Beans, Beans

The other day, I made a goulash of sorts for dinner. Ella kept asking what was in it and why. One of the items I threw in was butter beans. I love them, and I'm trying to get the kids to like new things. I thought I was a little sneaky because the sauce in the food masked the color of the beans; I thought they'd be hidden. Of course my daughter found them immediately. She used to eat everything. Now? Not so much.
I told her that they were beans and they were good for her; they'd give her muscles! She whined a little, and so I broke down and sang her the song.

Beans, beans, the magical fruit

The more you eat, the more you toot.

The more you toot, the better you feel,

So let's eat beans with every meal!

She thought I was so funny, and made me sing it to her again and again and again. After the sixth time, I refused to sing it any longer and I walked out of the room.

This morning, while she's eating her cereal, she says, "Momma!" with such urgency that I quickly turn around to see what's happened. Had she spilled her milk from her bowl? Had Grayson tried to change the TV channel because he was tired of watching Strawberry Shortcake? Oh no.

"Momma! Sing the bean song!! Sing the bean song!" she yells. It took me a moment to register what she had just said. I laughed.

"You want me to sing the bean song," I asked her.

"Yes, puh-leezzz!" She begged.

Of course I gave in and she giggled as I sang the song for her....only twice!

Day 2 W/O Daddy

Today is day 2 with B out of town. The kids are getting to me. The weather isn't helping.

I would love to just let them loose in the backyard for a while, but I can't stand the heat. When it is 100 degrees in the shade, it's too hot. And I don't even know what the heat index was today, but there was no way I was gonna sit outside and sweat my ass off while my kids got heat exhaustion. I don't even know if they'd want to be out in the heat, but I'm not giving them the option. If the weather lady on Channel 3 is right, we'll have a heat index of 100+ for the next 6 days. Wow. That sucks. I hate heat and humidity. When it's like this, I don't even like walking to the mailbox, let alone taking the kids anywhere. This, of course, means we're stuck inside for a week. I'm going to have to kick my mommy-brain into high gear to find ways to entertain the children. Wish me luck.

Did I previously mention that Brady is going to a Cubs game this Saturday? I wonder what it would be like to be able to go and do random things without the kids on a regular basis. Humph.

Even though I had the bed all to myself last night, I didn't sleep good. Ella's been coming into our room every night for the last 2 weeks. She'll get in bed with us (last night, with me) for a while, then want to go back to her room. I ask her, during the daytime, why she isn't staying in her bed at night. "I just want to snuggle with you, Momma," she says. As much as I love to snuggle my daughter, I equally love sleep. Let's hope tonight I can get at least 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep. Ha. That's funny.

Can I handle it?

Brady left today. He has classes in Shaumburg for the rest of this week and all of next. This means I'll be home with the kids by myself for 10 days. We'll see how sane I am after 5. At least I get a break after day 10; the kids will be with my mom for 2 1/2 days while I venture up to Alpine Valley in Wisconsin with my best mate, Troy. We're going to see the Dave Matthews Band on August 9th. I finally get a mini-vacation from my children! Woo-hoo!

Spike Rests

On Saturday, Brady took Spike in to get her stitches taken out. She had been spayed 12 days prior, and I didn't know how much longer I could take her stink. She had already destroyed the cone they put around her neck and luckily showed no interest in licking her stitches out herself. All I wanted to do was bathe her. Actually, I had assigned that chore to B. Poor Spike. I think she knew how awful she smelled. Of course that didn't stop her from wanting to sit on the couch.

So on Saturday afternoon, B brought her home and immediately put her in the bathtub. They were in there a long time. Spike emerged a clean, stink-free puppy, who was just exhausted and only had sleep on her agenda.

I took these picture of her resting in her "box" in the kitchen. I know that I complain a lot about her and sometimes I forget that she's just a puppy, but when she's asleep or calm, she's so adorable.

Snap, Snap, Kiss, Kiss

For a long time, I've been worried that Grayson wasn't developing mentally as fast as he should be. He's not really talking, and up until recently, had no interest in things that Ella did at his age.

At his last wellness visit, the doctor asked me what he did when he played with his cars. "Um. VROOM, VROOM!" I told her. I knew where she was going with the question. She said he was doing fine, and that I shouldn't worry. Of course I still worried. G's lack of words has made life difficult.

I'm starting to see that he's gonna be fine. He is doing those things Ella did, only he's about 4-6 months behind when she did them. He has begun to show a real interest in books - something I've been desperately waiting for. Lately, he's been reading them more than eating them. He brings me books throughout the day for us to read together.

He is identifying things in the picture books more and more everyday, and that makes me so happy! The other day, we were looking at a book of colors and when we turned to the page with the green alligator, I took my hand and made a snap motion while saying "snap, snap." He thought it was so funny and quickly picked up on it. Now every time he sees an alligator or crocodile, he makes the motion and tries to say the word, "snap."

He has been so affectionate toward me lately too. He likes to give kisses and "lovins" sometimes to the point that my face is covered in slobber. I don't care. I'm just happy to have him give me a kiss when I ask him for it. It's not just the fact that it is affection, it is that he hears what I say to him and responds.

He's been identifying facial features. He loves "nose" and "eye" and some days I think he's really saying the words. But, again, I'm just happy that he's identifying what I ask him to.

I knew that with G being an early walker/climber/acrobat that his speech might come later than it did with Ella. But now that he's vocalizing more, and identifying more objects, I'm starting to feel much better about things. Now, if only he'd listen and understand what "no" means. I guess it's just one step at a time.

Pics of G

I was playing with my new phone this morning, and Grayson was my subject.

I remember the days prior to:
"Mom! Grayson's in my room!"
"Mom! Grayson has my dolphin!"
"Mom! Grayson has my water!"
"Mom! Grayson hit me on the head!"

Those were good days.