A Hurricane Sandy Dance Party

So, we've been cooped up in the house ALL day with the arrival of Hurricane Sandy.  I suggested that we have a dance party tonight, to try to get rid of some of our cabin fever energy.  Gabe said the two cutest things to me just now.

First, when I started dancing with him, he said, "wait, let's dance like we're married because I love you."  When I asked him how married people dance, he said, "hold my hands and we'll dance around in a circle."

And then when I came over here to blog about it (lest I forget), he followed me and asked, "may I have this dance?"

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!  Love.  Him.

Some Random Recent Pictures

Here's a random group of recent pictures:

wearing my Halloween crown that I made at school!

driving my motorcycle

my turn!

vroom vroom!

vroom vroom!

playing up at the school behind our house

"Mom, take your camera so that you can take pictures of me riding my bike."

"I don't want to ride my bike.  I want to take my carriage to the school."

glow bowling!

Halloween Parties 2012

Gabe went to a Halloween birthday party for one of his classmates on Saturday, and then we all went to a Halloween party on Sunday.  Here are some of the cute pics:

Optimus Prime (in attack mode)

gah! (the bell bottoms kill me)

making a mask at the birthday party

Optimus having a swing

transforming into Mummy Prime

 

 

and here's Bumble Bee

The Dynamic Duo

at the party with our friends, Jack & Will (aka Superman & Green Lantern)

playing with the donuts prior to the donut-eating contest

here's the contest!

 

Optimus Prime and the obstacle course

look at those bell bottoms!

the group

 

Two Cute Zachisms

We went to a Halloween party yesterday morning, and there was another Zach there, who was also 3.  I totally forgot about the other Zach.

Yesterday evening, Zach and I went to the grocery store and when I was getting him out of the car, this is how the conversation went out of the blue:

Zach:  There were two Zachs at the party.

Me:  What?

Zach:  There were two Zachs at the party.

Me:  Oh, right!  There were two Zachs at the party today.  Isn't that cool?

Zach:  That's a little strange.

***********************************************************************************

This morning, Gabe was telling me about a dream that he had last night.  Evidently, he heard the bells of Santa's sleigh; and the bells went "ding, dong" in his dream.

Zach overheard our conversation and chimed in:


Zach:  Gabe, you had a dream about Santa's sleigh?

Gabe:  Yea.

Zach:  And the bells went ding dong, ding dong?

Gabe: Yea.  Isn't that cool?

Zach:  That's cwazy.

Like A Strawberry

Here's a conversation between me and Zach tonight:


Zach:  Mom, I touched Henry's nose.

Me:  Really?  What did it feel like?

Zach:  Like a strawberry.


For a child who does not eat fruit, aside from applesauce and bananas (and not a single vegetable), this is a wonderful description.  I didn't even know that he knew what a strawberry felt like!

Momo's Mom

Tonight at the dinner table, Zach was telling us who is Momo's Mom.

Zach:  Momo's mom is Baby Drew.

Me:  Really?

Zach:  No.  Momo's mom is Auntie Lana.

Me:  **laughing**

Zach: Cousin Cody, uh... Baby Drew.... uh...

Gabe:  Yea, we know, Zach.  Cousin Cody.

I have a feeling that he was thinking about how Momo is Auntie Alana's mom; and how Baby Drew and Baby Cody are Auntie Alana's boys and his cousins.  But it was funny to hear him try to process things. 

You're My Favorite

I'm so lucky to have two very expressive boys.  I've been meaning to post about this.  Lately, Zach has been making my heart melt into a gigantic puddle. 

You see, about a month ago, our OT (occupational therapist) suggested that we take all of the boys' toys away (please hold any comments and opinions on this matter; I know - it's completely extreme).  She suggested that we have them earn toys back to encourage positive behavior.  As heart breaking and extreme as it was, the technique worked for about two weeks (and ALL toys are back). 

Anyway, we explained to the boys how they needed to earn the toys back.  Being only 3 years old, understandably Zach didn't quite understand the process.  So, on the first day when they'd earned a toy and I asked them which toy they'd each like to have, Zach responded, "you, Mama.  I want you back.  You're my favorite."  Seriously?

And then this morning when we were playing, I asked Zach which toy at school is his favorite; and he replied, "You're my favorite, Mama.  I like playing with you."  This isn't the first time that he's said that, either.  There have been several times in the past when I've asked him what his favorite such and such is (i.e. color, train, ball, etc.) and he's said that I'm his favorite.  Gah!  So when he said it again this morning, I finally decided that I had to blog about it.  Am I the luckiest mom in the world, or what?

Two Hands

My two little boys have urgent needs most every second of every day.  Pretty normal.  Patience is hard at this age.  Using "please" when asking for something is still a work in progress.  So, as I'm trying to turn on their show tonight, Gabe proceeds to express an urgent need:

Gabe:  Where's my milk?

Me:  I'm sorry?

Gabe:  Mom, could you get my milk, please?

Me:  One second, love.  I'm trying to turn on your show.

Gabe:  Can I have dessert, too?

** At this point, I raise my eyebrows at him (as if to say, "are you serious right now?").

Gabe:  You have two hands.

Too Cute For Words

Tonight, Gabe got Zach into his pajamas and new pull up again.  Instead of being downstairs cooking dinner, this time I was folding clothes in the laundry room upstairs.  Gabe assured me that I could "do my work" and that he'd be the one to get Zach changed. 

I peeked around the corner at times, observing the super cute duo.  Zach obediently lies down on the floor while Gabe loudly orders him to raise his arms, put his foot through, etc.  Twice, Zach was getting rowdy and Gabe said, "Do you be good for Mama when she changes you?"  To which Zach replied, "yeth."  Then Gabe retorted, "Then you need to be good for me, too, okay?"  To which Zach replied, "kayyy."  My. Heart. Melted.

I have to get this on hidden camera.  It's probably the cutest thing that I've ever seen them do together.  And they're so proud (rightly so) of their accomplishment when they're done! 

Just now, as I was typing this post, I looked over at the boys (who are watching their nightly show in the living room), and Zach was tenderly looking at Gabe and caressing his earlobe.  Gabe looked at him (as if to say, "please take your fingers off of my ear") and then Zach went back to watching the show. 

Oh, these moments!!!  They are the BEST!

My Absolute Favorite Thing

My absolute favorite thing in the whole wide world is smelling my children's heads.  Since the day they were born, I've been a head-smelling junkie.  I can almost remember how each of them smelled when they were younger (this post is starting to sound creepy).  Zach, probably with all of his colic issues, had a particularly pungent-smelling head - pungent in the best of ways. 

The other day, I admitted to Gabe that smelling his head is my favorite thing in the world.  Poor bub.  He immediately asked, "What about me?"  I asked what he meant and he replied, "what do you love more?  Me or smelling my head?" 

Sorry Doesn't Cut It

We were driving in the car the other day, and it was raining.  Zach asked why it was raining, and before I could answer, Gabe said that God made the rain.  Then Gabe asked why God made everything.  Before I could answer that question, Zach said that he didn't want the rain.  Gabe then chimed in that he was angry at God for making the rain.  In response, I said something to the effect of being sorry that they were angry, that we can't change the weather, etc.  Gabe retorted, "Sorry doesn't cut it." 

Well excuse me!  This child of mine...

NOTE:  I've never used that expression ever!

Stickers

As all kids must, my boys love getting stickers from the check-out folks at Trader Joe's.  They're not big sticker guys; but they love the routine of getting stickers at the end of a Trader Joe's shopping trip.  Yesterday, Zach was given a ton of stickers that he then proceeded to stick all over his car seat.  No big deal.  It looked cute. 

This time when we went to Trader Joe's, Henry was waiting for us in the car; since we'd planned to head up to Crane's Beach right after picking Gabe up from school.  As we were waiting in the car line at school, I noticed that Henry had two stickers on his back. 

According to Zach, "Henry be good, waiting in the car."  So, he gave Henry reward stickers.  Gah!  Thank goodness the stickers came right off without any trouble.  Too funny.

Blasting Off

So, Gabe's teacher has a sign in her room that reads that her pre-k class is getting ready to "blast off" to kindergarten.  Gabe heard that phrase and apparently committed it to memory.  The other day, someone in a store asked him if he was in kindergarten and he replied, "No.  I'm blasting off to kindergarten."  Gah!

Why Do Little Brothers Get Everything?

When we went to Crane's beach today, Zach got a splinter on the palm of his hand when he tried to climb up on a wooden bench.  Poor Bub!  His first splinter!

I explained to the boys what a splinter was, and Gabe immediately became petrified of touching the wooden railings, etc.  Poor guy.

Backstory:  On the drive to the beach, we passed the apple orchard where Zach got stung by a bee; and Zach reminded us that he got stung by a bee there when we picked apples.  Gabe was VERY upset when Zach got stung by the bee that he hadn't been stung as well.  He wanted to know if he'd ever been stung by a bee before and was disappointed to learn that he hadn't. 

So, a few minutes after Zach got his splinter, Gabe asked if he'd ever had a splinter before.  When I told him that he was lucky that he's never had one before, Gabe responded, "why do little brothers get everything?"  Poor Bub!

Y.M.C.A., It's Fun To Stay At The Y.M.C.A.

We finally joined the Reading YMCA!  Yahoo!  I've been dying to join the Y for so long, and now we're finally members!  Today, I signed the kids up for Saturday morning swim classes (Gabe is an Eel and Zach is a Pike) in addition to a karate class for Gabe on Wednesday afternoons.  Yahoo!

Another great thing about the Y is that they have open swim at the pool on weekends.  So, for the past two weeks, we've taken the kids swimming in the afternoons.  It's so much fun to keep up with our swimming games and to watch the kids grow even more and more comfortable in the water.  Zach will now jump from the side of the pool all by himself; he'll go underwater and then pop up with his floaty.  Gabe dives, swims underwater, and continues to practice swimming for periods of time without his floaty.

Also, I've been able to work out a couple of days a week in their gym; Zach goes to the free daycare there.  So far, he hasn't had any behavior problems.  Phew! 

I'm really looking forward to seeing how the kids do in their classes, which start at the end of the month!

Why?

I can't believe how long it's taken me to blog about this.  But now I know what they mean when they say that kids ask "why" all of the time.  Zach is a why maniac.  Gabe asked lots of why questions but always seemed satisfied with the initial explanation.  Zach, on the other hand, takes the why thing to a whole other level.  This is a verbatim conversation from this morning and a prime example of how things usually go:

Zach:  Look at the cow-car, Mom.  (referring to a cow-car-like-thing that's painted on the wall above the dairy section at Trader Joe's)

Me:  Oh, yea.

Zach:  Why that a cow-car, Mom?

Me:  I don't know, Zach.  I think it's just pretend.

Zach:  Why that just pretend?

Me:  Because cow cars don't really exist.

Zach:  Why cow cars don't really exist.

Me:  Because cars are made with motors and not cows.

Zach:  Why cars made with motors?

Me:  Because motors are what make cars move.

Zach:  Why motors make cars move?

Me:  Because that's what makes the cars go.

Zach:  Why that's cuz makes cars go?

Me:  Because that's what makes the cars go.

Zach:  Why that's what makes the cars go?

Me:  Because you're trazies!!  Ahhhhhh!  (trazies = crazies = crazy)

Zach:  I not trazies!

Oh, but he totally is.  He takes why to the infinite power!!!  ALL OF THE TIME.  With pretty much every question, folks!

Pictures Of What We've Been Up To Lately

We've been busy lately.  We're gearing up for three more birthday parties and a Halloween party over the next two weekends...but, lately, we've had fun taking hikes in the Lynn Woods & Maudslay State Park, attending an Oktoberfest, and taking Henry to the beach in October.  Here are the pics:

ready for my hike in Maudslay Park

me, too!

"I think we should take this path, Dada."

the little family

wearing Dad's shirt (for only 1 minute before deciding that it wasn't cool) to try to keep warm on the hike

Gabe helped Zach to change into his pajamas on this night!

Gabe loved being the big brother/helper!  I took this picture to remember the first time when Gabe helped Zach get into his pajamas.  I'm so proud of Gabe!

running from the waves at Crane's Beach (in October!)

goofballs

I love that shot of Gabe - he looks like he's salsa dancing

seriously, Gabe?

wading into the water with their sweatpants on!

Henry loved it!

I love this shot of Gabe with both feet off the ground

Henry's first paw prints in the sand!