Monsters in the Basement

Tim and Casden were downstairs in the basement. Tim was doing laundry :-) Casden was playing. The furnace kicks on. Casden freezes, gets real quiet, and his eyes get real big. He asks Tim, "What's that?" Tim says, "That's the furnace kicking on." Casden says, "No, it's a monster." Tim says, "No, it's just the furnace." Casden, ever convinced it is, in fact, a monster, says, "I'm going upstairs" and hightails it upstairs. Tim follows behind with a laundry basket. Casden turns back and says, "Daddy, you can stay down here (with the monster)!"

The Magic Word

Tim was laying on the coffee table (of course!) and Casden came up and laid a bin of cars on his belly. Casden then demanded that Tim help him put them together. Tim and I both commented that this was not a very nice way to ask for help. Padget chimed in that he should "use the magic word". Casden looked at her and said quizzically, "Abracadabra?"

How can you be mad at that face?

Oh, Aidric...usually he's so good at bedtime and night-time, but last night was another matter entirely. It was dreadful. He screamed and cried much of the night. However, you'd go slamming in there all angry and he'd stop crying and just be all coos and giant gummy grins. It's so hard to be mad at those gummy grins, when his face just lights up. Sigh. It won't be gummy for much longer, as he's working hard on cutting those 2 bottom teeth. That may have explained last night's issues. So, I'll enjoy those gummy grins while they last, even if they are at 2 a.m.!

Our Little Elf

Padget had her preschool musical production last night. "Santa's Little Elves" Boy, that girl is a star--no stage fright, no fear of the giant crowd, just pure joy and animation. It was very cool to watch! And it helps that she is LOUD (like Casden!!) so she carried the girls' songs so we could hear even in the very back row. It was very cute, and we couldn't be more proud. I'd love for her to get into drama--a good way to focus her dramatic flair and I think it's a great way to get used to speaking in front of people. Yes, I know, I know, she's only 5, but I'm just thinking ahead (many, many years ahead!).

WTF??!!

After dinner this evening, the kids wanted to play "Tiger Tail Chase". They have this set of 4 different animal tails that go around your waist (imagine flag football, but with a zebra/tiger/monkey/lion tail for a flag). They wanted Daddy to play, but he was holding Aidric. Casden said, "Mommy can play." Padget replied, "Mommy's too old!" Yikes, really...this is what my 5 year old thinks of me???!! Daddy told Padget that actually he was older than Mommy, but I don't think she bought it. Anyway, I grabbed my lion tail and proceeded to run those kiddos ragged around the house. They were winded, hot, and sweaty--upon quitting the game, both kids stripped off their shirts and grabbed their water bottles!

Another funny thing was that after I grabbed my water bottle, Casden asked, "Mommy, aren't you hot? Take off your shirt." Immediately, my brain fast-forwarded 10-15 years...Casden saying to some girl, "hey baby, aren't you hot? Let me help you take that shirt off..." !!!

Loud talking and whispering

Maybe it's a boy thing or maybe it's a Casden thing. Casden has no "inside voice". He's so loud all the time. Whether he's talking, singing, humming...he does it so LOUDLY! And if you call him on it, he just gets louder. Poor Aidric takes the brunt of this because Casden gets all up in his face to talk to him. But it's so loud and so close, that you can just see this fear and panic in Aidric's eyes, like get this crazy, loud close-talker the hell away from me! I guess the plus-side is that Casden really loves his little brother :-)

When can you trust your child to whisper in your ear? I mean whisper, quietly. I still flinch whenever Padget wants to tell me a secret, because I fear that she is going to get in real close and then blow out my eardrum. I don't think I'll ever be able to let Casden tell me a secret!

Canine Hopes and Dreams!

First some background...Our yellow lab, Persy, was our first baby. We had him for a good 3 years before any human babies entered our lives. Persy used to sleep with us in our bed. For 3 years he did this--at first he was allowed to sleep with us at night and then as he got bigger, he was allowed to sleep on our bed when one of us was napping. When we moved to CT, we were disgusted with the state of our comforter and put the ka-bosh on Persy sleeping in our bed.

So, today, I am exhausted. I had a terrible night's sleep. Could have been the chocolate peanut butter cookies I ate at 9:00 p.m. or it could have been my inability to shut my brain off. Either way, I really didn't fall asleep until after 3:00 a.m. and was up at 6:30 a.m. Anyway, I pulled off the impossible task of getting all 3 kids down for naps AT THE SAME TIME! I decided to crawl into bed myself. As I crawl into bed and snuggle under the covers, I hear Persy get up off of his doggie bed, come over to my side of the bed, and look at me hopefully. Persy is now 8 1/2 years old. It has been 5+ years since he slept in our bed, and yet, there is a part of him that remains hopeful that today is the day.

Well, sorry, Persy, today was not the day! And thank goodness, because Tim pulled a tick off of him later this evening. Yuck! Just another reason that he is not allowed in our bed.