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Crisis averted.

Well, it was again around 8:30pm that I finished bedtime for the boys.  I've been trying to get them down earlier, but summer is hard!  There are so many things to do in the evening, the light and breezes are so inviting and we just end up late everynight. Tonight I was on it.  Baths at 7pm, teeth by 7:30 and books picked out, pajamas on at 7:35.  But where was Art's gackoo?*  He had missed his nap after his big trip to the State Fair today with our neighbors and a couple of big kids.  He had lots of fun, but was exhausted.  He wanted to take a nap at 5pm but I endured a huge meltdown because I wouldn't let him have two gackoos before he was making a new marble toy, one gackoo in mouth.  I let that go, even though the gackoo is supposed to stay in the bed, just because I was able to avoid him napping so late.  We were going to have early bedtime tonight!  Or so I thought.  

I swear, I could have cried.  It's a terrible feeling to be on the way to end of your "workday" and have something come up at the very last minute that keeps you working.  Seriously!  I could barely stand it.  There we were, the three of us, looking all over the house for 25 minutes.  25 minutes that I could have been reading, singing and saying goodnight.  Luckily there were no meltdowns.  The kids were thrilled to be up later and wrestle or climb under furniture "looking" for the gackoo.  I called Ben.  Ben called my mom, who always has one in her purse, and she drove over with it.  What a blessing!  Thank you so much, mom!  I don't know if you realize how valuable that was for a tired preggo and an even more tired Art.  Yes, he should be totally off pacifiers but he's not and this was not the way to get there.  And not the time.  And mom, I know it's a no fun to be comfortable in your house and have to race over to your daughter's house to drop off a tiny, plastic thing.  But I can't thank you enough for doing it.  Both boys were so happy and content while I sang Elazmasaurus and Velociraptor lullabies, the snuggled deep into their covers and I bet they were out before I shut the door.

Don’t worry about grammar.

Lewis and I have been spending the better part of today together while Art's been out with our neighbors, Kathy and Linda, and their kid friends.  They went to the state fair.  Lewis and I have shared snacks, ridden on the swingset, kicked a ball high, read some of his favorite books, took a nap in his bed, watched Little Bear (which Art doesn't like), made train tracks, marble toys, and ate a few snacks.  Today I heard him correct himself when he said "Me do it… I do it, Mama."  Just a reminder that children learn language naturally by listening to us speak well. It just evolves on its own and gets more complex… and correct.

Wait…Now he's about to whisper in my ear…  "Mama, I talk in your ear…"  I’m leaning over and waiting… comic timing… and then he just said, "See a Go-Go train!"  So we'll watch Thomas on youtube for a minute.

just rereading old posts

I was actually searching for the post I wrote a couple years ago when Art said he wanted to be a Mama when he grew up.  Search doesn't work so well, I guess.  But this was a fun find.  Notice the date…

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JULY 11, 2008

Stalling bedtime.. but it was all good.

About a half hour after I put Art to bed he called out and said, "I want to talk to Mama about my day!" He did go down to bed a little early, so I figured, "Ok!" I think I got a taste of what was going through his head for the past 30 minutes. He dashed from topic to topic, from things that happened today, yesterday, and even weeks ago. It was quite wonderful.

Art: We went with Maura to the restaurant. We runned.
Me: Yes. We had fun with her.
Art: You [He meant "I"] pushed Maura and she didn't like that.
Me: No, she didn't. But you stopped pushing her.
Art: We took the city bus. [Long pause] We saw sticks in the water. [That was yesterday] 
Me: Yes. And you threw sticks in the water!
Art: We saw sticks in the water and we threw them. [Long pause] Is it dark outside?
Me: Yes.
Art: Wanna see that dark?
Me: Ok.
[Gets out of bed and goes to his window]
Art: It's dark outside. Birds are getting ready for bed.
Me: Yes, they are.
Art: Birds are getting ready for bed. They're getting their covers on. [Pause] They're getting a gackoo.
Me: [Trying not to laugh] Maybe.
Art: Dogs are getting ready for bed. [Pause] Where do dogs sleep?
Me: Sometimes on the floor. Sometimes they have a special bed.
Art: Dogs sleep in a special, small bed. Sometimes they sleep in the trees.
Me: In the trees? Can dogs sleep in the trees?
Art: [Pause to think about it] No. They would fall down. Only… only birds can sleep in the trees. They won't fall down.

There was lots more. We talked about boo boos he got recentl and the really bad boo boo I got while I was still pregnant – almost four months ago! "Mama got a really big boo boo." I reminded him that Lewis was still in my belly when I got that boo boo. Art looked at me and said, "Lewis was in Mama's belly. Then he came out! Lewis is gonna grow bigger and then you can throw a ball to Lewis…and he will throw it back to you! Yah! Lewis likes a ball."

Lovely.

Art wants to be a scientist…

As of Monday night, Art has said he would like to be a scientist when he grows up, so he can discover new dinosaur bones.  This is only the second time in his long 4 1/2 years that he has volunteered a vocational desire.  The last time was about two years ago, when he said he wanted to a Mama.  I asked him again today if that was still how he felt and he said yes.  He added, "Because my shovel is not really strong enough to dig the bones.  It kind of bends."

A conversation.

Art and Lewis spent the morning at Si and Anthony’s house. Laurel, their mom, caught this funny conversation:

Art: We’re going to give Lewis a time-out if he hits again. Right, Si?
Si: Well, I use my mom’s rules.
Art: Yeah, and I use MY mom’s rules!
Si: Well, my mom’s rules are even better than your mom’s rules.

Megafun waterslide.

A friend at work has an amazing waterside that he let us borrow yesterday (thanks, Jason!). In the morning (during the babies shower) Art and Si played on it. In the afternoon Evva and her brother Oscar came over. The slide made for amazing photos and also provided us with some lovely adult time with Evva’s parents Mike and Erin. Here’s a gallery of ACTION photos: