mathmom's blog

Amanda came downstairs glowing this morning. "I am so excited! I just had the bestest dream ever!" Of course I was curious, so I asked her what was so good about it. "I got to see my cousin Anders!" I guess they had a good time!

Tonight, when it came time to read to Luke, he tried something new. I asked him to choose a story, and he brought Froggie down to the pile of books and had Froggie choose a story (while making appropriate frog speech noises). I then sat down in the rocking chair, but I was promptly told "NO!" so I got up. Luke and Froggie sat in the chair, Froggie on one side of Luke, and Luke opened up the book and "read" it to Froggie , complete with appropriate noises when he got to the "fluffy baby penguin." Then it was time to turn off lights. I turned off the wall switch, Luke turned off "his" table lamp, and I led him across the room back to the rocking chair for singing. Again I was told "no!" and Luke got into the chair, cuddled Froggie , and made singing noises. He kept telling me, "go!" and tried to push me away. I thought about going, but Luke really can't get himself into the crib =) We prayed, complete with Luke...

Michael came into our bedroom the other day with the kids. He had Luke hanging off one arm, Amanda off the other, and Eleanor sitting on his shoulders. "It's a Daddy trophy!" said Amanda, who has learned about what a trophy is supposed to look like from the gym where she has gymnastics. I did not tell her that it was also called a " loving cup ."

For Michael's birthday, I decided to make split pea soup, one of his favorites. The kids hate it, but they were willing to sacrifice to please their Daddy. I knew that I could only ask so much of them. To Eleanor, I gave a bowl with only peas in it---no noticeable carrots or ham. To Amanda I gave a bowl with a minimum of peas, and lots of carrots. Luke got more soup than his sisters combined, but I added an ice cube. Eleanor proceeded to take every last small piece of onion, ham, parsley and carrot out of her broth and put it on her plate. She then ate all the peas and 6 cold carrots. What was most amazing was her restraint in talking about it. She even managed a "yummy!" to encourage her brother to eat the soup---she's starting to realize that she can think what she wants, but if she makes gross noises and complains at the table, encouraging her brother to imitate, her mother will be unhappy. She then cleared her dish, without being prompted. Her circumspect...

On the way to pick up Eleanor today, Luke started screaming something at the top of his lungs. Amanda complained, "My head hurts. My ears hurt." After listening for a minute or two, I thought I figured out what he was saying. "Luke, are you saying meat balls?" "Meat Balls!" he screamed happily. "Purple Meat Balls!" He continued for about 10 minutes, during which the question in my mind progressed from "What?" to "Why?" to "Would you please stop now!" If you understand, I'd appreciate a clue.

I forgot to list a number of other accomplishments Luke has been working on. Yesterday he plugged in my iron, and pretended to iron the carpeting. He didn't manage to turn on the iron (and a light helpfully turns on when it is plugged in, so he didn't feel the need to turn it on, but it was still more accomplishment than I needed. He has learned to spit out things he drinks. He has not learned to spit alone, but if he is tired of drinking his milk he'll fill his mouth up and spit all over the floor, laughing hysterically. Someone please tell me this is a stage! I have been trying to keep my reaction low key ("we don't do that. Clean it up, please!") instead of yelling and spanking him, but it definitely does not come easily. His imagination is fun to watch. This morning he took hold of the climbing rope, pulled it away from the wall and said "fly kite!" So he and I pretended to fly a kite for a while. He carries around a little toy doggie , a...

Since I last blogged (a long time ago!) Luke has: learned to pedal the tricycle on a gentle downward or flat area (still can't go up) done 2 somersaults been making his own grammar rules (feets! it's exciting: he's not just imitating us, he's learning about language) opened the refrigerator and freezer doors countless times many other things Definitely hard to keep up with.

As I was putting Amanda to bed tonight, she mentioned she had seen Tinkerbell on TV, making the letters "D V D" with pixie dust, which is apparently also spelling dust. I asked Amanda if she knew how to spell "Dad." "D, O, D, O," she answered. "That doesn't spell Dad. That spells..." Then I realized what it spelled and started trying not to laugh. "It has a silent 'O' in it," Amanda explained.

Why is it that when I am tired and at the end of my rope, the kids seem to act up much more than usual? Or is it that when I am tired, I don't have the resources to keep them in line, manage their moods, notice trouble and head it off before it snowballs. Probably the problem is me---when I am tired, every disobedience is an affront, every accident is a catastrophe, every responsibility is a burden. So here's to less blog reading and more sleep tonight, a quick way to being a better parent.