Time to Move?

Remember when I posted here about stripping G and T's room down to the bare essentials? They are still up about an hour after we put them to bed, singing, playing, and what sounded last night like building a fort. (and don't say "put them to bed later", we've tried, they actually just wake up earlier and grumpier. Go figure.)

So last night they are scheming away and I go to yoga. When I return I get the full report from Sean.

From 7:15-7:45PM: Tate cried to get out and go potty. We just MADE them potty before we put them down at 7! But he knows if he says "Poop is coming out of my bum!" He gets out. Sean let him go and suprise, surprise, he was bluffing.

8PM: Sean goes into check on what sounds like a junior high shop class.

Sure enough, the kids have MOVED THEIR BEDS. The went from opposite ends of the rooms to meet in the middle and form one giant bed. Their rug is rolled up in the corner and everything from the top of the dresser is on the floor.

G and T are happily re-decorating and she says "I want to sleep in Tate's bed".

Daddy: "No, we are moving them back. Do NOT move the furniture!"

G and T: ::Whining, gnashing of teeth, etc.::

Daddy: "Tate, do not move your bed again."

Tate: "Ok daddy, my not do it ever again!"

He puts everything back, shuts the door and listens.

G: "Tate, I think you should move MY bed." (clever one, isn't she?)

T: "Okay!"

Daddy: ::Opens door:: "No, you should NOT. I said NO MOVING BEDS."

G and T : "ok daddy!"

He leaves and listens again.

G: "Ok Tate, let's move our beds."

You see where this is going? Nowhere, the answer is nowhere.

Finally they fall asleep about 8:30pm.

Very frustrating at the time, but kind of funny in retrospect. Until 6:22am when I hear the sound of moving furniture.

Me: "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

G and T and moved beds together blocking the closet and door.

G: "WELL, we move our beds because we don't like those spots mama."
T: "Yeah! My like this spot."

Me: "Too bad. Those aren't where the beds go and you can't block the closet and door. We can't get clothes out and it's not safe."

G: "WELL, we just don't like those spots."

An impasse.

20 min later as I get them off to daycare, I throw out the idea of separate bedrooms so they will sleep and not play. Grace starts crying immediately and screams "I don't want my own room by myself!" Tater doesn't really get it at first, he thinks he just gets a new room with Gracie. Then he says, "But my want Gracie come to my room, I miss her so much." with a quivering lip.

*sigh*

I'm at a loss here. Is it time to move them apart? They've slept together every night since they were conceived! How can I rip them apart? I cried when they went to separate cribs!

The alternative is getting more dangerous. I'm just waiting for furniture to fly out of windows, or worse. It seems they really egg each other on and maybe alone they would get bored faster and go to sleep? My long term plan has been to do and Boys and Girl room, but I don't think Benny is ready for that yet. I think Tate will just mess his sleep up. But if we all have separate rooms, someone has to go downstairs. How do I work THAT?

Please advise. I am open to any and all ideas short of bringing them into my room or giving them away on Craigslist with purchase of a Pottery Barn spiral votive holder.

When Toddlers Steal Your Phone

This is what you get.

They scale furniture, dig through my purse when I'm in the bathroom and perform feats of strength to find it. I try to keep my phone out of their grubby adorable little hands, but almsot daily I walk into a room to fnd one of them updating my facebook status to husjdojsodfosdif (with autocorrect=poop)

Lately I've come across more pictures. Usually 40 or so of nearly the same pose. Here are a couple of highlights.

Obviously, Tate has gotten my phone off the ledge in the family room. 42 of these pictures were just of his forehead or lips. This is my favorite since I can at least see his focused little face.


I spy myself at Old Navy, flattering angle (sarcasm).
I can see from the bangs that Benny has gotten my phone free from my purse while he was in the shopping cart. Special shout out to the creepy guy behind us in line.


Finally, a real challenge. I have to name the person, place and circumstance!

I recognize the culprit's shoes as Tate's. By the laminate tile I narrow the room down to the bathroom and it all comes together: He his taking pictures while he was using the potty during dinner time. He swiped it off the table without my even noticing and took 50 ish pictures of his feet. Well play, sir. Well played.

Vroom

Each morning I wake up to the thumps and crashes from G and T's room. We share a wall so I hear them when they hop out of bed and start playing some game or singing to each other. They empty the clothes from their closet, crawl under each others beds, read books, sing Justin Bieber songs, etc. I put my coat on over my pajamas get dressed enough to take them to daycare and then open their door. It's a moment of anticipation really, to see what kind of mess they have created for me today.

This morning brought a unique display of creativity:

(that would be the contents of their dirty laundry hamper)


"Oh Hi Mama! WE A CAR!"

I sighed, congratulated them and we began our day.

Children's Museum

As a part of our Father's Day extravaganza we went to the Imagine Children's museum. The kids were having one of those days where we knew we needed to get out of the house to keep our sanity. My dad got us an annual pass for their 3rd b-day and it didn't disappoint!
Sorry for the blurry pictures-my phone leaves a lot to be desired.

Lightning McQueen and other race cars were in the parking lot for Father's Day! The boys were excited! Gracie (not pictured) is screaming in daddy's arms.


In the farm area, Gracie and Benny rode a tractor.


Tate milks a cow (okay, water comes out. But watered a cow doesn't sound right.)


Gracie gives a squirrel a check up in the vet's office.


Benny catches up on paperwork? Fills prescriptions?


The water room was the most fun and we stayed until we were thoroughly soaked.



There was a construction zone for the kids to build towers and walls with these big, foam blocks.
Benny didn't make it past the hats.

Grace preferred to supervise and move around cones.

Finally, this random kid kept insisting that Sean try his "couch" he made. The kids climbed on which made for a sweet photo op, right? Well, obviously I neglected to inform the engineer that we didn't need him in our family photos.

I tried to take a few, but he jumped back in for.every.single.one. Ha!

Happy Dad's day!

We hit the daddy/father jack pot at our house. He is kind, patient, hilarious, creative, smart, and loving. While the king for the day is sleeping in I interviewed the kids for a little Dad book I made.

What does Daddy Look like?
G; He just looks like a daddy.
T: A tiger!
B: More banana...horsey...daddy.

What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy?
G: Draw!
T: Play doggy (they all crawl around the house pretending to be a dog family)
B: doggy

Daddy is the the cook at our house. What's your favorite thing Daddy makes?
G: Pancakes
T: Eggs
B: Waffles
(breakfast for dinner is a big hit at our house)

Daddy is so smart! What can he do/what does he know?
G: He know how to play baseball outside
T: Eat waffles
B: Remote.

Anything else you want to say about your daddy?
G: I just love him.
T: Yeah! Fish and chips!
B: doggy, Tater, Gracie.

Ha ha, it's always fun to see what's on their minds, You can check out Sean's awesomeness on his new blog too (finally something I know a little more about than he does!) It's called Omnivore's Dad after his efforts to turn us all into leafy tree eaters or something.

Tip of the Day

Q: How do you know that a 3 year old needs to be followed?

A: When he tells you NOT to follow him.

The other night at dinner, Tate announced he had to go potty. I stood up to go with him and he held his hand out "Now DON'T Follow me, mama!"

Because I wanted to eat my dinner try to foster independence, I let him go.

5 minutes later (which is like 3 hours in toddler time), Tate screamed from the bathroom.

There I find him sitting on the counter with one eye and half of his face completely covered in my black, liquid eyeliner. I laughed. hard. Yelled for Sean to come see, and almost ran to grab my camera when I remembered how much that stuff stings in my eyes at hot yoga. Even though I really wanted that picture, I went with my better mom instincts and washed him off.

I told him that makeup was made for just mommy's eyes and that is would always hurt his eyes so he should leave it alone (least he think better application was the problem). Gracie proceeded to pat him on the hand and say, "Yeah buddy, that make up is just for mommies and Gracie, ok?" Very condescending and funny, but don't think she got it by me that she believes the make up is for HER as well. We'll save that battle for another day.

For now, we have an open door bathroom and parents right to follow policy in place.

Here is an after picture, at least I can see the faintest leftover eyeliner on his cheek to save for my blog... his future embarrassment...er .. the baby book.

ABC video

Just some random cuteness in the car this week :)

Once Upon a Time...

A fairy tale as told by Grace Noel:

"I was in a castle with Tater and the dragon came and Tate killed the dragon"
(I interrupted to say we don't use that word, it's not nice)
"Ok Tater got the dragon away and then said "Get away from my sister dragon! She is my favorite friend!" then the dragon got away and me and Tater and Benny and daddy and mama ate ALLLLLLLLL the marshmallows ALLL gone."

The End (Ok, I added that part).

This week we are discovering our toddlers have developed quite the imagination.

Beach Picnic

Another reason we love living in Seattle- even though it takes awhile for summer to get here, once the sun comes out we have beautiful beaches to play at! The other night we had an impromptu picnic on the beach. Such a great time!





(disregard Gracie's weird outfit. She had an accident at daycare before we picked them up, I don't even know whose pants those are!)



Throwing rocks into the sound.




Sean showed Benny and Gracie how to walk across/balance on logs.



They were SO proud of themselves!



In true Seattle style, now it is 50 degrees and cloudy again. I have to hold onto to days like these to stay optimistic.

G Rated Conversation about an R Rated Topic

I think we can all understand that mommy and daddy still have "special time" together even after kids are in the house. The scary thing is when said children become slightly more aware of it.

Last week:

Tate: Mommy, why were you crying in your room with daddy?
Me: (flustered) Oh I was just tired and sad it was morning. I'm happy now!
Tate: Yam! (yeah!)

Whew.

Last night while tucking in:

Me: Remember Grace, if you scream at bed time you won't get a marshmallow tomorrow morning. It wakes up Benny and isn't nice.

Gracie: But YOU scream last night at bed time and wake ME up! It looks like YOU don't get a marshmallow, mama.

Me: Did you hear that daddy?

Sean: Yep, no marshmallows for mama! (ha.)

Me: (after rolling my eyes) You're right. I won't do that anymore, sorry I woke you up.

Gracie: Ok mama, you don't scream at bedtime and I don't scream, ok? Then we get marshmallows.

Me: Good idea. Deal.

Wow. I guess we need to be more...um...discrete... from now on. Just when you think you've got this parenting thing down, an exciting new development every day!

Welcome Sunshine

Just a few shots from this weekend. We celebrated the arrival of the sun and warmth in Seattle (for as long as it lasts).

Miss Grace gussied up for church. Why can't gymboree make coats in my size?


We went to a "Touch a Truck" event at a local park. Such a great idea that thousands of people were there, which led to long lines to get into the trucks and/or get ice cream. So after a quick tour we went to a friend's house for an impromptu BBQ.






I even got a hug from my little(st) guy


Saturday we went to Grammy's house to stick our feet in her (freezing) new pool and have a belated party for daddy.



Then we hit the farmer's market and playground.



(Pardon my mid-chew)

And nothing quite says summer like the sight of our own little strawberries taking shape!