Full weekend

With Buddy's mom here I was finally able to drag Buddy down to DC. We went to the Hirshhorn gallery which houses nternational modern and contemporary art including a collection of modern sculpture. (I copied that from their website.) I thought this might be the most Bohdin friendly of the museums. I was wrong. He's just at a poor museum age. We saw a little bit though and I think we all enjoyed the sculptures outside. Bohdin's favorite was the fountain outside and the contemporary moving-image art (videos for us lay people). He didn't understand or even care about the videos but he had fun running from room to room and even jumping over one of the images that was projected on the floor. It was hot that day and we unfortunately missed the Folk Art Festival that was going on. We'll try next year. We also stopped at the American Indian Museum for lunch and a quick look at the dress exhibit. It was pretty neat. To get to the museum we had to walk past the Air and Space museum which is really really long. We saw long crowds waiting to go into the museum. I've been in there and I wouldn't wait in line when it's that hot outside to get in. There's too much other great stuff out there. That being said my favorite part of the National Mall is the outdoor areas. I enjoy taking the time to sit and enjoy the beautiful landscaping. There are many gardens scattered about and each of them is a treasure so far.

On Sunday we went to Baltimore. Baltimore is a bit closer to us and finding a parking spot doesn't take 20 minutes. We had been there twice before but both times were very cold and windy. Yesterday was hot but not unbearable. We went to Fell's Point which is a historic area along the harbor. We took a slow water taxi to the Inner Harbor area which is just a retail development a short way from Fell's Point. My favorite thing about this area is the name of the streets. I can't help but smile when I see Fleet St. and Bond St. It was a nice outing.

Going to DC messed with Nyla and Bohdin's nap schedule. At 11:20 pm they were both still awake. I put Nyla next to Bohdin and told them to go to sleep. Instead they started to quietly play with each other. I was laying right next to Nyla with my arm around her so I could feel them tickling each other. They were giggling in the dark. It was such a sweet thing. I love seeing them interact nicely. They did go to sleep soon after.

When we came back from Baltimore yesterday Bohdin grabbed my purse and decided to play mailman. It's a new game for him and I'm not sure what spurred this. He delivered various contents of my purse to both me and Nana. After a while he started loading my purse with books and other things to deliver. He had a pretty good time with it. Bohdin was pretty late picking up on imaginative play so it's nice to see him do it.

I may have to update later as I remember all of the things I meant to write.

First Steps

I forgot to mention yesterday that the past 2 days Nyla hasn't been napping much. While Bohdin sleeps she has been practicing walking. Buddy and I had a friendly bet about when Nyla would start walking. After taking a few steps he thinks he has won since she is now walking. I have a different definition of walking. I consider Nyla to be a walker when her preferred method of locomotion is walking as opposed to crawling. Can you help us settle the debate?



I think of things to write about throughout the day but often forget by the time I get to the computer. They're in my mind now so here are some things I've forgotten to write over the past few weeks.

Bohdin will only sing one song and it is the alphabet song. For a little while we were able to sing it together in the car. (We sing to fussy Nyla.) Now he wants to do it by himself because we don't do it right. One day I started singing a different song which prompted him to sing the alphabet song. We were singing over each other so I switched to the alphabet song with him. He stopped and said "Are you singing the same thing I am?" When I said yes he responded "That doesn't sound very good." I personally thought us singing 2 different songs was worse but to each his own I guess.

We were talking about seeds at breakfast one morning and the different types of seeds in fruit. I pulled a strawberry out of the refrigerator to show him strawberry seeds. He said "Strawberry seeds make strawberries MUCH sweeter."

I put a 2T long sleeve shirt on Bohdin. The sleeves were too short. He pulled it down a bit to cover his wrist and said "Is this right?". I explained that his arms were too long for the shirt because they had grown. He replied "When my arms get even longer it will be a short sleeve shirt".

Nyla woke up in the middle of the night and had a tough time going back to sleep. I was tired and after 15 minutes of us adjusting hoped she would figure something out really soon. My favorite of her failed positions was her flopping on top of me with her arms around my neck. It didn't last long though. I finally turned on the tv for some light so I could see her better. I perked up when I saw an interesting program on. Nyla sat up, saw the tv on, then layed down and went to sleep. It seemed like she was just waiting for me to be completely awake. She slept like a rock the rest of the night. Buddy will be back tonight and he won't appreciate her waking him up in the middle of the night so I hope it doesn't happen again. Some people say that sleep suffers when babies are learning a new milestone. Perhaps this is linked to her taking steps. If it is then Buddy should get up with her since he is the one who thought it would happen this soon.

Ten Years

Today, I think, is our tenth anniversary. So I'm spending our anniversary with 2 kids, one mother-in-law and no husband. We almost always celebrate our anniversary on a weekend anyway so it's no big deal. We started a tradition of celebrating our anniversary in a different state every year. Some have been dull and others have been funner. We'll have 2 tag alongs this year for the first time but I think it will still be nice. This also helps me in my bet with my brother for who can visit every state first. Overnight stay must be included to count. I'm pretty sure I'm ahead right now.

Yesterday was Bohdin's yucky day. We had a dificult time in Trader Joes. They had candy samples and Bohdin wanted more than one. I explained that we could only take one. He took another one anyway. After eating half of it he decides he wanted a different color. I again tell him we can't take another one and he gets really mad. I don't think I'll tell all of the details but it ended up with him storming off. It's a small store and I found him soon. Since he didn't behave he didn't get one of the free balloons they give out. That made him mad again. He settled down by the time we got to the car and I thought I could run into another store really quick before going home. Whole Foods was giving cake samples near the front entrance. Bohdin wanted to buy the cake and I said no. This led to another meltdown. I eneded up carrying him through the store. He fell asleep on the way home even though it was early for him. He slept for four hours. We had a talk later and it seemed like everything was better.

Bohdin wanted to pull Nyla around in the wagon last night. It's something he had done before. She loved it. She didn't want to get out of the wagon even after Bohdin stopped to take a drink. When I took her out she just climbed back in. The picture is an older one of the two of them together. I love watching them have fun together. Last night at dinner Bohdin put some rice in his hand and Nyla was eating out of his hand. They both thought it was hilarious. Bohdin got excited and started throwing the rice at her and putting it in her hair. They had a blast.

 

We spent some time cleaning yesterday because Nana flew in late last night. As I type this, she is probably being talked to death by Bohdin. He's having a lot of fun so far being silly. I guess I've been too serious with him lately. We haven't had enough fun. I'm glad he's getting it now.

Mostly Pictures

Yesterday was a yucky day and I don't want to write about it. I did forget to mention yesterday that Bohdin is trying to teach Nyla sign language. It's something we did with Bohdin when he was little and it was great for us. So far Nyla hasn't signed anything but she's still young.

 
 
 
 

Teacher

I received a comment about Bohdin teaching Nyla things. He does teach her things but it's not always the things I would expect. Several months ago Bohdin would try to have crawling races with Nyla. He had a sort of exaggerated loud crawl. It took me a while to realize that Nyla is not copying this crawl. She will zoom back and forth in the living room in the same style of crawl.

Having an older sibling, Nyla has also learned how to play with toys at an earlier age. Bohdin has a red truck that Nyla likes to play with. She also plays with all of his track and trains. Really anything Bohdin deems worthy of attention, Nyla will also want. I'm hoping this translates into eating but I'm not going to hold my breath. Last night, Bohdin practically inhaled a plate of brocolli and carrots. I don't think any other food makes him stuff his face like brocolli. We were sharing a plate of it and I only got one bite in before it was all gone. I can't say I was sad though.

Here is Nyla playing with Bohdin's trains while he is asleep. If he was awake he would be yelling at her and giving her a different train to play with. He has 3 Thomas trains but Nyla can only play with the ones he doesn't want to play with. It's better than nothing though I guess.
 

Prior to moving to Maryland we didn't have cable. Bohdin had very limited tv time and didn't know a lot of the major cartoon characters since we didn't have those channels. He has discovered Dora and Diego and Mickey Mouse. Dora is an interactive show that asks the viewer to jump or say something. For a long time Bohdin would refuse to do it but he has begun to participate. He also likes to hide from Swiper the Fox which I think is funny. He actually leaves the room when that character appears. I know it is said that tv rots the brain but I actually think he learns a few things from there. Not so much the Nickelodean shows but the PBS shows are good, particualarly Word World and Super Why. He seems to be learning some prereading skills. He has been trying to rhyme and sound words out. He doesn't do a great job but it's nice that he's trying. Mostly he just picks out two words and say they don't rhyme.

Summer of Fun

It had been a while since Bohdin tried his bike out so I took it outside for him the other night. He did pretty well with it. I didn't know that a tricycle could tip over but he managed it a few times, skinning his elbow once. He did get a bit frustrated but I think he will try it again. I can see how much he has progressed since last time. I had thought about getting him a balance bike before but he just wasn't ready. I think at 4 he certainly would be. He also took a spin on his plasma car but I think it needs an adjustment because it wasn't moving right.

 
 

I usually write this during Nyla's morning nap. That's Bohdin's tv time. Yesterday Bohdin was stuck to me like glue. He just wanted me to play with him or read to him all day. So during Nyla's nap we just read. During her afternoon nap we played various things. Nyla woke up and by the time I got to her she had already climbed off the bed (we taught her how weeks ago). She looked like a toddler. She's going to be one year old in a few weeks and I can see that she's getting bigger. Bohdin continued his clinginess at the pool and the playground. I'm going to have to call his friend to come relieve me.

When we went to Safeway yesterday Bohdin wanted to ride in the big car basket. He asked if Nyla could ride with him so we tried it out. She loved it. I like the looks I get a lot better when she's laughing hysterically than when she's crying.

One of Nyla's favorite activities is going through my purse. She empties it all out including my wallet. I've trimmed the number of cards I have in there to only the most important. The other day she was emptying my purse like usual. I was reading on the bed with Bohdin while Nyla was on the floor with my purse. She seemed unusually quiet so I checked on her. She had a bit of black around her mouth. I forgot that I had a bag of jelly beans in there. She opened them up and scattered them about. I picked them up as quickly as possible. It turns out that I have to fish marbles, rocks, and wood chips out of her mouth but a licorice jelly bean she will spit out by herself. Hopefully that will teach her not to put everything in her mouth.

I spoke with my dad on the phone last week and he asked me what I liked about this area. After a week of thinking I finally thought of something. I'm in great proximity to a lot of things. It is 2 hours to the mountains in WV, 2 hours to the beach in Delaware. Two hours to Philly, one hour or less to DC and Baltimore. We haven't taken advantage of this great benefit yet so Buddy has declared this the summer of fun. We'll take one to two trips a month to see the area while we are still here. With our 10th anniversary coming up, I think our first pick will be Philly.

There are lots of things I liked about Colorado including the weather. My favorite thing about the Denver area was the local amenities. Someone I know is moving to a north of Denver area. Her community has a sand volleyball court, tennis courts, 2 pools, numerous playgrounds, etc. Those features are not uncommon. What I like is the community has a mix of condos and mansions and in between. What I like about these areas is that you don't have to make a ton of money to live nicely. Policmen, teachers, checkout people deserve to have sand volleyball courts and nice playgrounds also. In Broomfield we had a great library, a small local water park, a great rec center, millions of playgrounds, open spaces, and trails. This was accessible to all of the residents from my Safeway checkout girl who lived across the street in a trailer to the million dollar homes 3 miles away. The best part was the small town feel and the close proximity to everything. That's sort of the opposite of what we have now. We live in a nice community but it's pricey. Stores are far away. The weather doesn't allow us to be outside as much as I would like. It's not bad here and I'm not complaining. We will take advantage of what the area has to offer but I don't think I will be sad to leave.

We're still home

I checked the load status of the plane before leaving the house yesterday and it looked good. There were 10 seats in coach available. We didn't have any problems leaving. Everything went really smoothly. When we arrived at the airport the plane was delayed an hour. The line was very long for security but it moved quickly. We made it to our gate and sat down. When they started calling for volunteers to take another flight by offering free tickets I thought our chances of being able to fly standby were nonexistent. I had the news on prior to leaving and saw that the train line serving the airport was running late. I don't know if that caused enough people to miss the earlier flight to bump us off. It could have been a multitude of factors. Bohdin was sad that he couldn't ride on the airplane. I was disappointed also.

When I made it to the conveyor belt of the security line I was rummaging through my stuff trying to get it organized. I turned around and Bohdin had already taken a bin and put his shoes in it. He's a seasoned traveler.

Uncle Paul sent a coupon for a free train at Toys-R-Us so after Nyla's nap we went to go pick one out. The coupon only had a certain value so the choices were limited. Bohdin picked the musical caboose. Later that day he pointed out that there was a crack in the wheel. I'm glad I only paid 78 cents for it.

I was in Target one time about a year ago. There was a baby that was crying loudly. The crying went on for quite some time. It made me a little uncomfortable. I didn't know if I should go tell this crappy parent to try to calm their baby down. I could see that other people were wondering about it also. One should never judge though since I became that parent on Thursday. I carried Nyla into Michael's for a quick errand. I needed to find some beads. They have a huge selection and Bohdin was having fun looking at all of them. When I bent down Nyla was able to grab some beads. She thought this was great so when I stood up again she was mad. She wanted to get down again and pull beads off the shelf. That did not sound like a good idea to me so I kept carrying her. She cried her loudest cry and would not stop. She only wanted down but it wasn't going to happen. I started getting looks in the store so we ended up leaving without any beads. Now I wonder if that baby and parent in Target were having a similar moment and I jumped to the wrong conclusion. I wasn't neglecting Nyla I was just saying no to her need to get down and make a mess.

I was cleaning up toys prior to our trip. Bohdin and I put away all of the toys for his play kitchen. When it was all cleaned up we moved on to the bedroom but Nyla stayed behind in the living room. She proceeded to empty the cupboards in Bohdin's play kitchen. Five minutes of cleaning all negated. Why do I bother? I didn't overdo the cleaning though so I had an easy time to getting ready. Also Nyla wasn't trying to unpack the suitcase while I packed. That helped a lot.

Here are some of Bohdin's books from this week:
Tip Tip Dig Dig - Garcia - A simple construction book. Bohdin liked it and so did I since it was really easy to read.
Frog - Cooper - an okay book about a boy who learns to swim after seeing a trapped frog in his pool
Blueberry Mouse - Low - This was a good book that Bohdin enjoyed. It had some singing in it. I would recommend this one.
Finklehopper Frog Cheers - Livingston - Preachy book about doing your best. I can't understand how it has won awards.
Tissue Please - Kopelke - Another sort of preachy book about using a tissue instead of not.
A Pipkin of Pepper - Cooper - Okay book that Bohdin enjoyed about some animals making a trek into the city to get salt. It talks about staying where you are when you get lost
My Life as a Chicken - Kelley - I like finding books that use bigger words but this was just too much for us right now. Defining prevail every time I read the book was not fun. We'll try it again in a few years.
Tiger, Tiger - Lillegard - A book about a boy imagining a tiger. It's not Bohdin's style.

I can't think of a good title

I put Nyla to sleep at her regular time last night and as I was walking to the other bedroom to read books to Bohdin I was thinking how great it would be to report that sleep troubles are over. I jinxed myself because about 10 minutes later she woke up. Bohdin came running in to check on her. I thought she was going to fall back asleep but she ended up wide awake. It wasn't too bad and she ended up going to sleep at the same time as Bohdin and I.

I'm flying out to Colorado tomorrow but have been dreading the preparation. Getting ready to go on a long trip is so overwhelming. I realized last night it was because I set impossible goals for myself. I want to return to a clean house but that's not going to happen until the messy stage is over. I can't possibly get all of that pretrip stuff done and thorougly clean the house. I'm just going to do as much as I can today and that will be that. I may just have to come home to a dirty bathtub or a crumb covered rug.

Bohdin does not get attached to his artwork and regularly clears the refidgerator of his work. I decided to start taking pictures of them. Here are 2 recent ones. The first is a watercolor of a tree falling down. The second is a butterfly.

 
 
 

Can I call truce?

I was trying to clean up a bit yesterday. I don't know why I try though. It seems messier afterwards. Nyla likes to come behind me and scatter things on the floor. Bohdin is more direct and just dumps a bucket of toys. After Bohdin's nap yesterday he was hungry. Dinner was ready but Nyla was asleep. I thought we could all sit down together when she woke up in a few minutes. Bohdin decided to get himself a snack which consisted of nuts, crackers, and 2 boxes of Cheerios. When I had him put everything away later he apparently just put it on the floor of the kitchen. Nyla saw her opportuntity and spilled the cereal. In the background of the picture you may be able to see the oatmeal packets she scattered earlier.


 
 
 
 

Yesterday was a really really long day. Nyla ended up taking 3 short naps instead of her usual 2. I had about 5 minutes when both kids were sleeping. In addition, we ended up going to bed really late. It was 11pm when Nyla fell asleep. Bohdin and I fell asleep soon afterwards. Their nap times are my time to relax. I hope today goes better. Sometimes when Nyla is going to sleep she pulls her hair out. I don't know why and it is almost not worth it to try to stop her since there is not a way to stop her without agitating her. Last night when I was gently holding her arm it sounded like she said "nhm uhm" and pulled away.

This morning Nyla was pissed that I took a bag of pretzels away from her which she was dumping on the ground. She fought me for that bag and when I won she really teared up. Earlier she took off the cap from the empty milk bottle while I was trying to clean and unrolled the toilet paper while I was putting my contacts in. Yesterday when Bohdin was sleeping she found some cards from a game and scattered them on the floor. She picked a few up and put them in her dresser drawer. I did enjoy the irony that the back of each card was marked Sorry!. She's entering the messy stage and it's going to be really messy.

Beaver girl

Nyla has the amazing ability to chew through anything. She has chewed through DVD covers, a hard plastic ring, and most recently my steering wheel. When I was changing her in the front seat of the car after the beach she was holding on to the steering wheel. I didn't realize she would take a bite out of it. Of course it is in a well used spot and now I'm finding the spot quite annoying. Bohdin collects sticks almost everytime we are outside so we usually have at least one stick in the car. Nyla chews through that as well. I wish she could just chew on a teething toy but she has no interest in those.

We bought the Flip camcorder for a joint mother's and father's day present. So far I think Bohdin is enjoying it the most. He has recorded a few things but mostly he likes to watch himself on tv. At first he would ask "How can there be two Bohdins?". He would also talk to Nyla on the tv. Now he just laughs at his hilarious escapades. He is his own biggest fan.

It was pretty quiet yesterday. Nyla has been having a hard time falling asleep the last few days. If that doesn't clear up soon we'll make some adjustments once Buddy returns. Our whole schedule will have to be tweaked then anyway.

Here is a video from miniature golf on Saturday. Buddy is playing the purple ball and hits a hole in one with Bohdin's assistance. As you can see, Bohdin is not the next Tiger Woods.

Father's Day

I should have started this blog earlier since many people don't know what I consider old news. Buddy has been gone at a school in Virginia since the end of March. We see him most weekends since it's about a 3 hour drive without traffic. He'll be back here in 2 weeks. Buddy needed to do some classwork on Sunday so we left a little after one. Bohdin was still awake when we made it to DC so we got out for a stretching break. I also needed a break from telling stories. Bohdin wanted me to tell the story of Bohdin, Tyken, Diego, Dora, and Natas racing on gokarts over and over and over again. Bohdin found a stick along the way and was watering the grass by putting the stick in a puddle and then shaking it over the grass.

 
 

While Buddy is at school he is staying in a military hotel. It's not too different from a motel room expect it has a large fridge, some cabinets, and a small sink. The microwave sounds like it is about to explode. The room is very dark and pretty dingy. We stayed at a Comfort Inn Friday night and Bohdin said he liked daddy's new home better.

On the drive down on Friday I asked Bohdin to answer some questions about Buddy.
favorite drink: orange juice
favorite food: gum
favorite thing to do: play trains
I am positive that Buddy's favorite thing to do is not play trains. He does like orange juice and gum though.

I aksed Buddy when he thought Nyla would walk and he thought before her birthday which is the end of July. I disagree so we'll see in a few weeks who is right. Nyla cruises around holding onto the walls. She deosn't stand much on her own although she can. I think it's a safety mechanism. Bodhin likes to knock her down. For her sake I hope she waits a long time to walk. A new ability combines aptitude and desire. Friday was the first time Nyla looked like she really wanted to walk. I was blowing bubbles outside and Bohdin was chasing them. Nyla wanted so badly to get a bubble but the wind blew them out of her reach. It's just over 5 weeks until her birthday. A lot can happen between now and then.

Virginia beach

For Father's Day we decided to come down to Virginia and go to the beach. It is something Buddy has been wanting to do. I didn't because I had been there years ago and it was a trash dump. Literally the beach was covered in trash. A lot of work has been done in the area and the beach is nicer now. The strip still looks really tired. Bohdin loved the beach. He had fun digging with his digger but what he really loved is being in the water. The water was a little cool so it felt perfect. He would stand in a little bit of water. The waves would come and take the sand from around his feet making him feel like he was sliding. He probably could have stayed there all day. Nyla unfortunatley was done after about an hour. We ate lunch at a restaurant that was highly recommended to Buddy by one of his classmates. It was just average. It was a two hour drive back for Fort Lee. (We didn't start from Fort Lee due to a series of unpleasant circumstances the day before making it a horrendous day.)


 
 
 
 


This evening we went to play minature golf. Bohdin thought he did okay. Afterwards he and Buddy went on the go cart which he loved.

Tooth #8

I see tooth #8 now. I'm not sure if I should hope that is the reason for the fussiness or not. There are twelve more to go. Nyla is sitting next to me playing right now instead of taking her nap. It's been a few months since we had nap trouble so I suppose we're due.

We were at the pool for 2 hours yesterday at midday. Bohdin and I are starting to look a little brown. Nyla was completely covered in sunscreen so she's still white. Bohdin wanted to play at the playground before going to the pool but we were meeting someone and I was hot from the walk over. We went back to the playground after nap time. The mosquitoes were out in force so we left after just a few minutes. In the car Bohdin complained of itchiness. I told him we would go to Walmart and pick up some calamine lotion to help. He had 5 bites on his back from the previous day and I don't know how many new bites. When we arrived at Walmart Bohdin was acting just like usual. Once inside the store at the main aisle crossroads, Bohdin started coughing and then threw up. It was just out of nowhere. He hadn't had dinner yet because he wasn't hungry. The McDonalds was right there but they only had napkins behind the counter. I cut in line and asked for napkins. I cleaned up the mess the best I could. When I was done cleaning I looked up and saw 5 employees watching. Buddy said he would have said something. It's a very ghetto Walmart and frankly I would have been surprised if they had helped. He felt fine afterwards and we walked over to Costco and he asked for food.

I've read a ton of books to Bohdin and I wish I could remember them all. I briefly started a list one summer but I don't know where that went. These are our recent library picks. if I seem critical it's because I've read probably a thousand.

Dinosaur Dinosaur - Lewis - This was a repeat for us. Bohdin still enjoyed it. It's pretty good and I would recommend it.
When Dinosaurs Go to School - Linda Martin - unremarkable book about getting ready to go school
Diary of a Worm - Cronin - cute book that Bohdin enjoyed but he was too young to get some of the jokes. I'm not sure if this is the same author as Diary of a Wombat
Toy Boat - Seve - okay book about a toy boat that has an adventure. Bohdin liked the sound effects of the different boats.
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom - Bill Martin Jr - I'm not sure how we've gone so long without reading this one. Bohdin loved it and would always say the chicka chicka boom boom part. I would recommend this one.
Mosquitoes - Meister - nonfiction book about mosquitoes
Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten - Slate - nice rhyming book about animals getting ready for kindergarten. The author has 26 different animals get ready. Each animal's name starts with a different letter of the alphabet. She gets extra credit for having the animals all start with the corresponding letter - Gwen the Gorilla and Vicky the Vole. The animal type is only mentioned in the back of the book in a sort of yearbook page fashion.

Two more

I'm not sure why these didn't post with the other ones.

 
 

Similarities

I was talking to a frind last night and she commented that the older Nyla gets the more she looks like Bohdin. This is not the first time that people have remarked on how similar they look. I think there are tons of differences but will admit they share some similarities. They have the same small mouth (different smiles though) and similar shaped eyes (Bohdin's eyes are larger). Here are some pictures of each of them at 10 months.


 
 
 
 

When Bohdin went to the pool on Saturday with Buddy he didn't want to put sunscreen on. I put it on him anyway and explained my reasoning. Buddy did not wear sun screen and of course burned. Now when we go to the pool Bohdin reminds me to put sunscreen on him. It's pretty rare to be able to learn a lesson from somebody else's mistakes. He still doesn't like me putting sunscreen on him but he understands the importance.

Honey ball

We went to the pool again last night and there were 2 couples there each with a 1 year old boy.
Bohdin: Do they have 2 babies?
me: There are 2 mommies and 2 daddies and they each have 1 baby.
Bohdin: Do they like my baby better?
me: No. They like their own baby.
Bodhin: But my baby is nicer.

I then went on to ask him how many babies he wanted and he said 10. He said he likes playing with babies even if it means less time with me. He's going to have to wait until he's a daddy because I'm not having 9 more kids. He actually is really good with Nyla. He is good at sharing and taking care of her. Sometimes he has more patience with her than i do.

Nyla was super fussy all day yesterday. I don't know what the problem was but I hope it has resolved. I put her down for 30 seconds next to me while Bohdin and I checked why the dishwasher wasn't closing. She cried a bucket of tears. Those are the days when I miss having Buddy around. She wants to be held all day long and I just want 5 minutes of not being touched.

Last night Bohdin and I were playing a game. A bumble bee flies around in a circle and you have to use a stick thing to hit the bee out of the way so he doesn't get your honey ball (Bohdin term). Bohdin will not let us try to defend our honey balls so the game is us watching the bee in 3 turns wiping out our 3 honey balls. Last night Bohdin turned to me after the bee easily knocked away my honey and said "Are you not very good at this game?". I guess not.


 

Baby Whisperer

I had to run some errand yesterday despite the "oppressive heat" as the weatherman called it. To Texans it would just be a normal day to have a heat index over 100. It took quite some time and Bohdin was hungry on the way back home after eating everything out of my purse. Nyla should have been falling asleep but was hitting herself in the head with a toy. When we were still about 4 miles out I told Bohdin that if Nyla fell asleep I would stop and get him a hamburger but if Nyla stayed awake I would make him something at home. About 1/4 from the house I glance back and Nyla is still playing. Bohdin asks if we are getting a hamburger and I say no since Nyla is still awake. Bohdin leans over as best as he can and starts whispering something to Nyla. I can't make out what it is. I do hear the word sleep. Then he announces she has fallen asleep. We have traveled about 200 yards. I look back and she is asleep. Now I have to turn around and get a stupid hamburger. Twenty minutes later we arrive home. I didn't think to ask him at the time what he said but I asked him later in the evening and he said "quiet stuff".

We went to the pool yesterday evening. It was a perfect time since the kiddie pool was shaded at that time of day. There were a few kids that came and went while we were there but it wasn't crowded at all. Bohdin has already been there twice with Buddy but it was my first time. The last time I went swimming with Bohdin he was holding on to me like his life depended on it. This was at a zero entry pool about a year ago. Our local pool is not zero entry. It's a odd shaped pool that is about 8 inches on the sides and maybe 18 inches in the middle. After I entered the pool with Nyla, Bohdin went to the opposite side. It was incredible how comfortable he felt in the water. Nyla liked the pool also. She cruised around the sides while I was holding her. She splashed herself but kept getting her face wet which she didn't like. I held her half out of the water and she chased Bohdin and another boy around the pool. That was pretty tiring for me but everyone else loved it.

When we were at Target yesterday Bohdin was playing peekaboo with Nyla and it was making her shriek with laughter. We had a lot of smiling glances. I don't hear babies laughing at the store very often.

This is the second day in a row I am covered in poop. I wish Nyla would stop fighting me when I change her diaper. She seems especially feisty after pooping. Bohdin helps me sometimes by staying near her and singing to her. That occupies her attention long enough to stay still and get cleaned and changed. If he would just stop knocking her down deliberately or trying to push her with the door I would say he is a great brother.

Dance Off Winner

For Cap'n Neurotic we had the dance off competition this weekend. I will not post the video footage because it was over almost as soon as it began. Bohdin busted out what could best be described as breakdancing moves and Buddy conceded defeat before even starting.

We usually go out in the evenings when it's a little cooler but recently I have been swarmed by mosquitoes. Bohdin wanted to know all about them so we checked out a book at the library. The female mosquitoes suck your blood to help nourish their eggs. Bohdin started hopping around like a frog one day and chased me (the mosquito). This is one of the first times he has pretended to be something. He says "I'm just pretending to be a frog."

Big Brown No Triple Crown

I had meant to post this earlier but forgot. We did watch the Belmont yesterday with Bohdin and Nyla. He picked #7 but when he found out Big Brown was #1 he wanted Big Brown #7. Bohdin picked #9 for Nyla. It seemed like a long slow race. In the end, #6 won. Bohdin started crying and said he wanted #6. Nyla picked up the remote and entered 666. In hindsight I pick #6 also.

In the car the other day Bohdin was talking about something. After a very long pause he asks why.
me: (thinking "why" what) I don't understand what you're asking.
Bohdin: I don't understand what you're asking
me: I'm not asking a question.
So goes a stimulating conversation with a 3 year old. Sometimes he does seem to ask why out of nowhere. Am I supposed to be reading his thoughts? I don't know.

Random Sunday

Nyla was grunting a bit at breakfast this morning and Buddy asked Nyla if she was pooping. I took her out of her seat and took off her wet diaper.
Bohdin: Did Nyla poop out of her penis?
me: Nyla doesn't have a penis. Do you poop out of your penis?
Bohdin: No! Nyla pees from her butt.

For a while whenever I used a public bathroom Bohdin would like to watch really close and exclaim loudly "You're peeing out of your butt". No matter how many times I have told him this is not the case he can't seem to grasp female anatomy. I try to avoid public restrooms now.

The advantage of living in an area with shared large dumpsters is people throw away a lot of great or at least interesting stuff. Buddy climbed into the dumpster yesterday to pull out a toy that someone had thrown away. Bohdin has enjoyed playing with it.

On Friday, a bookcase that we had purchased the previous weekend was delivered. It is a large heavy piece. It took 3 men a lot of effort to carry it up the 3 flights of stairs. When they finally made it up they told me to leave it here when we move. Bohdin wanted me to ask them if it was heavy. We've spent the weekend emptying out some boxes and arranging the bookcase. My side is pretty empty since my books somehow did not make the move. I don't know why it's my stuff that doesn't survive moving.

Introducing the Green Caterpillar Band

All done

Nyla can go from happy to pissed in 2 seconds and she does constantly. That's her personality. Whenever she finishes eating she signals it by pushing at the tray and starting to cry.



Nyla LOVES eating solids. Her absolute favorite is meat. I can put 5 things on her tray and she will pick out the meat to eat first. When I don't give her a choice she'll eat other things - beets, blueberries, sweet potato, etc. Unfortunately for me, meat makes for some really stinky poop. I think a better biological design would be eating solids after being potty trained although I guess Bohdin was pooping in the potty at this age. Nyla will probably be 10 before she is potty trained. I can't imagine a child less inclined to use a potty.

Storm

The weather forecast for the area looks terrible. Yesterday was in the mid 80s and humid but for the foreseeable future it will be in the 90s. I don't know how we will go outside. The giant mosquitoes chase us in the evening and during the day it is pretty miserable. There doesn't seem to be enough time in the morning before Nyla's nap but we may have to try. I wanted to turn on the AC and couldn't figure out how. Turning it on at the thermostat didn't work. I had the windows open and a box fan running but it made the inside feel like a swamp. The wood floors were sticky and the carpet felt damp. It was very muggy. I couldn't take it anymore and luckily found a switch to turn the system on. When the $200 bill comes I want to remember how miserable I was without AC.

When I was putting Bohdin to sleep I was watching the weather because strong storms were moving across the area. They were still sort of far. I thought I would keep my eye on them and if it came to it I would wake up the kids and take them downstairs. The storm came in with a big bang so I refreshed the weather report on the computer. It said tornado warning take cover. I was laying between 2 sleeping kids. Before I wake them up to take cover there better be a serious threat. The tornado warning was for the entire county and actually the surrounding counties as well. The power went out and I lost my internet connection. I couldn't get any further info. It sounded pretty bad outside but luckily I couldn't see. Watching the news this morning I think I would have been pretty scared. The power came back on quickly but we lost power a few more times. By the time I was able to find the remote under Bohdin about 5 minutes later the storm had passed and there were possible tornado sightings east of here. It turns out there were no tornadoes. When I told Buddy he thought I should have been more cautious. I reminded him that he did nothing while sirens were going off. There were not sirens going off here. Soon our power went out and stayed off. We went to the grocery store and bought sushi for dinner. Bohdin loves sushi. I gave Nyla a piece but in hindsight I don't think it was a good idea. I took the imitation crab out but it still touched the other things. For the record she loved it. Four hours later our power came back on.

Bohdin put his hand out the window 2 nights ago and asked me to figure out why his hand hurt. I explained the wind was pushing on his hand and the faster we go the harder it would push. He did it again last night and wanted me to go faster. He doesn't understand speed limits yet. He likes to have his window open because the wind blows Nyla's hair. He thinks that is funny.

So You Think You Can Dance

I love watching the Fox show So You Think You Can Dance. I don't understand how Dancing With the Stars is more popular. On the Fox show they find talented dancers and make them show their versatility and ability by dancing different dance styles. The routines are professionally choreographed and often amazing. They are still in their audition rounds I believe but if you like watching dancing at all then you should check the show out once they have the field set. It is on tonight at 8e/7c. Bohdin watched a little bit of the show with me a few weeks ago. After watching them dance he would get up and dance asking "Can they do this?" Um yeah. That and much more.



We went to Walmart last night after dinner. The people shopping there were not well dressed. I looked down at Nyla who was wearing a half wet shirt that was covered in dinner stains. My shirt was dirty from Nyla grabbing me after dinner and Bohdin is of course always dirty. We fit right in.

Tooth #7

I can confirm that tooth #7 is here. I thought I saw it last week but wasn't sure. Nyla has not had a tooth come in by itself yet so we'll see if tooth #8 is coming also. Tooth #1 and #2 arrived together on Christmas day. The top 4 came together about a month ago. Nyla gets drooly when she teeths and her outfit was soaked yesterday.

We went to Costco yesterday to have lunch. I gave Bohdin the berry smoothie to hold as usual. Somehow he tripped and spilled half of the drink. He was so sad that he had spilled it. It took several minutes to clean up with the small napkins they had. Plus I had Nyla in one arm. We had to ask for a new cup because ours had broken. Bohdin wanted a new lid also but I didn't want to go back and ask. He was sad there was only half of our smoothie left. When we arrived at our table somehow Bohdin managed to drop the cup again. This time it landed upside down. There was nothing left for us to drink. Again I had to use those small napkins and clean up the mess while holding Nyla. I felt bad for Bohdin because he really wanted his berry drink and he had just had a terrible run of bad luck. For a second I considered buying a new one but then I didn't.

There is a sign outside the library that says No Parking. Bohdin had asked me a million times what that sign says and now knows it. Whenever we pass it he says "That sign says no parking." Last night he said the o makes a "no" sound. I was trying to explain to him that the letter o can sound like o or ah like in ostrich or octopus or office. He then added "and sausage". How is a person supposed to learn to read English with all of these contradictory rules? I didn't correct Bohdin. He'll figure it out someday.

It's Messy time

The first thing Bohdin likes to do in the morning is dump out all of his toys. Every night before going to bed he has to pick them all up. I'm waiting for the day that Bohdin realizes that it is a lot of work to pick up toys he doesn't even play with. I may be waiting forever. This morning Nyla picked up one of Bohdin's trains and put it away in his train basket. Bohdin angrily grabbed the basket and dumped the train out. In a stern voice he told her "It is not sleeping time. It is messy time."

Last night when eating lasagna Bohdin must have been quite hungry because he asked for thirds and scarfed it down. Buddy jokingly asked him if he was filling his hollow leg. Bohdin replied "and penis".