Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Ben is almost reading!
Ben finally knows his alphabet completely, and can read letters anywhere, and is starting to sound out words. I'm so proud of him!
New Kitty
Flynn is the lone remaining cat out of the four we've had in the last 10 years, and ironically, he is our least favorite. I won't go into the multiple reasons we DO NOT LIKE him, but Tim's idea for a solution was to get another kitty to keep him company and give him a little attention. The Boulder Humane Society had a "Free Cat Friday" and we lined up at the door and ran in at opening time with a frenzy of other cat-wanters. We basically grabbed the first young-ish cat that hadn't been claimed and adopted him. We ended up with the sweetest, most easy-going, most tolerant cat in the whole world! What a windfall! Flynn has actually been doing a lot better since he got a new friend, too.
It took us a while to name him, and Ben eventually was the one who said, "His name is Wally." Like Wall-e, the movie. Ben LOVES him and totes him around and cuddles him and says over and over, "Wally is cute!"
Wally's favorite place to sleep is Oliver's crib, on one of his soft blankies. Oliver doesn't like it that much, and often wakes up to protest. I cannot get Wally to stay out, though. We always thought Pippi would sleep with Ben and she never did, so Wally is the first kitty to brave the crib.
Here's a photo of Ben and his new friend...
It took us a while to name him, and Ben eventually was the one who said, "His name is Wally." Like Wall-e, the movie. Ben LOVES him and totes him around and cuddles him and says over and over, "Wally is cute!"
Wally's favorite place to sleep is Oliver's crib, on one of his soft blankies. Oliver doesn't like it that much, and often wakes up to protest. I cannot get Wally to stay out, though. We always thought Pippi would sleep with Ben and she never did, so Wally is the first kitty to brave the crib.
Here's a photo of Ben and his new friend...
Working Mommy Blues
This fall, work has been really horrible, and I'm sure the boys can feel my anxiety when I come home. Perhaps in reaction to that, they have started having a horrible time with separation. On Monday and Tuesday mornings, before I go in for the late shift, Ben sometimes spends an hour begging me over and over not to go to work. When I go out the door, I look back in and see Oliver fall miserably to the floor, crying and putting his head down between his legs. Sometimes I physically pull them both off of me and push them back inside as I go out the door. I know (and Tim says) they are back to normal a little while later and don't miss me all day, but it is heartbreaking nonetheless. And my limited time with them isn't always pleasant, I think because they are starved for my attention. I come home from work and have to get dinner on the table after giving them a little attention, the kitchen floor often becomes a writhing bed of screaming boys because Ben wants 100% of my attention, Oliver wants 100% of my attention, dinner wants 100% of my attention, Tim wants 20% of my attention, the cats want 10% of my attention, work still has 50% of my attention, and everyone gets a lot less than they want and need. They act completely differently around Tim, and I guess that makes sense. They are getting enough of him and don't need to fight over him. I've never truly wanted to be a stay-at-home mom until recently. I dream of a comforting routine to each day, and better behavior because I can deal consistently with problems and give them the attention needed, and more learning and development (alphabet! potty training!) and more fun and relaxing times. So now I just need to magically become independently wealthy. :-(
Oliver-isms
- Oliver LOVES shoes!
- Oliver is pretty naughty and mischievous. In one weekend, he threw the digital camera over the balcony, threw a glass bottle over the balcony (shattered below), put the digital camera in a glass of water (completely ruined), poured a cup of coffee on the floor, poured a gallon of water on the floor, sat on the cat, pulled the cat's tail, drew on the wall with multiple crayons, put a full trash can in his crib twice, insisted on getting back up on a chair after he had fallen off twice, and threw his dinner on the floor. Ben was never very mischievous, or maybe I've forgotten. Ben now says, "Liv is naughty."
- Oliver has fallen in love with two blankies and has to have them to sleep. Then he has to have them when he gets up in the morning, and they have to come downstairs with him for breakfast. He might forget about them after breakfast.
- Oliver loves reading. A couple of the books we read have food in them and I pretend to eat the food off the page. Oliver copies me and chews in a funny way.
- Oliver knows how to pucker up for a kiss and knows what to do when you ask for a hug.
- When I get home from work at dinnertime, Ben says, "Look Liv! Mommy's home!" Oliver screams and runs towards me.
- Oliver tells you after he poops. That's a good sign and we should capitalize on it and get him potty-trained a couple of years earlier than Ben! (Ben started wearing underwear just this week! Yippee!)
- Oliver loved putting on his lion costume several times a day before Halloween. After he got it on, he would put his hands up like claws and roar.
- At the boys' last doctor appointment, we all got flu shots, thinking it would be easier for Ben if he saw Mommy and Daddy get a shot first. It didn't end up helping Ben much, but Oliver did nothing but flinch. And then when we got his second booster, again - nothing but a flinch. Tough little guy!
- Oliver is pretty naughty and mischievous. In one weekend, he threw the digital camera over the balcony, threw a glass bottle over the balcony (shattered below), put the digital camera in a glass of water (completely ruined), poured a cup of coffee on the floor, poured a gallon of water on the floor, sat on the cat, pulled the cat's tail, drew on the wall with multiple crayons, put a full trash can in his crib twice, insisted on getting back up on a chair after he had fallen off twice, and threw his dinner on the floor. Ben was never very mischievous, or maybe I've forgotten. Ben now says, "Liv is naughty."
- Oliver has fallen in love with two blankies and has to have them to sleep. Then he has to have them when he gets up in the morning, and they have to come downstairs with him for breakfast. He might forget about them after breakfast.
- Oliver loves reading. A couple of the books we read have food in them and I pretend to eat the food off the page. Oliver copies me and chews in a funny way.
- Oliver knows how to pucker up for a kiss and knows what to do when you ask for a hug.
- When I get home from work at dinnertime, Ben says, "Look Liv! Mommy's home!" Oliver screams and runs towards me.
- Oliver tells you after he poops. That's a good sign and we should capitalize on it and get him potty-trained a couple of years earlier than Ben! (Ben started wearing underwear just this week! Yippee!)
- Oliver loved putting on his lion costume several times a day before Halloween. After he got it on, he would put his hands up like claws and roar.
- At the boys' last doctor appointment, we all got flu shots, thinking it would be easier for Ben if he saw Mommy and Daddy get a shot first. It didn't end up helping Ben much, but Oliver did nothing but flinch. And then when we got his second booster, again - nothing but a flinch. Tough little guy!
First sign of brotherhood
One day Oliver did the 20th naughty thing and Tim lost his temper a little bit. Ben and I were near and Ben said vehemently, "Daddy, don't you talk to my little brother like that!"
Random Ben-isms
- Ben had a stomach bug for a few days, and threw up many times one night. Tim stayed with him and Ben said to him,"Frow up not fun!" and "Frow up was ekercise!" We agree.
- Words Ben still says funny: empaphant (elephant), bastekball, ekercise.
- Ben still says often, out of the blue, "I love you too, Mama. I think you're byooful."
- Ben is often polite about asking before doing something. He wanted to give Boomer treats in Kansas City and he asked Aunt Marilyn, "It's ok I give Boomer treat?" One morning Oliver woke up crying in Kansas City and Ben said, "It's ok I get Livvy a muffin?"
- In the car, Ben told me, "Those guys didn't stop at red light."
- Ben burned his fingers pretty bad while helping Daddy make quesadillas. For a week he told everyone, "I burned my fingers making ideas." Then it changed to: "I burned my fingers making hot-tillas."
- It's funny to hear your kid go from barely talking to picking up subtle nuances of language. For a while, Ben started every sentence with "I just..." And now almost every sentence includes "kinda" and "like." "I kinda don't want cereal. I want, like, a peanut butter sandwich." "I don't know about pink soup. I think I kinda not like it."
- When Ben is with a group of his friends, he'll often say, "Hey, you guys!" or "Hey, kids!"
- Words Ben still says funny: empaphant (elephant), bastekball, ekercise.
- Ben still says often, out of the blue, "I love you too, Mama. I think you're byooful."
- Ben is often polite about asking before doing something. He wanted to give Boomer treats in Kansas City and he asked Aunt Marilyn, "It's ok I give Boomer treat?" One morning Oliver woke up crying in Kansas City and Ben said, "It's ok I get Livvy a muffin?"
- In the car, Ben told me, "Those guys didn't stop at red light."
- Ben burned his fingers pretty bad while helping Daddy make quesadillas. For a week he told everyone, "I burned my fingers making ideas." Then it changed to: "I burned my fingers making hot-tillas."
- It's funny to hear your kid go from barely talking to picking up subtle nuances of language. For a while, Ben started every sentence with "I just..." And now almost every sentence includes "kinda" and "like." "I kinda don't want cereal. I want, like, a peanut butter sandwich." "I don't know about pink soup. I think I kinda not like it."
- When Ben is with a group of his friends, he'll often say, "Hey, you guys!" or "Hey, kids!"
Oliver is talking!
Words Oliver knows:
- Mommy
- Daddy
- Ben (sounds like "Bun")
- ball ("bah")
- window (sounds like "whi-dough")
- cheese ("chee")
- juice ("joo")
- no
- kitty (sounds like "kee" or "tee" or sometimes "k'tee")
- Eva
- Wally
- help (not sure he understands what it means)
- happy (not sure he understands what it means)
- bubble
- hi!
- bye!
- whoa!
- cold ("co co")
- hot ('hah hah") I think he doubles these because I warn him that the stove is "hot! hot!" Not sure why I say it twice, but he caught on.
- Santa ("yenta")
- toes
- jump
- Mommy
- Daddy
- Ben (sounds like "Bun")
- ball ("bah")
- window (sounds like "whi-dough")
- cheese ("chee")
- juice ("joo")
- no
- kitty (sounds like "kee" or "tee" or sometimes "k'tee")
- Eva
- Wally
- help (not sure he understands what it means)
- happy (not sure he understands what it means)
- bubble
- hi!
- bye!
- whoa!
- cold ("co co")
- hot ('hah hah") I think he doubles these because I warn him that the stove is "hot! hot!" Not sure why I say it twice, but he caught on.
- Santa ("yenta")
- toes
- jump
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