Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Thank you, Disney.

I am folding laundry downstairs, half listening to the boys playing trains upstairs.  I enjoy Breckin's playdates because it allows a few extra minutes to fold a load of laundry or empty the dishwasher or prep a meal without having to pretend like I'm Darth Vader or a skeleton or a Great Wolf Lodge employee while I'm doing it.  It's exhausting having multiple personalies around here. 

Anyway, I hear a lot of "let's pretend....."   "blah, blah, blah"   "and then they jump out and scare you"  "but my guy is a monster..."  and then I hear some crashing and train explosions and Breckin says "Hey, Kellen!!  That's not cool!  Don't do that to the tracks!!  KELLEN!!  Stop!  Haven't you seen what happened to Sid?  You're going to make the toys angry!!"

And all crashing stops.  Thank you, Toy Story, for instilling the fear of God and Living Toys upon my son.  He cherishes his toys like no other child and doesn't allow anyone to anger his toys.  And then I realize I'm laughing by myself at no one else in the room.  The downstairs toys probably think I'm crazy.

Friday, July 15, 2011

Stuff I don't want to forget

Our summer has been horrible.  Not because of us, because of the weather.  We've had a week of semi-humid, overcast, mostly rainy days that prevent out and abouts because you never know if you're going to get dumped on.  The kids and I have been filling our time with trips to malls with quarter rides, nonsense errands to goodwill to clean out more closets, and walks to the grocery store or yarn shop down the street to get a new knitting needle or a few bananas.  Anything to get out of the house but never be further than five seconds from a roof in case of random downpour.

In the car, I told Breckin to sing a song to make the rain stop so we could enjoy a park.  He sang Rain, Rain Go Away no less than 35 times.  In a row.  Loudly.  Dustin often wonders if the kids talk all the time everywhere we go but when you have kids that sing or talk or scream or don't have an off button, you find your selective hearing button rather quickly.  So, I couldn't really answer him cause if they do, I don't really hear them.  Is that bad parenting?  Maybe.  Sanity saving?  You bet.  But Ella hears Breckin and hears every word.  So when he was done, she busted out with her own version.  "Rain, rain.  On my shoes.  Oh YEAH!"  She's been slowly putting together small strings of words but this was her first solo singing and first multiple strings of words.  I laughed and Breckin laughed so hard that she kept saying it and followed everything she said for the rest of the day with Oh Yeah. 

I just didn't want to forget.  Oh, and we can't find the charger for the camera battery so we've had zero pictures since June 10th.  Lame. 

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Her Brother's Shadow

That little girl follows her brother around like it's her job.  She knows where he is at all times.  She does what he does and says what he says.  She has the little sister shadow like no one's business.  Ella has taken to playing under the dinner table, standing on her head, attempting to jump on the couch before I can catch her, slide down the stairs on her bum, tickle, chase, making funny faces, and- the most important little sister job- annoying his friends.  She will stand at the bottom of the stairs and holler "OWEN" or "KELLEN" at the top of her little lungs when Breckin runs upstairs to play in his room with his friends.  She loves his friends as much as she loves him and will mortify the both of them relentlessly if she sees them on the street.  Poor Owen and Kellen don't know what to do with her so they avert their attention and attempt to pass quietly.  I'm sorry, quietly is not a word known in our house.

Today, she took her Breckin parroting to an extreme.  I always know where she is cause one and a half year olds aren't as quiet as they think they are.  I can hear some sort of toy pounding or sing songing or little feet stepping wherever she is.  Or I can at least catch a glimpse of that hair swooshing around the corner as she pushes her little shopping cart filled with towels.  (Her fave!)  But today, while I was making lunch, after checking in her usual hang outs, I couldn't find her.  Not under the table, not by the toy drawer in the kitchen, not at her little white table doing puzzles.  I called "Ella?" and heard a giggle.  Not too far away from the kitchen counter but nothing I could see.  "Ella?"  Something smacked a wall and more giggling.  And pattering of feet.  "Miss Ella Bee?  I'm gonna getchu."  The surefire way to make her run down the hall.  Giggles but no running baby.  Then I see a small pair of jeans sticking out from under the dining room window curtain panel.  That girl has watched Breckin play hide and seek enough times to understand how to find a hiding place and STAY THERE!  What the heck?  She was standing perfectly still- except for her little head wiggling back and forth with the excitement of being found.  I tickled that curtain panel's baby belly and out she came.  Holy cow am I in for it.  She can manage, at one and a half, to hide behind a curtain and stay put even with the threat of I'm gonna getchu...  I'm fascinated and scared and proud.  And in big trouble as she finds better places to hide.