Wild Things

Lions...and Tigers...and Bears...Oh My!Our boys were very enthusiastic about their costumes this year. Elijah wore the same tiger costume last year, but begged to wear it again this year which was fine by me. David John was also adamant about being a tiger. Of late, he's developed an obsession with baby tigers. He frequently asks to watch baby tiger videos on You Tube. Every day since we've started working on his costume he's asked, "I be baby tiger? I can wear baby tiger helmet?" Here he is giving his best baby tiger roar.This is the whole crew with Daddy. They went trick-or-treating last Monday at our local Notre Dame college. Poor Marc has been on call every other night and so has missed most of the Halloween fun. We were glad he got to do this with the boys. Gabriel and Elijah mastered the "trick-or-treat" phrase this year. David John could say it too, but he never said until after he got the candy. The female college students were quite charmed by his saying "trick-or-treat-thank-you!" after they dropped something in his bucket.On Thursday, Gabriel and Elijah had a costume parade at their school. They each sported a homemade costume created as part of a class project. So, here is Gabe the black cat...... and Elijah the spider.Saturday was loaded with Halloween fun. Our local grocery store, Giant Eagle, does an awesome Halloween scavenger hunt every year. Each store department gives something for the kids to put in their bags and most of it is not candy. The boys got apples, lunchables, goldfish crackers, stickers and more. Here is Benjamin enjoying the pumpkin-shaped sugar cookie he scored at the bakery.
Saturday night was Boo at the Zoo which has become a Cleveland tradition for us. This year, we went with our friends and neighbors Heather and Jared and their three kids. We had a really great time. These pictures are from the spooky train ride.
We took this picture of all of the kids in their animal costumes right after they watched a puppet show. Notice that Elijah is holding Benjamin. Right after I took the photo, a man announced that another puppet show would be starting in eight minutes. Elijah was so enthralled by this announcement that he promptly turned his whole body towards the announcer and let go of Benjamin with both hands. The puppet show was just that good.I was home alone, again, with the boys this evening. We went trick-or-treating on our block. Before we left, I figured if they were going to get sugared up anyway then we may as well go for broke. I made orange pumpkinish shaped pancakes for dinner with chocolate chip faces. The boys were in heaven.As we left the house to go trick-or-treating they all yelled together, "Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!" It was pretty cute. Since no one was home to pass out candy, I left a bowl on the porch next to our awesome pumpkins. The sign said "take 1 or 2" but I am pretty sure handfuls were grabbed because it got drained really fast. The boys had a great time, although Elijah was very distraught about people "stealing" our candy that we left out. I told him it was okay. When we got back home, I let them eat a few pieces each with promises that more would be forthcoming tomorrow. Even with the paltry amount I let them eat they didn't settle down until just a few minutes ago. Happy Halloween little wild things.

Pumpkin Pics

Please forgive the extended break between blogs. I assure you I have a hefty backlog of photos and blog ideas but have been lacking the time to write. So, to tide you over until I can catch up here are some pictures from our annual pumpkin family home evening. This year, for the first time, we let the three older boys draw faces on their pumpkins which I helped them carve out. David John's was especially difficult to carve since he didn't exactly draw a face, but a series of abstract scribbles. I did my best, and he seemed pleased with the results. Benjamin used our little plastic face pieces. He hand selected and mouthed each piece before banging it against the pumpkin. I helped him push the pieces in... a few times since he pulled them back out to slobber on them again and really make sure they were the pieces he wanted to use. Many thanks to Marc for his expert pumpkin help. He carved off the tops, helped the boys gut the pumpkins and made little niches in the bottoms for the candles to sit in. He also did all the pumpkin clean up. I love that guy.

A Wrench in the Plans

This is a plumbing update: Neither my main water valve nor my sink have been repaired yet. As you may remember from my lovely ditty last month, we are waiting for my plumber and the city water department to coordinate and show up at my house on the same day at the same time. We have had two dates when this was theoretically possible but neither worked out. The first time, the city backed out because of a water main break that took first priority. On the second date, which was Wednesday, everything was good to go when- I am not making this up- my plumber called to say his truck had broken down on the freeway on the way to my house and that it was currently being towed to a dealership.
Either my plumber is a pathological liar, or I have the worst luck with plumbing in the history of indoor water-usage. So once again, I am waiting for another magical day in which both the water department and the plumber are available. I am pretty sure this involves complicated astrology charts in which the plumber's zodiac sign (aquarius maybe?) must be in the twelfth house, the dwarf-planet Pluto must be closer to the sun than Neptune and these events must fall during a blue moon cycle. My best guess is that my sink will get fixed sometime in the year 2019.

Call of the Child

After the boys are in bed I have this crazy expectation that I am going to be able to either sit down and relax or get something done (like blogging) that I haven't been able to get to earlier. There is just one problem with this idea- putting the kids in bed does not mean that they are asleep. Gabriel in particular is the master at calling me back into his room after bedtime. After the first few interruptions of my child-free time I often tell him that I am not going to respond to any more requests.
This is almost always a lie. Gabriel is unrelenting. He can call "Mom!" at 3 second intervals without changing the pitch or volume of his voice for an undetermined amount of time. The longest I've ever lasted against this barrage of "Mom!"-calling is 15 minutes. Eventually I just can't stand it anymore and I go to his room just so he will stop. I think the CIA should hire him to interrogate foreign spies.
What is most amazing is that he will do this in order to impart or receive the most trivial information.
Here are some examples of the response I get when I finally enter his room with an exasperated, "Yes. What on earth do you need Gabriel?!?"

"Um, is it okay if I wake up sometimes and need to use the bathroom?"

"Mom, are you guys making popcorn out there?"

"Mom, are you watching something?"

"Look, Mom, when I put my feet together it makes a triangle shape. See?"

"Um, well, um, well, actually, I was wondering.... well, I was wondering, um, what are we doing after bedtime?"
Me: "You'll wake up, eat breakfast, get dressed and go to preschool. I love you. Go to sleep."
5 minutes and a hundred "Mom!"s later...
"Um, well, what, um, what are we doing after preschool?"

"Mom, I have ten fingers."

"Look, Mom. This is my pillow."

"Mom, can I have some gum tomorrow?"

"Do you know where Pooh-bear's shirt is?"

"Mom, you forgot to say goodnight."
Me: "Goodnight Gabriel. I love you. GO TO SLEEP."

Sometimes I get very frustrated about this night time ritual. Marc reminds me that answering these nocturnal summons is just part of being Gabriel's mom, and isn't he worth it? Marc's right, Gabriel is so worth it. So for now, I'll continue to answer the call of the child.

Clothes Make the Man

Last Sunday, David John complained that his shirt was hurting him. I figured maybe it had an itchy tag or something, so I changed it. A while later, David John complained that the new shirt was also hurting him. I couldn't find anything wrong and started to suspect that maybe his stomach was hurting and he was attributing the pain to the shirt. My suspicions were confirmed yesterday.
I watched as David John walked into the kitchen and banged his knee on the table. "Ouch!" he said followed promptly by, "I need new pants. My pants hurting me!"
Addendum: Today David John heard my stomach growling around lunch time. He exclaimed, "Uh-oh mommy, your shirt is hungry!"

3 Going on 30

There is no one like a toddler to show you how ridiculous adults sound sometimes. Here are some of my favorite Elijah-style uses of adult phrases and tactics from the last week or so:

The Threat
(Elijah wanted a puzzle but I told him he needed to clean up first.)
Elijah: "Mom! If you don't get the caterpillar puzzle down for me right now then I am going to be very very naughty!"
Me: "Great, now you're making threats."
Elijah: "It's not great!"
Me: "I know, I was being sarcastic."

The Guilt Trip
(Elijah had to go to time out for being disobedient.)
Elijah: "Well, Mom, if you send me to time out then I will be very very sad."
Me: "I'm sorry, but you broke the rules. You still have to go to time out."
Elijah: "But Mom, that will make me cry!"
(This was accompanied by outstanding sad faces and tears welling up in those big blue eyes. This kid is good.)

The Limited Time Offer
(I was feeding Benjamin and unavailable to read a story for a few minutes.)
Elijah: "Mom! Hurry and read me this story right now before someone else does!"
Me: Laughing, and imagining throngs of people clamoring to read Elijah a story; not that it isn't a pleasure to read to him.

I'm Sorry, but...
(David John came running into the kitchen crying and saying Elijah had hit him.)
Me: "Elijah, please come apologize to David John for hitting. Hitting is not okay."
Elijah: "David John, I'm sorry I had to hit you, but you were trying to bite me."
Me: "David John, were you trying to bite him?"
David John: "Yes."

Marc's Menagerie

I am surrounded by animals. No, I am not referring to my little children or even their stuffed toys. Lately, my home looks a shelter for lost animals of the balloon variety. Marc has decided that any truly great pediatrician should be able to tie a repertoire of at least 100 balloon animals. He's been practicing, and getting better I might add. Here are just some of his creations from the last 4 days.

David John loves his Doggy
Fish on a Fishing Pole. Elijah was very pleased with the fishing pole, and Benjamin was very pleased to eat the balloon-tying instruction book.
A better picture of a Fish, oh, and Gabriel. He is going through a phase in which he attempts to jump into the frame of every picture I take. I have been doing a lot of creative cropping of late.
Monkey
Froggy
Octopus
Giraffe
Seahorse
Two Tigers
Little Mouse
Baby Elephant

Cute, huh? I'd love to find homes for all of them, I'll even wave the adoption fee and they don't have to be neutered. Please consider adopting one of these balloon animals, our next shipment of balloons arrives in two days and Marc won't be able to resist creating a bevy of poppable pets.