troopers and really enjoyed themselves so we spent a lot of time there. Sam walked almost the entire time except for a short stint in the double stroller (with Matthew) when Abby was rebelling against sitting in the stroller. And by rebelling I mean screaming and thrashing about and making a general scene. She sure has a mind of her own these days and lets you know about it.

I haven't been the to zoo since I was 11 and it is a pretty amazing place. When I asked the kids what their favorite animals were they really couldn't say what they liked best. They were in awe of almost everything. Abby probably didn't like the monkey that jumped at her, hitting the window right next to where she was standing, as she cried a lot when that happened. Sam liked the Komodo Dragon which he told Jason was not the fire-breathing kind. Matthew seemed to like the goats and the farm part of the zoo best. He and Sam had loads of fun holding out their hands to the goats, pretending they had food, and watching the goats come over to them and stick their heads through the fence. They would erupt in laughter as they teased the goats.

Both Abby and Matthew meowed at the cougar and the lynx in the Minnesota exhibit. Sam howled at the wolves and coyotes and hooted at the owls. None of them animals meowed, or howled or hooted back. Maybe next time. My favorite were the grizzlies. They are just huge...and scary looking...but cool nonetheless. Abby frequently told the animals "Don't take my snack!" when we'd stop for a look and I'd reassure her that her snack was safe. She also said, as she grabbed my leg, "My mommy!" whenever another small child would walk close to me, which was often. Here are some pictures of our trip. The boys took a lot of the pictures as they really enjoy trying out the camera these days.

Left to their own devices...

The boys discovered that balloons will float above a fan pointing upward. I had given them balloons last week and a stick made out of rolled up paper bags and they got to hit them around a bit inside the house. We kept the balloons around for a few days and just let them play with them whenever they wanted. One afternoon when they were having some time in their rooms (some afternoons I have them go to their rooms for about a half hour for some time to themselves while Abby's napping), they excitedly called me up to see what they had discovered. They were both in Matthew's room and after spending some time with the fan on, blowing around their balloons while they kicked them and batted at them, they came up with the idea to lay the fan down on the floor, pointing up, and they discovered that the balloons would hover up above the fan on the column of air. They were having great fun and afterward they brought their fans downstairs so they could have more fun with the balloons and show Jason when he got home. After her nap, Abby didn't get into the action much, but she did pause long enough for a quick picture.

Sam is bigger

Sam woke up on his birthday (very early, I might add) and thought he was taller than he was the day before. It's really quite cute as he really thinks he gets bigger overnight before his birthday. He showed me how he could look on top of some shelves that he apparently couldn't see over before and walked around his room and the house looking on top of things and being very proud of his new age and height. 

Sam was all about the Planes movies for this birthday. It's his first birthday party since he was one which didn't involve Disney's Cars. He had a Planes picture on his cake (he requested an ice cream cake  with chocolate cake, chocolate ice cream, hot fudge sauce, Oreos and whip cream...yum, good choices, Sam!), a Planes banner above the window and some Planes presents among plenty of other presents. He also enjoyed playing outside with the cousins and Jason and after lunch and playing, laid down in the basement and said, "I'm exhausted!" His exhaustion was quickly overcome when it was time to open presents and he received many nice presents which have been thoroughly enjoyed this weekend (and even shared with Matthew). 

Matthew was in good form and didn't shed a tear during present opening which was traumatic for him last year when Sam turned 4. We had a discussion the day prior about how Sam was going to be getting a lot of presents and he wasn't going to get any and he "took it like a man" and really was a good sport at the party (although he did get one gift which has also been thoroughly enjoyed). Abby enjoyed lunch with us, then went down for her nap, only to awake when Grandpa Don and Grandma Sue and Grandma Marge left. The last picture is the kids watching them drive away. 

 Happy 5th Birthday, Sam!

Personalities

On Saturday Abby and I went to Iowa for my second cousin's wedding. The boys stayed with Jason to have some fun together. When I was getting ready to leave I was saying goodbye to Sam and he asked me to tell him if I meet any pretty girls. I asked him if he meant girls his age or girls my age and he said, "Well, just tell me if you meet any girls in pretty dresses." Hmmm. Isn't he too young to be saying things like this?

And on Friday night after I put the boys to bed I was trying on dresses to figure out what to wear to the wedding. Matthew came in after a few minutes and looked at me in a dress and said, "You look beautiful!" Now, I don't think he's learned this phrase from Jason...I thanked him and told him he needed to go back to bed. He left, then returned a minute or so later. I told him he was supposed to stay in bed, to which he replied, "I just wanted to see you again in your pretty dress." Awwww, Matthew. Where does he get this from? He is going to be trouble too.

And not to leave Abby out of the post, one morning last week, Abby took a bunch of stuff out of one of the drawers in the bathroom as I was getting ready. She does this often and generally just leaves. But she's old enough now to help pick up her messes so I told her that she  needed to put everything back in the drawer. She made a little high pitched noise of frustration, walked over to one of the objects, picked it up, and threw it. Wow. That kid has a temper and a mind of her own. She still put everything away, (after a stern instruction to put things back in the drawer) and she had made her view of the situation known to me.

Recent events

Two nights ago when Jason and I went up to bed, this is what I saw in Sam's room. On occasion we find that Matthew has sneaked into Sam's room and they were having a sleepover. So peaceful.

The other day I got out the paints for the kids to have some painting time. We've been doing a lot of painting lately and generally I just let Abby use markers, but this time I gave her some paint and a brush and let her paint. This is what she did.

Sam has become more intentional in his painting lately. I don't know whether he has in mind what he wants to paint from the beginning or if he comes up with a story after he starts putting paint on paper, but either way, each mark on his paper represents something. For example, one of the marks on his paper is a triceratops. He work is rather abstract at this point.

On Labor Day, we had the extended Kirchhoff family over for some fun and all the cousins had a great time. Here's Abby enjoying herself with Josh. It's a nice change to have Abby enjoying herself around our extended family rather than crying and screaming and clinging to Mommy as she used to do when she was just a bit younger. She's come a long way...

Time outside

We haven't been spending too much time outside lately. It's been extremely hot these days and this afternoon when I went to get the mail I noticed it didn't feel quite as bad as it has been. So I looked on the computer and saw that it was only 91 outside, and the humidity must have dropped some as it just felt better, so I told the kids it was time to play outside. We tried going outside to the sandbox yesterday. I got an extension cord and hooked up a large box fan on the edge of the sandbox so were able to tolerate about 30 minutes outside. But then the fan wasn't quite strong enough to overcome the extreme heat and humidity so we went back inside for some more time in the cool basement.

But this afternoon it really felt nice. Nice in a way that only can be experienced after having a few days of a heat index around 100 degrees. It was cloudy so we were able to play in the driveway as it generally is quite hot with the asphalt on a sunny day, but the cloudiness made it bearable. And it was a lot of fun. The kids raced (on foot or various self-powered wheeled vehicles) from the garage to the edge of the driveway and went back and forth and around and around. Oh, how nice it was to be outside and not be dripping with sweat even when sitting still. The kids still got sweaty, but we had a grand time outside for about an hour.

Here's Matthew upset that he can't play with the jump rope (Sam was playing with it). The boys don't really jump with the rope, they use it to hook things to their bikes or as a rescue rope when one of them needs rescuing and the other comes over and attaches the rope to their vehicle and tows them to safety. It's quite a tough game, but they have a lot of fun with it.

Sam is posing for a picture after some serious racing. His fastest time from the garage to the end of the driveway is 7 seconds and he is fastest on foot. Hmmmm.

And this is the face Abby makes when she is asked to smile for a picture. You're better off just taking a picture rather than saying, "Smile, Abby!" because this is what you will get.

And here's a senior-photo like picture of Matthew when we were resting on the steps after some hard playing. The boys were putting on shows on the sidewalk in front of the house and the other kids and I were watching from the steps.