Puzzles Galore

Yesterday, Caleb accepted my challenge to complete all five of his floor puzzles in one stretch. Three have 100 pieces, another 51 pieces and the last 24 pieces. It took him a couple of hours (with breaks), but he was so proud of himself when he was done :)

Coloring & Drawing

Lately, the boys have been very into coloring. My mom told me a while ago that I should encourage them to draw on blank sheets of paper, instead of just printed coloring sheets, but that has been a hard sell. They LOVE getting online at http://www.educationalcoloringpages.com/ and picking out a character to color. Caleb's favorites are all of the superheroes, while Ethan prefers Disney characters and Dora the Explorer. They ask me several times a day to print out a coloring sheet of some specific character. I love the website that makes this possible, but I sincerely hope I am not thwarting their imaginative/artistic potential by giving them such a steady diet of pre-drawn images.

I realized this weekend when Alli asked Caleb to draw animals with her that he doesn't draw anything on his own except patterns of shapes. I can't even get him to try to draw a face. When given blank paper, he always draws concentric circles, lines, or rows of some shape. It is always very regular and formulaic. He traces all of his letters very well, and can write about half of them without tracing, but he always wants each letter to be perfect. He is forever holding up a traced letter and saying, "Do you like my 'M', Mama?" I say, "It's great, Caleb! Great job!" Then he says, "I think it is not good. See that part? I'm gonna wipe it off and do it again." Sometimes I try to talk him out of it, wanting to avoid the perfectionism that he is so prone to, but other times I say nothing.

Ethan also prefers a printed sheet to a blank one. He will make a few lines across a blank sheet and be done, but he spends a long time coloring a printed sheet. First, he uses a marker to color over every letter and number on the sheet (like the web address and title at the bottom of each sheet). Then, he picks one object, like all of the flowers, and he meticulously covers each flower with whatever color marker he is using. Then he chooses another color and repeats the pattern with another object. He does not have Caleb's attention span, though, and he never finishes a picture before growing bored and getting up from the table to do something else.

Old Friends In Town

This weekend, one of my closest friends from college brought her husband and 3-month-old daughter for a visit. Alli and I have been very close friends for more than ten years, but it was especially enjoyable to spend time together this weekend because now we have motherhood in common. I loved swapping stories about pregnancy and new motherhood with her, as well as seeing her with her precious little girl.

In addition to becoming a Mommy and, at least temporarily, retiring from her speech therapy career, Alli has gotten into birding since we saw each other last. Everywhere we went this weekend, she pointed out to me the unique sounds of all different kinds of birds. I have a bird feeder on our deck, mostly for the boys' entertainment, and she taught all three of us the names of our frequent visitors. Although I was fascinated by her ability to identify so many birds by their calls, I'm afraid I made a very poor birding student, since my hearing is not the best.

Alli was much more successful at teaching me a few speech therapy skills to work on with Caleb . She said the age four is an important year for honing sounds that have not yet developed naturally. She taught me about auditory bombardment and auditory discriminaton. Even after just two days of being intentional with these things, Caleb is pronouncing the initial "f" sound much more clearly than he was before. I have just gotten used to the sound replacements and ommissions in both boys' speech, and it was good to have a fresh ear (specifically the ear of a seasoned speech therapist) call attention to some easily-corrected articulation errors.

On another note, Alli's husband Damon is really into games. "Into" doesn't accurately describe his relationship with games. He brought a whole suitcase of options for us to play. And to top it off, we were telling him about what we thought was an obscure Asian game that another friend tried to teach us, and he pulled that very game out of his suitcase! Teasing him aside, we did have a lot of fun learning and playing the game Dominion. Marcus added to the fun by interspersing questions from our coffee table "If..." book whenever one of us had to step away from the table.

We had a great weekend with our old friends, and I really hope we don't let another couple of years go by before we do it again.

Spring Pictures!

Here is the link to the boys' 2-year-old and 4-year-old pictures: http://www.heatherswannerphotography.com/OnlineViewing/. Click on the drop down menu, select my name, and type in "2boys" for access to the gallery. In case you look at the prices and wonder, know that I had to save up all the extra money I earn/recieve for a year to be able to buy 5x7s or 8x10s of a few of these pictures. Regardless, Heather (the photographer) is amazingly gifted and it is worth every penny to me to have such beautiful pictures of the boys.

Daddy's Home :)

After more than three months of Daddy working around-the-clock, we have been enjoying a couple weeks of him being home a lot more. With only one exception, Marcus has been off work by 5:30 every night for the past two weeks. Even better, he's been free to enjoy family time both weekends, instead of having to study or prepare presentations. Work responsibilities will be picking back up again soon, but it has been great to have a couple of weeks of feeling like a "normal" family (assuming there is a such a thing :)

Injury Drama

I know every parent has things their kids do that are exceptionally annoying. Caleb's thing that gets me more than anything is hyper-focusing on any injury for hours or even days. A skinned knee renders him lame for the afternoon, a bump on his head makes washing his hair that evening an excruciating experience, and heaven forbid anyone should suggest removing a splinter. He is terrified of blood and needles, just like I was. Even though I also dramatized every scratch and bump as a child (or perhaps because I did), I have little patience for his over-reactions. He is so effected by a scrape on his leg that he will wail, "I can't walk" and remain planted wherever he is for up to an hour. When he gets like this, I refuse to bring him the things he asks for. He loses priviliges and opportunities for fun when he shuts down into this defeatism. I know it bothers me because I so dislike the fatalism that I have to struggle against, and I will myself to have extra grace. But at the same time, I want to do everything I can to help him overcome that in his life.

No Good Deed...

One of our best friends often repeats the saying "No good deed goes unpunished." The first time I heard him say that over a year ago, I thought it didn't make much sense. But, since then, I have noticed it's truth in situation after situation. It does seem that many attempts at kindness, both big and small, end up with some unforeseen negative result. I am not superstitious at all, but I am going to have to admit that, very often, this saying is right on.

Last week, I commented to Marcus that it would be nice if he mowed the front yard of the vacant house down the road from us. It is for sale, and the grass had grown so high that it was obscuring the real estate sign. So this weekend, after Marcus mowed our yard, he headed up the street and mowed theirs. Well, you guessed it...he ended up hitting a big rock under all that tall grass and breaking both the mower blade and the part that attaches it. The mower is very old, and we are having trouble locating a replacement part, so we are currently mowerless. And, yet again, no good deed goes unpunished :)

The Fear

Ever since I weaned Ethan a little over a year ago, I have endured the monthly "fear" of an unplanned pregnancy. Since it was quite difficult for us to get pregnant the first time, I am a little ashamed to admit that I am afraid of a third pregnancy, but it is the truth. There are a lot of reasons. Among them are: dreading the four months of morning [all day] sickness, wondering if I have the patience for three when my patience for two often runs thin, truly loving our lifestyle as it is and not wanting to make the major changes that having an infant demands, and just being generally reluctant to re-enter the world of diapers and breastfeeding. I did not dislike the baby stage when I was in it, but I like this preschool stage so much better that I am just reluctant to go back.

Since I have felt this way for the past year, Marcus has grown increasingly concerned that the further I get from the baby stage, the less likely I will want to re-enter it. I hope, mostly for his sake, that I will want another baby eventually, but for now, I will continue on this monthly roller coaster that hinges on my monthly negative result :)

The irony of the way I feel is that, five years ago, I was taking tests month after month, hoping upon hope for a positive result. And the relief I feel each month right now was deep disappointment in that other life stage. How God must chuckle at our fickle hearts, yearning so much in one direction or another, foolishly believing that we know best. Many days, I wonder why it is so hard for me to let go and trust him. Then other times, when powerful emotions roil within me or intellectual doubt accosts me, I am amazed that I ever succeed even for a few hours to surrender my heart to Him. Regardless, I remain steadfast in my belief that it is our journey in life that is of most importance; not one particular moment, day, or even season, but the sum of these snapshots that make up our lives.

Thomas the Train

This weekend, we spent Saturday at a local Thomas the Train festival. Every year, in a little Alabama town about 30 minutes south of us, Thomas the Train makes an appearance, along with about a dozen fun activity tents. Thomas himself is about $20 a person to ride, but all of the activities are free. So, in true Wagner style, we skipped the train and enjoyed all the freebies :). There was putt putt golf, a bouncy house, a tent with train tables set up, a huge sandbox, a bubble tent, tattoos, a petting farm, and a vintage train with a Thomas storyteller inside. We did it all, and Caleb had a lot of fun. Ethan would normally have enjoyed himself tremendously, but he had spiked a fever the night before and was not feeling up to par. (Thankfully, it proved to be a less-than-24-hour thing, since he was fever-free and playing like usual by Saturday night.) Maybe in a year or two, when both boys are old enough to remember it, we'll pay so that they can ride the train :)

Bouncy, Bouncy, Bouncy

For the boys birthday, my parents (Nanna & Papa) and Marcus's grandmother (also Nanna) contributed funds to buy the boys a trampoline. We ordered it a couple of weeks before their birthday party, but a part of the shipment got lost in the mail, and we just got that part last week. This weekend, we opened up the boxes and spent a couple of hours putting everything together. We didn't finish until after the boys went to bed on Friday night, so they saw the finished product for the first time on Saturday morning. I'm sure that this was the first of many Saturday mornings to begin with a couple of hours of bouncing and tumbling.

Caleb and Ethan are genetically-wired with springs in their feet. They LOVE to jump and bounce, so a trampoline is a perfect gift. Now if we can just keep them from getting hurt...hopefully, they have also inherited the bubble of protection that has followed their dare-devil father all of his life. And it won't hurt that Mommy makes them wear their bicycle helmuts while they jump :)

Playing It Cool

A couple of nights ago, Marcus and I took the boys to the sports park just down the road from our house, so they could ride their bikes and watch some older boys play baseball. Caleb and I were walking ahead of Marcus and Ethan, since Ethan is slower on the scooter than Caleb is on the bike. Caleb and I came upon a group of five-year-olds waiting for their T-ball game to begin. One of the boys exclaimed pretty loudly, "Wow, look at that cool bike!" Caleb, without missing a beat, pedaled slowly on by without turning in their direction or cracking a smile. At first, I thought he hadn't heard them, but, at just the moment that we were alongside the group of watching boys, he moved his hand silently to the handlebar that, when turned, makes the sound of a revving motorcycle. He "revved" the handlebar twice, extracting several admiring comments from the boys, and continued without a sideways glance. I bit my lip to keep from laughing out loud, so as not to blow his super-cool moment. When we were way out of ear shot, he turned to me with a smile and said, "Those boys really liked my bike, didn't they?"

Did he really just turn four? The other day, I made him wear a white shirt under his polo as an undershirt. It was a school day, and he protested the extra shirt by saying, "None of my friends at school have to wear two shirts! Everyone at my school only wears ONE shirt...ONE, ONE, ONE shirt! I'm the only boy who wears two shirts!" Seriously? Does this stuff start already?

Well Visits

It's been a long time since I posted well visit stats, but I'm running a little dry on things to write about, so here goes:

I took the boys to their two-year-old and four-year-old well visit last week. It was a very peaceful visit, since there were no shots. They did have to do a finger prick on both boys. Caleb screamed bloody murder while the nurse squeeze drops of blood out of his finger, but Ethan just watched her curiously and didn't cry at all. He's got his Daddy's curiosity about how the body works, while Caleb has my aversion to blood. Both boys were asked to pee in a cup for the first time this visit. Ethan was successful, but Caleb had just gone potty and had nothing to offer. He felt very bad about it, but I assured him it was no big deal.

Anyway, on to the numbers that make these well visits interesting... At two-years-old, Ethan weighed in at 27 lbs, 4 oz, which put him around the 45th percentile for weight. He was 34 1/4 inches tall, which is around the 50th percentile. That's pretty much where he has been on the growth curves since he was 6 months old, so no surprises there.

At four-years-old, Caleb weighed in 37 lbs, which was around the 50th percentile. He measured 42 inches tall which is the 80th percentile. He's always been between 70th and 95th percentile in height, but his weight has fluctuated a lot more. He stayed around 25th percentile as a one-year-old, and then around the 75th percentile as a two and three-year-old. Now I guess he's evened out to the 50th :)

They were both pronounced very healthy little boys by Dr. H, and I said a prayer of thanks for another uneventful well visit :)

Homewood Park

A couple of nights ago, Marcus got of work early (i.e. around 5:00 pm), so we met at one of our favorite parks. I threw the bikes and a soccer ball in the car, since it is so much easier to take those extras when Daddy comes along. Caleb is riding his bike so fast these days! Ethan can pedal his bike, but he prefers his Radio Flyer scooter. And both of them love to kick the ball around. And to add to the fun of the evening, we ran into some good friends who we haven't seen much this spring and had a great time catching up with them. Enjoy the pictures!

More About Camping Out

Saturday morning dawned early and cold. Extra early and extra cold for the Pollard's, since the air mattress that was supposed to separate their sleeping bags from the cold, hard ground malfunctioned (sprung a leak). The four of us slept pretty well, and we were especially happy that Ethan slept peacefully through the whole night, which he rarely did during our 2009 camping weekends. When we emerged from the tent, we found Al cooking breakfast and Quenta and the kids warming up in their minivan. To add to the unfortunate beginning, we had burned all of our first round of firewood the previous evening, and the campground store didn't open for three more (very cold) hours. Fortunately, Quenta found a huge pile of bark, so we burned bark and kindling until the store opened.

After everyone was warmed up and stuffed with bacon and eggs, we headed all headed out on a little hike called the Treetop Trail. It is a boardwalk hike at tree level (just like the title), and there are rescued birds in cages all along the trail. We all enjoyed the walk, and then we loaded back up in the cars to go to the petting farm, a little further down the state park road. It was such nice weather by now, and we spent more than an hour walking around in the petting farm, enjoying all of the animals, but especially the baby goats and the pony. Then we shared a picnic lunch, which we had to guard carefully from the opportunistic peacocks that strutted around the picnic tables.

After lunch, we made a quick trip out of the state park to get a few things at Walmart, also hoping the kids would take a short nap in the car. Caleb obliged us, but Ethan chattered all the way there. So Ethan and I went inside while Marcus stayed with sleeping Caleb in the car. When we got back to camp, Caleb and I went to the beach while Marcus, Ethan, and the Pollard's took a nap. I had bought the boys little hand-held fishing nets at Walmart, so Caleb and I took them and caught two minnows and a water bug. After about an hour, Ethan and the Pollard's were up, and we all went back to the beach together, armed with five little nets, and (this time) a bug jar to collect our booty in. Quenta caught a minnow and a tadpole right away, but there weren't too many other bugs out because the temperature was cooling down.

For dinner Saturday night, we grilled burgers and hot dogs again, and I broke out the broccoli salad I'd made at home. After dinner, the Pollard's handed out glow sticks to all the kids, which they loved of course. We even got brave and let the older four kids roast a few marshmallows on their own. That made me a little nervous to have four preschoolers so close to the campfire, but it made it easier that Caleb was a very cautious roaster. He was more warming the marshmallow slightly and then eating it :)

The kids went down a little earlier Saturday night, and we adults enjoyed another night talking and eating around the campfire. Sunday morning felt about 10 degrees warmer than Saturday had. I was the first up, so I started the morning fire and then started the bacon. Breakfast was bacon, fried eggs and toast again. I think the morning is my favorite thing about camping out (though I really love the campfire at night, as well). The kids are happy and rested (generally), the smell of bacon and eggs in the open air is something else, and the whole day outside is ahead of us. We all enjoyed a leisurely morning of eating, playing around the campsite, and then breaking camp. We headed home for much-needed baths and naps around noon, and spent the rest of the afternoon unpacking and cleaning pollen off everything (including ourselves).

Spring Camping

This weekend, we embarked on our maiden camping voyage for 2010, and the weather was beautiful! After camping in the rain a couple of times last year, we decided this spring to wait for just the right weather forecast. And we got it: the skies were clear and sunny all weekend, with highs in the 70's. The first night got pretty chilly, but we stayed warm enough in our 20-degree bags, and then huddled around the fire in the morning until the temperature improved.

As always, the kids and a GREAT time camping. We went with the Pollard's, and the five kids had a blast together. They played tickle monster, soccer ball, chase, frisbee, throw-the-turtle, follow-the-leader, and a lion-attack game where Caleb and Ethan crawled out of our tent and slithered on the ground, roaring like lions (and looking like injured seals) while the triplets squealed and ran. Of course, the four boys took turns rotating in and out of time-out for crossing "the line" throughout the weekend. Addison was helpful and obedient, as always, and we could count on her to spot any misdemeanors that the four adults missed :)

Marcus got to take Friday off work, making this the first camping trip that he got to be there for (part of) setting up camp! I left first thing Friday morning (8:00 am) to make sure that we could get a good pair of tent sites. Then I set up our tent and unloaded a few things and headed back to get Marcus and the boys. We finished packing and loading the car, stopped to get a pizza for lunch, and were back at the camp site around 11:00 am. After lunch, we walked to the on site playground for a little while and let the boys burn off some energy. The Pollard's arrived a little later and set up their camp.

Around 3:00, everybody but me, Caleb and Ethan laid down for a nap. I wanted my boys to skip their naps so they would go to bed at dusk, so I took them to the camp beach while Marcus and the Pollard's slept. After naps, we fixed hamburgers, hot dogs and fried potatoes for dinner. I think food tastes so much better camping than it does at home! Quenta did a great job grilling the burgers on a less-than-ideal grate over the campfire.

On this campout, we sort of skipped the traditional after-dinner trips to the bathhouse to shower everyone, and I think that was a great move. It was cool enough that no one was getting sweaty, and there was just no point in cleaning off the dirt that would be back in it's place on little bodies within about twenty minutes. Instead, after dinner, we all changed into warmer clothes and Marcus and I put our boys to bed. The triplets went down a little later, and then we broke out the marshmallows and roasting forks. I love smores around a campfire! We talked until 11:00ish, exchanging stories from elementary school, and then headed to bed, hoping for a good night's sleep for a full day on Saturday.

More about our weekend tomorrow :)

Two Months at the Gym

A little over two months ago, my dad came through town on a business trip and spent the evening with us. While he was here, he bought us a family membership to the gym located a few minutes from our house. In the past two months, the boys and I have spent a LOT of time at this gym. Caleb took swim lessons there twice a week last month, and the boys and I spend an hour and a half there every Mon, Wed and Fri morning . I also take the boys swimming at the pool at least one morning a week, and sometimes on the weekend as well.

When we first got the membership, I had not worked out on any regular basis since college (more than eight years ago), and I really had no idea of the best way to get started. So I got a schedule of all the different classes and picked an aerobics class that looked promising. I went to one class and thought it was boring. I also didn't like having to rush the boys to get to the gym at a certain time, so on to Plan B.

The next time, I just loaded the boys up at an opportune time (which is a time that neither they nor I am in the middle of something) and we arrived at an odd time when no classes were starting. So I dropped them off in the play room and headed upstairs to run laps on the indoor track. I ran (i.e. jogged) for about 20 minutes and then I walked downstairs to the weight room.

I'm sure that I looked more than a little lost, because several different people asked me if I needed help and offered various unsolicited pointers throughout my weight workout. That first day, I spent most of my time figuring out the machines and reading all of the little instruction panels on each machine. Even though I didn't do that much weight lifting that first day, I was SO SORE the next day. Especially my poor legs, which hadn't been used for running in way too long.

Over the next couple of weeks, I honed my cardio/weights work-out routine down to an art form. I can only leave the boys in childcare for 90 minutes, so everything I do is on a tight schedule: I drop the boys off, pick up a locker assignment at the front desk, put my bag in the locker and head for the cardio room. I spend 22-25 minutes running on the treadmill (because the track started hurting my knees). Then I make a beeline for the weight room and do my 3 sets each on the 15 machines that I use each day. Usually, I end up running out of time and have to skip the last weight machine on my list. Then I spend about five minutes stretching (I should spend more, but the clock is running!), and head for the shower. I always end up turning my blow dryer off within a minute or two of my childcare time being up, so I speedwalk back to the play room and greet my two little men: the younger one runs into my arms, but I have to pry the older away from whatever Disney movie he is watching.

I have had no interest in working out since running with my college roommate, but now I really do love it and can't imagine my week without it. Thanks again, Dad!

Easter Egg Hunts

The boys got to go to two Easter Egg Hunts this year (excluding the one that crashed their birthday party :). The first was at church last Wednesday night. They were only allowed to get twelve eggs each at this hunt, so I had to pare down Caleb's stash and re-hide some eggs. Ethan, for once acting like a typical 2-year-old, was very laid-back about the whole egg-collecting thing. He just sort of wandered to and fro, picking up an egg when it was lying in his path, but without any focus or drive. He was also easily distracted by sitting down and opening the eggs he had already collected.

The group picture below was taken at our second Easter Egg Hunt. It was a gathering of the two small groups that were created when our original small group divided into two back in January. It was a lot of fun to have everyone together again, and to watch all sixteen of our kids playing with each other in the Pollard's backyard. Caleb held his own in the mad rush of egg hunting; Ethan, on the other hand, must have decided that the first egg hunt was enough frenetic activity for him, because at the second one, he picked up five eggs and then sat down to eat the candy inside.

Oh yeah, as you can see from the final picture, Ethan was NOT a big fan of having his picture taken with the Easter Bunny :)

Contented Oblivion

Since Ethan could walk, he has been convinced that he can do anything that Caleb can do...and he actually does his version of everything Caleb can do. Furthermore, he remains oblivious to the difference between his efforts and Caleb's accomplishments. Caleb jumps off the top step and Ethan jumps off the third step. Caleb makes a basket and Ethan throws the ball and hits the pole. Caleb does a somersault and Ethan puts his hands and head on the floor and then stands back up. Lately, Caleb has been into rhyming, especially while we are in the car. As I am driving, Caleb will say, "DOG and FOG, is that rhyming, Mama?" or "SNAP and CLAP, is that rhyming, Mama?" Ethan, always eager to be part of the fun, has started jumping in with his non-rhyming two cents, "Mama, Mama, CAR and COOKIE, dat rhyming, Mama?" He has no idea that he is doing all of these things differently than Caleb.

The only exception I have seen to Ethan's contented oblivion happened earlier last week. Caleb and Ethan were enjoying their evening dance/run/be crazy time after baths. Their favorite "dance" song was playing (Genocide by The Offspring), and they were sprinting laps around a pile of toys in the play room. Caleb shouted, "I'm SUPER-FAST!" Ethan echoed, "I'm SUPER-FAST, too!" As they were running, Caleb lapped Ethan two or three times, which has never phased Ethan before, but for some reason, Ethan stopped in mid-stride, his face crumpled into tears, and he came wailing to me. I asked him what was wrong and he choked out, "I not super-fast! Bubba super-fast!"

You can't make this stuff up :)

Ethan is 2-Years-Old!

I know this is the fourth birthday post in two weeks, but this is just our birthday time of year :) Yesterday (on Easter Sunday), Ethan officially turned 2-years-old. I know that he is my baby and it should be weird to me that he is already two, but it actually feels weird to me that he is only two. He has always seemed months older than his actual age, partly because he is so verbal, and partly because he spends all of his social time with older kids. Up until this week, if you asked him, he would tell you that he is "three, like Bubba!" I have finally gotten him to say consisently that he is two (at least for the past week).

Since Ethan's birthday fell on Easter Sunday this year, it was a little hard to give him the "birthday boy" day that we gave Caleb a couple weeks ago, but we did our best. Sunday morning we went to the Easter Service at our church, and we let Ethan stay with us in church the whole time instead of going to the toddler nursery, which he LOVED. (He was surprisingly good and quiet the whole time; he even fell asleep on me for about ten minutes during the sermon.) After church, we went out to eat at T.G.I. Friday's with another family for lunch, so that Ethan could have his meal of choice, which was chicken nuggets (just like Caleb chose). After a long afternoon nap, Ethan spent the rest of the afternoon in his favorite place: outside. The boys rode bikes, played in the back yard, and played in the sandbox on the deck until dinner. For dinner, Daddy grilled steaks and Mommy cooked fried potatoes and asparagus, as well as apple pie with ice cream for dessert. Ethan asked us to sing Happy Birthday to him about five times during dinner, and we obliged each time.

Marcus thought up a cool idea of watching videos from when the boys were younger as a birthday tradition, but, after he already told the boys what we were going to do, we realized that all of our old videos are in the safety deposit box at the bank for safe-keeping, except for one DVD we made of newborn Caleb. Well, you guessed it, we watched that video. Ethan kept asking, "Where picture of me? Where baby Ethan?" We felt really bad. But he eventually gave up and went to play with his train set while the three of us finished the video. Poor Ethan...I hope this doesn't start him down a road of birthday pity-parties like others before him :)

On to the developmental stuff this month...it's been two months since Ethan took off his diaper and informed me that he wanted to go pee-pee in the potty. Overall, he has been super easy to potty train, but he did have a relapse for two days last week. He had like ten accidents within 24 hours, and I was afraid he had called it quits on the potty. But I ramped up the rewards and praise and encouragement (all of which had kind of lapsed), and he got back on track. Now he is back to 2 or 3 accidents a week, which is where we were before the relapse.

Behaviorally, this month has been better than the month before, but he is still hitting and instigating conflict regularly. According to Miss Margaret at the Rec Center, he has been acting much better when I leave him there, and I haven't had any bad reports from his teachers at church lately, so it appears that he is mostly saving it for me and Caleb. Not ideal, but better than the alternative :)

Miss Margaret put it best when she said, "He can be so bad when he wants to, but then he'll run into your arms and kiss you and you completely forget what he just did."

A Month of Veggies

So we have been customers of the farmers' co-op Grow Alabama for over a month now. We have been eating a ton of organic fruits and vegetables every week, and we are loving it! For the first time in my life, I'm actually eating the recommended 3-4 servings of fresh fruits and vegetables a day! I LOVE that I get this huge box of produce every week. It has become a personal challenge to serve everything I get within seven days, before the next box comes. So far, I have made it every week (sometimes cooking the final bit from the previous week on the Tuesday night that I get the new veggies). We eat a completely vegetarian meal a couple times a week, mostly so I can afford to buy better meat on the nights we eat meat, like fresh fish, seafood, organic beef, etc. I'm getting my eggs from Grow Alabama now, as well as buying organic, lactose-free milk at the grocery store. The milk is the only part of all this that is stretching our budget. The boys drink about two gallons of milk a week (Marcus and I don't drink any), and that type of milk costs $9.00 a gallon. That comes to just over $80 a month on milk. (Of course, the non-organic lactose-free milk I was buying costs $8.00 a gallon, which was $72 a month, so not a huge difference to go organic there.)

Overall, I feel much, much better about what I am cooking for my family than I did before we joined the co-op. It gives me weekly accountability, as well as a better standard of food. So, thanks, Grow Alabama, and keep up the good work!

Caleb-isms

Here are a few cute little "Caleb-isms". I know they will disappear soon, so I wanted to preserve them here.

Caleb always pronounces "sorry" as "awwww-ree," usually drawing out the first syllable for several seconds. When comparing things, he always abbreviates the word "than": "I bigger 'n Ethan." "That car faster 'n us." "Daddy is stronger 'n me." When counting to twenty, he often leaves out numbers 14 and 15. When talking about some time other than the present, he almost always says "tomorrow", even if it is in the past.

Caleb's favorite color, hands-down, is yellow. All of his teachers at church and school know to save the yellow marker, crayons, construction paper and even scissors for Caleb. Every single craft that comes home with him has been colored yellow. We cannot keep a yellow marker in our house because as soon as I buy new markers, he colors fifteen pictures solid yellow within two or three days, and the marker is done with.

Caleb's favorite song is Jesus Loves Me, which he sings solo all throughout the day. At bedtime, it is always the first song he chooses to sing. He likes singing a lot of other songs as well, but that is his favorite. And, on a final note, Caleb loves to pontificate to Ethan about the house rules and which choices are good and bad. I never again need to wonder if Caleb completely understands what I expect of him, because I hear him parroting my words and explanations to the little guy, and I know it is all in there somewhere :)

PICTURES! Here is a link to a few of the pictures from our annual photo shoot with Heather Swanner: http://www.heatherswannerphotography.com/blog/2010/03/spring-fever/. These are the ones she liked the best and put on her blog. I haven't seen the whole shoot yet, and won't until she gets them all uploaded. I'll post that link when I get it, Mimi and Nanna :)