Dinosaur!

I didn't have the heart to stop him from drawing all over my crossword puzzle, even though I'd just barely started it. Especially when he said his dinosaur needed eyes and feet and drew them in approximately the correct locations. I think this is his first piece of artwork that has resembled its label (assuming you squint your eyes, tilt your head at a 23-degree angle, and stand on one foot).

Party Preparations

Natalie's birthday party is coming up in a couple of weeks, and I've been struggling to find time to make the decorations. Yesterday afternoon, I decided to take advantage of the nice weather and I moved our craft tub outside so Sammy could make messes to his heart's content, and clean-up would be as easy as spraying off the driveway with the garden hose. It occupied Sammy the whole time I was working. Score!

Note to self: Next time, find similar entertainment for Natalie. You know very well she'll make her own fun otherwise.

Hey, look at that! No, really, look!

That didn't work...uh..ok...then, it wasn't me! It was his fault!

Oh, who am I kidding. Yes, I dug up one of your plants and ate the dirt, but I swear, I had a good reason.

At Grandma and Grandpa's House

As I mentioned earlier, we went to my parents' farm this past weekend. Here are some random pictures:

We followed this truck for awhile, and it cracked me up. "Fine Antler Chandeliers"? Isn't that an oxymoron?

He's still talking about riding the tractor with Grandpa.

A flamingo hat. Have you ever seen such a thing?

Holy cleavage, Batman. I should probably censor this picture

but it's late and I'm too tired to care.

It's been a busy few days, with a weekend trip up north to my parents' house, and yesterday spent at the state fair. I'll write more about that later, but for today, just a brief story.

Last night, I needed to make a quick trip to Target for a couple of items. I had some extra time, and Ron was home, so I decided to leave Natalie at home with Ron and ride the bike to the store with Sammy in the bike trailer.

I was amazed at how well Sammy did on the half-hour ride. Normally, he gets bored and cranky at being forced to sit still for so long, but I think the bribes treats I packed helped out a lot in combatting his boredom.

I ended up buying a box of fresh peaches in addition to the things I had gone for. It was a tight squeeze to get everything into the bike trailer, but I managed by putting the box of peaches on the bottom, and stacking everything else on top. I warned Sammy that he wasn't to touch anything, or we'd end up losing some of our things on the road.

The temptation was too much to resist, though, and when we were almost home, he located the peaches (he gets credit for holding some of our things on his lap, rather than knocking them off the trailer, though). He had one peach clutched in his hand, and I was worried he'd decide to toss it but decided it was worth losing one peach if it meant we'd get home in the next few minutes. Then I heard him start arguing with an invisible someone. "That's my peach," he said. "No, it's my peach," he argued. "It's yours." "No, it's yours."

Looks like he won the argument, though, because when we pulled in the driveway, the peach was half gone and his shirt and hands were dripping with fresh peach juice.

Good thing I didn't buy any cookies.

Sibling Rivalry

I just finished reading Siblings Without Rivalry and I thought it was fantastic. There were a few no-nos that I have done with the kids, without realizing that they were no-nos. Labeling, for instance. I understand that unflattering labels aren't good, but I didn't realize that even flattering labels can cause damage. After reading the book, it makes perfect sense why that would be the case, but I honestly never thought about that before. An recent example of what not to do: a few days ago, I called Natalie "the caretaker", because of her love of stuffed animals and dolls, and also her newest hobby of helping people with their daily routines (brushing hair, washing in the tub, toothbrushing). Calling her a caretaker boxes her into that role, which she may not relish when she's older, but she will feel that she has to live up to that label. The other effect is that Sammy will think that role has already been filled, so there's no reason for him to show any caretaking behaviors. I'm probably not explaining it very well, but the book really was an eye-opener. There was only a small section that was directed towards parents of teenagers, but the rest of the book applies to kids of any age (and probably the younger, the better, since it's easier to start off on the right foot than it is to try to repair a damaged relationship later).

I think the things that I'm doing are making a difference already, although we still have our moments. A perfect example is last night. Sammy was hyper with tiredness (why? why do kids get hyper when they're tired, when I can hardly drag my butt off the couch?) and went tearing through the living room, as fast as he could run. When he passed Natalie, without breaking stride, he reached an arm out and grabbed her hand. This, of course, threw her off balance and she did a (very graceful, I might add) backwards flip. I guess all that getting pummeled by her brother has taught her to fall without getting hurt, because she didn't make a peep as she got back up and continued down the hall as if nothing had happened.

Other than that one incident, yesterday was a much better day. Sammy was back to his usual, pleasant-to-be-around self. I still don't know what was going on with him Wednesday, but I do have to say that I am quite proud of myself that I managed to keep it all together and not lose my temper with him. I always thought patience was an inborn trait, of which I had none, but I'm finding it's actually a learned skill. And who is a better teacher of patience than a two-year-old? I guess I should be thanking him.

Pictures

If not for moments like the one I described yesterday, the human race would die out, because everyone would abandon their children once they hit the terrible twos. Yesterday was one of those days. What with Sammy "testing his limits", and "exploring his boundaries", and "acting like a jerk".

But I'm not going to dwell on that today. Onward ho! How about some pictures!

Natalie likes to help Sammy brush his teeth.

(She also likes to help wash his hair in the bathtub.)

The kids yesterday. You can almost see Sammy thinking, "What will drive Mom the most crazy?"

This is how the kids always look at the end of a summer day. Wet, dirty, and bedraggled.

Spontaneous Affection

Sammy will hug and kiss me goodbye in the morning before I leave for work, but other than that, he's not one for all that mushy stuff. I think I've only heard him say "I love you" a handful of times.

So I was surprised a few nights ago, when he spontaneously threw his arms around my neck and said "I love you." "I love you, too!" I said to him. "You're my favorite little boy in the whole world."

"I'm the BEST kind!" he replied.

Yes, you are, kid. Yes, you are.