First Word Alert!

Yep, I said it.

Noa was sitting in her highchair today and threw her green spoon overboard. That in itself is very much par for the lunch course, but today she added a new dimension to the experience: She said, "Uh-oh!' and kept on saying it until I picked up the spoon!

Beautiful Baby Hat

Beautiful Baby! They match :)

So much more to say, but I am oh so tired. Tired-er than I've ever been before.
Good thing they are cute. (I say that often.)

Toddler Meltdown Miracle Cure

LOVE!

Seriously. I think I'm onto something here. And today was a day of major meltdowns, so I had lots of practice.

List of meltdowns:

1. For a lollypop, during dinner
2. For how to take off a necklace
3. For breast pump parts
4. For tractor wheels taken off on the toddler bed. I took them off on the floor and was not forgiven.

Except for the last one, I cured him of all his manias by telling him I loved him. And reminding him that he was my favorite boy in the world, and hugging him like crazy. When I put him on my lap after the lollypop meltdown, he became a completely changed kid. 

I told Jeremy about it, and he said he thought it worked because it no longer is a battle of wills. And it did really feel like we were on the same side. It felt good to tell him that I loved him rather than that he was making me nuts.

And it made me love him more.

How do you explain death to a 3 year old?

Happier and cozier times

"When is Evette gonna come back from dying?" asked Isaac tonight. "She's not going to come back sweetie, she's gone." I answered. "But noooo! She has to come back!" He cried. And I just stared at him. I didn't have the words to explain.

It happened so fast with Evette. She seemed okay, though a little weird, and then suddenly she couldn't stand up or have any control of her body. I found her tucked into a corner behind our couch, forehead pushed into the baseboard, the smallest possible spot she could have fit into. Maybe she wanted to die there? I couldn't let her and brought her into the hospital instead. I didn't want her to hurt.

They were very nice and let me pet her and pet her and say goodbye and I love you as they gave her the first shot to make her sleep, and then the second shot to stop her heart. It was so sad, and I cried all over her, but it was very beautiful and dignified too.

Then I had to explain it to Isaac. I tried, and he asked questions about when we would die, when he would die, and told me that he didn't want to die. I said he would be taller than Daddy when he died, because that seemed like a good long ways off that he could imagine. He answered by saying, "And Daddy will be as tall as I'm gonna be, when he dies!" Then he asked about his granpa's mommy who died. He wanted to know if she had all her parts. And if they were connected. I said yes.

I told him once a while ago that he could imagine his Grandma Nina up in the sky looking down at him. He asked, "She's walking on the sidewalk?"

I guess as in most cases, honesty is the best plan. Don't say they went to sleep because then sleep might get scary. Don't lie and say they ran away. Just be as clear as possible. Though watching his warm brown eyes struggle to try to make sense out of it was very bittersweet. "I don't want my parents to die!" he shouted. I told him it would be a very very very long time and he finally went back to eating his apple.

Goodbye Miss Evette, Angel Ears, Mistress Mouse. You were quite an amazing cat and we love you.

Breaking News in Kiddo World

Noa has been seen sitting up and playing with toys.

Following in Isaac's footsteps of preferring non-toy toys to toy toys.

Evette the cat allowed the tape measure to be swung over her neck and pulled back again without getting up from her roost.

He loves pizza.

 From the land of Isaac, more words to delight the ears:

"Mommy, I hurt the knee of my finger. Will you kiss it?"

"The fingers (pronounced slowly and very clearly) of my fork are picking up the rice!"

I pinched my finger on the playground gate this afternoon. It was bleeding a little so I showed it to Isaac. I thought he'd be impressed with my blood, or at least give me a little sympathy. He looked at it with a furrowed brow and said, "Daddy was wrong! He said that blood stays in the body."

Lao Mi Naret

Lao mi naret!

Isaac has been singing "Lao Mi Naret" really often, so I asked him what it meant.
He pointed upward with a big smile on his face and shouted, "Happiness is above the sky!!"

The Tractor That Will Tow You to Dreamland

This is a heart-breaker story:

Isaac wanted to bring his red tractor into the crib for his nap. Jeremy said no. Isaac was sad and cried. So Jeremy told him that after he went to sleep, he would put the tractor in the crib and that it would tow him into dreamland. Isaac thought that sounded good and he (finally, after much dancing) went to sleep.

Jeremy forgot to put the tractor in the crib, so when Isaac woke up, he cried, "Where is my tractor!!??" Jeremy told him he was going to put it in, but that he realized maybe it wasn't safe for little boys to sleep with tractors. So Isaac said, "That's ok daddy, but when I am an adult will you put the tractor in with me?"