The Concept of Time

Understanding time is one of the hardest things for children to grasp. When the kids ask how long until we leave and I say 30 minutes, they ask, "How long is 30 minutes?" So instead of using minutes, hours, etc., sometimes I give them examples like "the time it takes you to eat your breakfast" or "the time it takes you to take a bath and get your jammies on".

Search has a patience problem. Especially when we're driving in the car. A few days ago, Search, Blake and I hopped in the car to go to the library. In his impatience (which I'm sure is very normal for a 4-year-old), he asks,

"Mom, what page are we on?"

Me - ?

S - "Mom, what page in the book are we on?"

Me - ?

S - "Which book are we on?"

Me - "Uh, we're not reading a book. We're riding in the car."

S - "I know but how many books do we read until we get there?"

Me - realization finally setting in, "Oh!!! Um, we have about 3 books to read until we get there."

S - "So which book are we on?"

Me - "Book number 2."

S - "What page are we on?"

Me - "13."

And on and on until we get to the library. He's a funny kid :)

PS Isn't that a cool pic? Even cooler because 5-year-old brother took it!

The First Born - day three of bragging about my kids

Destroy is definitely our most challenging child. Between his eating habits, his strong-willed personality and the emotional roller-coasters that we frequently ride with him, he keeps us busy and tired. But he's very entertaining and adds some interesting dynamics to our family. So we'll keep him :)

1. He likes to make books. A lot of books. Popular topics include: Afrucu anumls, vehucls (vehicles), holudas (holidays), school, foods, frogs, and inseks. He will spend hours making books and when he's finished with all the pages he carefully aligns the pages and staples them. Yes, I let my children use a stapler. I figure that they'll learn the dangers once they staple their thumb. Just like I did. Except I was a junior in high school.

2. Destroy is the pickiest eater I have ever met. I think I could name the foods he eats in less than 10 words. But I won't. He won't touch vegetables and the only fruit he likes is apple (hopefully this is temporary). Which is why he's s STICK.

3. When it comes to socializing this kid takes the cake. He knows all of our neighbors by name and often is the one to introduce us. He knows their relatives' names who come on the 3rd sunday of the month for dinner. He is not afraid to talk to anyone and will not stop talking until someone tells him to. Despite numerous "stranger danger" talks we've had with him, it doesn't seem to make an impact.

4. He watches movies just to get more ideas of who he can dress up like. After we watched the Night at the Museum he was suddenly a security guard. After we watched the Princess Bride he was suddenly a black ninja guy. After we watched Pirates of the Caribbean he was suddenly Jack Sparrow. Not only does he dress up, but he gets into character and talks and acts like them. I love it.

5. He shows pre-law skills. Nana calls Destroy The Lawyer, and for good reason. He loves to argue and is freakishly good at it. The other day Destroy asked me to make pancakes for dinner. While making dinner, Destroy decides it a good time to have a monumental tantrum. I explain to him that when he acts like this he doesn't get things that he wants. He stops, looks at me and says, "Well, what are you doing right now?" with that snotty little tone and points to my pancakes. So I stopped making them. When we start arguing I have to remind myself that he's only 6 and that I'm arguing with a 6-year old.

6. He loves to cuddle. When he's sad or tired he always asks someone to cuddle with him. It surprises me a little that he still likes to cuddle as he's gotten older, but I hope he doesn't decide that it's not cool too soon :)

7. He ties his shoes. And his friend's shoes.

8. He's a smarty pants. He reads really well, and if he doesn't know a word he just makes it up. That way he still sounds smart and confident. That is the key after all, isn't it? He picks things up quickly and comprehends a lot. It's also problematic at times because his cleverness gets him into trouble at school (and at home).

9. Even though he's a STICK, he somehow has a pudgy tummy. I don't get it.

10. Destroy only does things on his terms. It was this way with potty training (holy nightmare!), with kindergarten and countless others. He had a really hard time with kindergarten for the first month. Then he decided that it would be in his best interest to listen and follow directions. After that, he's been a great student.

We love Wes and all of his talents and quirks. He's a great kid, a great brother and (most the time) a great friend. We love the spice he adds to our lives and wouldn't trade him for anything!

Halloween and Birthday

The October festivities were a little subdued for us this year. The flu hit us all pretty hard (except for the only vaccinated family member - the "healthcare professional") so we were all still groggy and recovering the week of Destroy's birthday and Halloween. Batman and cowboy were able to get out and do some trick-or-treating to obtain candy to help us further recover.

And we were able to squeeze in a photo-shoot with a giraffe.

I had to include this picture because it's so fitting of Search's behavior towards Dodge.

The cutest giraffe on the block.

Look at me sitting up all by myself!

Destroy really wanted to be Jedediah Smith for Halloween after watching Owen Wilson in The Night at the Museum a few weeks ago. After a while the idea just turned into "a cowboy". His costume was complete with guns, holsters, handcuffs, belt buckle and cowboy boots. A vest was in the works but the seamstress got too tired.

And, as always, Destroy was completely into the part using the language, the drawl and actions.

This is my favorite because I caught him shooting the ghosts. Pretty good form, huh?

I didn't get any pictures of Search dressed up because he's in the don't-take-my-picture-or-I'll-kick-you stage. And I don't want any bruises on my shins. The only thing he wanted to complete his Batman costume (because he already had wings and mask and clothes) was a Batman tool belt. So I made him one with a couple of hooks to hang gadgets off of and a little pouch for bullets, or candy :) I guess we don't have any pictures of it, but it's pretty sweet if I do say so.

We were also able to make it to Indy's Zoo Boo for about an hour and a half. Then Search developed another fever and we had to leave. I think that was the day that he went to bed at 3 pm and never woke up until the next morning.


The perfect little giraffe was pushed around in the stroller.
Until he got tired and decided to take a nap.

Destroy turned 6 last week so we "celebrated" his birthday.

To avoid more germ spreading and sickness, we crowded all 6 of his candles onto his piece of cake so that he wouldn't blow his flu-breath all over the entire cake.

Search was the only kid feeling normal at the time.

Dodge pretty much sums up the way the rest of us felt. No, he's not crying, he was just sick. Poor little guy. A picture of me would have been out of the question.

Destroy had just woken up from a long nap to eat pizza (which he hardly touched) and cake (ate one bite). This was definitely the worst kid birthday we've experienced yet! Aaron pulled his weight around here and took care of purchasing all birthday presents, ordering the cake (because I wasn't about to make one) and picking up pizza. Lucky guy, he finally has time off and he gets to take care of his sick family :)

Let's hope that Destroy's birthday is not an omen of the year to come! Happy Birthday, buddy :)