Four is a Funny Age

Here are Mia's quotes from July. I am sure I missed some other silly stuff, but these are the ones I managed to write down before they were forgotten completely.

July 6, 2011
After being caught cutting her stuffed dog's hair with a pair of safety scissors:

Mia: "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to."

Me: "Yes you did. It was a conscious decision."

Mia: "It was?"

July 7, 2011

Mia: "Hey! There's mashed potatoes inside tater tots!"

July 19, 2011
While talking on the phone with Mia, who had been at "Camp Grandma" for 6 days (Wow, that's a long time!), she said, "Hi Mommy! I miss you... and I really miss Ritzy!" (Nice to know she missed the dog more than she missed me.)

July 22, 2011
Pretending to return from taking her doll to the doctor:

Mia: "The doctor said that Baby has an ear infection. It was caused by drinking too much milk. That's what makes the green goo come out."

Me: "Really? I've never heard of that."

Mia: "That's what the doctor said." (Obviously, this is why I am not a doctor.)

 

July 23, 2011

Mia: "Help! I can't reach the toilet paper because I'm tired and I'm sleeping on the toilet."

July 25, 2011

Mia: "It's hard having two children, isn't it?"

Me: "What do you mean?"

Mia: "We're being goofballs and stuff like that. That's why it's hard having two children."

July 28, 2011
Mia: "Mom, can you take a picture of me and Ritzy with your REAL camera?" (She asks me to take pictures often and sometimes I hold up a pretend camera and say, "click" but obviously, she has caught on to this.)
Me: "No, you're naked!" (Actually, she was wearing underwear, but still, not gonna happen.)

Mia: "But I like naked pictures."

Me: "I don't even know what to say to that."

Don't Lick That! (and Other Mommyisms)

Looking back over my recent notes of "things I never thought I'd say until I became a mom," I started to notice a pattern. While my kids at age 4 and almost 2, are pretty much past the "put everything in the mouth" stage of development, there seems to be a common theme lately. What's up with all the licking? Seriously.

• "Okay, we might have to nix this pants-removing at the table." (5/26/11) Mia had spilled sauce on her pants, but then Logan wanted to take his pants off, too.

• "Who let the dog in the kennel with a boot full of .... biscuit?" (6/8/11)

• Said to Logan: "Why are you licking your truck?" (6/9/11)

• Me: "Don't lick the table." Mia's response: "It's tasty." (6/10/11)

• Said to Logan: "Eat your food OR color on paper. Don't color on your food!" (6/23/11)

• Said to Logan: "The Potato Head parts go in Mr. Potato Head NOT in Logan!" (7/20/11) He stuck the plastic eyes up his nose repeatedly, gagging each time and then looking completely bewildered as to why he kept gagging.

• Said to Logan: "No, we don't lick the phone." (7/28/11)

Will Work for Chocolate: My First Ever Giveaway!!

This summer has been zooming by, and we have been so busy lately, that I haven't been doing much blogging. However, I am super excited about my latest endeavor, so it deserves a post. In addition to my full-time mommy gig I have decided to add one more thing to my "resume" -- DOVE CHOCOLATE DISCOVERIES™ chocolatier! I had been contemplating starting a home business for a few months, and when I learned that there is such a thing as chocolate parties, I knew I had found the perfect business! As a self-professed chocolaholic who enjoys baking, this seems like a great way to have some fun and maybe even make a bit of money, (which will likely be invested in craft supplies and more chocolate!). Gotta feed those addictions, you know?

In order to celebrate my new business (and the fact that this is my 200th blog post, which in itself seems worthy of some hoopla), I have decided to hold my first ever giveaway! And something tells me that some people will be interested in what I have to offer. I mean who doesn't like free stuff? Especially when it's chocolate!

The Goodies (Or Things That Make You Go Mmmmm):

1.  1 ounce DOVE CHOCOLATE DISCOVERIES™ Mousse Mix packet*
2.  4 ounces of DOVE CHOCOLATE DISCOVERIES™ Chef-Series Dark Chocolate bars* (2 - 2 oz. bars)
3.  1.2 ounce DOVE CHOCOLATE DISCOVERIES™ Chocolate Chai Tea Mix packet

* The first two items are ingredients needed to make chocolate mousse. You will also need to add your own heavy cream to make the chocolate mousse.

Two Ways to Enter:

1. Become a public follower of this blog, and leave me a comment letting me know you are following.
2. Share this giveaway on your Facebook page, and leave me a comment letting me know that you did.

One winner will be randomly selected on Wednesday, August 3, 2011. Bon apetit!

The "Suite Life"

Every time Brett sees me working on my blog he wants to know if I am writing about how awesome he is. It seems that it is time to feed his ego. In addition to being a great daddy, he is a pretty awesome husband. I give you the following three examples:

Exhibit A: Over the weekend he took me to IKEA and let me get more of these cups and bowls, and two sets of these plates (which we did not already have, but obviously needed). I am also excited about this play mat that Little Man will be getting for his birthday. (Shhh! I am hoping that he has already forgotten about it since he was with us when we bought it).

Exhibit B: He made dinner on Monday night and washed the dishes. Enough said.

{Even the tickets look classier.}

Exhibit C: (Prepare to really be jealous.) Brett won two tickets to a Tigers' game, in a suite, and he was gracious enough to take me along. Yesterday, we were driven to the stadium, where we parked in the Tiger Parking Garage. I did not even know this existed, but it is obviously much ritzier than paying to park in some crumby parking lot in Detroit and then walking a mile in 90 degree heat! It was through the administrative office, not the main gate, where we entered the ballpark. We even passed through a metal detector instead of a turn-style! Next, we rode in an elevator to the third floor and walked past a souvenir shop that was exclusively for "people like us" as we made our way to the fancy schmancy air-conditioned suite.

I had prepared myself to be blown away by the suite experience and I was not disappointed. Inside was a TV, a computer, one of those high end coffee makers that makes one cup at a time... Never mind that I didn't use any of that stuff. It was there and it was cool!

{The Suite View}

Outside the seats were like regular stadium seats except with padding. There was another smaller TV mounted under the overhang. Oh, yes, it is critical to note that box seats are protected from the sun, something that I was very appreciative on such a toasty day. It sounds silly, but my favorite amenity of the outdoor box seating was the long, narrow tables in front of the seats. They were just right for holding my purse, sunglasses, camera, and of course, food and drinks.

Speaking of food and drinks, who doesn't love free food? This is especially true when it is free stadium food! Our dinner choices were hot dogs and chicken tenders, which were both hot and ready for us when we arrived, complete with all the condiments. I have to say the chicken was tasty, and I was even impressed with their ranch dressing, and I am super picky about ranch dressing. We finished our meal off with plenty of potato chips and sweet treats-- they had brownies and an assortment of big, chewy cookies. I couldn't help but think that we would have spent a small fortune on drinks alone since it was so insanely hot and muggy! We kept heading back to the small refrigerator for one cold beverage after another (Sierra Mist, Pepsi, and bottled water for me; Brett had water, Sierra Mist, and a beer.) Of course with all that drinking, we had to use the facilities, and any ladies reading this will appreciate that the very best part of watching a baseball game from a suite is that it has a private bathroom!

{Please ignore the extra chins. It's the best photo of us.}

For a little while, I got a taste of the "suite life," and I was definitely not disappointed. To top it all off, the Tigers won 8-3. It was a fantastic night out in the "D" with my awesome husband.

com·mu·ni·ca·tion

It's summer and things have been a bit hectic so I haven't been as good about catching Logan's new approximations and recording them on the calendar. (And honestly, I just haven't been a good about working with him in the first place.) I don't know if it is partially because we haven't been to  playgroup in awhile or what, but I do think that being around the Early On people more frequently seemed to keep me more accountable. Anyway, during last week's session with Logan's home teacher, Michelle, she picked up on Logan using approximations for "there" and "that." Now that she pointed it out, I hear him saying these pretty much on a daily basis. They definitely do not sound like the actual words, though, which is why I think I have had such difficulty understanding him.

Lately, he has been tugging on the pantry door to let us know that he is hungry so his home teacher suggested we work on the sign for "open." He now has his own version of that sign. Again, most people probably wouldn't know what he was saying (even if they happened to know sign language), but it is working for us.

Yesterday, I think Logan may have gone up to the fireplace, waved hello to his reflection, and said, "hi!" I am not sure, though. He has never waved or said "hi" before (although he is more consistently waving "bye bye"). He did continue to wave "hi" throughout the day, so I am certain about that part.

One newer development in Logan's language is that he says "beep beep" not just when driving his cars and trucks, but now he also says it regularly when he wants someone to move out of his way! I think I may have taught him that without meaning to, but it is pretty cute. The funny thing is that he really believes that if he says "beep beep" people and objects will get out of his way. It doesn't always work that way, obviously.

Other changes are that he now says "unh ugh" in place of "na na" and "mmm hmm" instead of "ya ya." On the one hand, he still has versions of "yes" and "no" which have been so helpful in communication. On the other hand, these new versions are actually harder to decipher than the previous versions, which has increased our frustration at times when it had been becoming easier to understand what Logan wanted.

For awhile now, we have had the "elephant says" game going at bedtime every night and Logan was always so cute telling me that lion says "roar." But recently, he has switched to saying the correct sound, and it's just not the same (even with the cute little arm motion to show the trunk). However, has added a new dimension to the game. I put him down on his cow pillow and say, "Cow says ________" and he provides the "moo." That's followed by my covering him with the elephant blanket and the saying "Elephant says _________" and he supplies the correct sound (complete with arm motion). Lastly, I tell him, "Mommy says _________ " and he smacks his lips in a noisy kiss which means "I love you."

Sometimes it's good to be reminded that you don't really need words to communicate.

Paper Plate Tree Frog Craft

Mia likes frogs and I decided that these plastic cups that once held mandarin oranges would make perfect froggy eyes. All we needed was a face, and a paper plate seemed like the obvious choice. This craft was pretty quick to do and Mia was able to make it almost entirely on her own.

{Tree Frog by Mia, Age 4}

Materials:

• paper plate
• green paint
• red paint
• foam paintbrush
• newspaper
• glue
• 2 empty plastic fruit cups
• black felt
• black marker
• pink pipe cleaner, felt, or paper (optional)

Directions:

1. After covering work surface with newspaper, paint the back side of a paper plate green. (We used acrylic paint which dries quickly but will stain clothing so take care when using.) Allow paint to dry.
2. For eyes, we re-used two clean, dry plastic cups. Paint the outside (or inside if you prefer) of each cup red.  Allow paint to dry.
3. Cut two circles from black felt (or craft foam or paper) and glue onto the plastic cups. (I did the cutting.)
4. Line the rim of the plastic cups with glue and adhere to the paper plate.
5. Draw a mouth using a black marker.

Other Ideas:

• Instead of making the eyes red you could use white, yellow, or orange paint.  
• Add a tongue made from a pink pipe cleaner, felt, or construction paper.
• If you don't have plastic fruit cups you could try using egg carton cups or yogurt cups to make the eyes.
• Add a craft stick on the back of the frog to make a puppet.

Mommy Needs a Sick Day (or Two)

I woke up on the morning of July 4th feeling kind of yucky. I haven't determined yet if it's just a cold, but I think I am heading toward another sinus infection. Since yesterday was our first day back from spending the holiday at my parents' place Up North, I figured everyone was pretty tired and crossed my fingers that I would get through the day. Of course, I managed, but I really wasn't on top of my game. And my kids are pretty creative when they realize I'm not watching them as closely as I should be.

{Like our ice skates? They're mittens!}

The first "incident" was when Mia came to me upset and informed me that she had "accidentally" given her stuffed dog a haircut with some safety scissors. It wasn't all that bad, (and honestly, I thought it was funny, but tried to keep with our Love and Logic training by telling her "How sad..."). Mia kept apologizing and added, "I didn't mean to do it!" (Don't you love that one?) I replied, "Yes you did. It was a conscious decision." She made me chuckle when she answered, "It was?"

Later in the afternoon, the kids pulled out all of the hats, scarves, mittens, etc. from the coat closet. This isn't a big deal. I frequently let them play dress-up with the cold weather gear since it keeps them occupied. Then, they came up with a plan to do some "ice skating" in the entry way.

{Who knew? They're perfect for twirling.}

Before Daddy got home from work, it was time to feed the dog. Usually the kids like to help. Yesterday, Logan's way of "helping" was to pour all of the food out of the dish into his dump truck and then drive it away into the living room where he proceeded to eat as much as he could! His grand finale was climbing into the kennel with his truck and pouring the remaining food into Ritzy's water dish. Awesome.

{What? How can you be mad at me?}

{By the way, boys can wear pink, too. It just takes confidence.}

I think today is going better... the only snafu so far: Mia signed her name on her bed sheets using Chapstick. I told you she was creative!