Potty time

Bohdin was using the bathroom at Paul's house back in August without help. I loved not having to dump out a potty and wanted to retire them when we came back. Buddy said we should keep them out so Nyla would learn to sit on the potty. I said Nyla would be the last person on earth to potty train. We left the little potties out which Bohdin continued to use since he prefers it. Buddy was right. Nyla has started sitting on the potty. When she's not wearing a diaper we can get her on the potty in time to poop. She comes running either to me or to the potty. We have to be alert but it's nice to have it there instead of in a diaper. Nyla doesn't like getting wiped so this is less wiping. She's still working on the pee. I think she has a long way to go but Buddy thinks she is showing promise. We'll see if he is right again.

Bohdin was gently crushing Nyla against the wall the other day. Nyla would peek out from behind when I said "where is Nyla?". I'm glad the camera was so close.
 

Bohdin loves popcorn especially the brewer's yeast. He covers his hand in it then licks it off. Nyla is a little monkey and copies Bohdin. She stuffs that popcorn in. Bohdin takes the rough part off for her. We used to but I've given up. She seems to be a careful eater. Accidents can happen so I hover.
 

Isnt' that nice?

Bohdin for several weeks has been asking me this question after doing something nice. "I gave Nyla my green towel that I wasn't using. Isn't that nice?" He has been doing a lot of nice things lately. He'll get out a spoon for himself and me. I'm drawing a blank here but there are many many examples. Nyla took a long nap on Saturday and it was later in the day than usual. Bohdin normally watches tv when she's sleeping and I stay with Nyla. She usually wakes up if I leave her. It was past 5 and I was getting really hungry. Bohdin was watching a video and Buddy was playing on the computer. Bohdin comes into the bedroom quietly and brings me some nuts just in case I was hungry. It was incredibly sweet. I hope he doesn't lose this quality as he gets older.

The video that Bohdin checked out by himself from the library was a Bob the Builder but was a live thing that talked about road building and bridges. He couldn't be more fascinated. He now knows the 3 types of bridges and how to build a road. They have another one about building a house and playground that I'm going to check out after our traveling is complete. Buddy leaves for Gettysburg tomorrow. We'll probably drive up there tomorrow as well.

All by himself

Nyla fell asleep in the car while we were running errands yesterday. The last thing I had to do was return a video to the library. Bodhin usually likes to get a new video when I return an old one but I couldn't go in the library because Nyla was sleeping. Bohdin has been with me to the library at least 50 times. He knows where the videos are located and he knows how to check out and return material. I asked him if he wanted to go inside the library by himself and get a new video. He was a little bit apprehensive but he agreed.

I parked right outside the library. There are glass doors so I could sort of see inside when they were closed and I could see in very well to the checkout desk when they were open. Bohdin went in, put his old video in the appropriate place and then went around the corner to the children's section. I had told him to pick quickly. He usually likes to linger but this time he didn't. He waited in line for his turn. I waved to him but he didn't wave back. When it was his turn he handed over my library card and his video. He pointed outside but I can only guess what that was about. He said the librarian didn't ask where I was.

He looked so little in the library. It was funny to see someone so small waiting patiently in line. They were nice enough to take him at the short desk. I'm proud of him. Sometimes he doesn't think he can do things he actually can. He'll give up before even trying. It's so neat to see him becoming more independent and grown up.

Life at the speed of a 3 year old

Yesterday was a pretty idyllic day with Bohdin. I had plenty of time to run the two errands so we were able to take things slowly. On the way out to the car we stopped and looked at leaves. When we pulled into the parking lot we looked at the differences between concrete and asphalt. We looked for things made of wood or lumber I should say. Bohdin was still on his lumber kick yesterday. In the afternoon we met N- at the playground. We came home and made dinner and a cake together. I really liked that I didn't have to rush around to be anywhere. We're really lucky that we have this opportunity to take life slowly for a little while.

 
 
 
 

Nyla is growing so fast and there is no denying that she is a toddler now. She can understand some of the things we say. She actually gave Bohdin his cup back in the car a few days ago. He's been asking her forever. I was holding Nyla while making some eggs the other day. I had a bag of shredded cheese in my hand and threw some in the pan. Nyla reached in and grabbed some cheese also and threw it in the pan. She can get her own diaper now. She loves going down the big slides at the playground. The other day she found an unopened bottle of bubbles. She took the cap off and was playing with it but it had a silver foil thing so nothing was coming out. She found a pen and poked a hole in the top to get the solution out. I saw her trying to poke it with the pen but didn't think she could do it. She likes to put books and videos in the library bag at the library. She likes to eat with forks and spoons instead of her hands. I don't know how she grew up so fast. It's remarkable how much is learned from a sibling.

Teacher or Know-it-all?

The Bohdin that wouldn't talk to anybody a few months ago has turned into the Bohdin that doesn't stop telling people things. Yesterday a little boy walked by with his mom as we were going outside to play across the parking lot with construction toys. I asked if he wanted to come. This 4 year old an 7 year old boy join us. Bohdin starts talking about lumber(we had just read a book that used the word) and all of things nearby that were made out of lumber. The little boy just wanted to collect rocks instead of listening to the wonders of wood. I was able to redirect Bohdin and end his lecture. When we were at the museum the other day he was telling a boy about the dinosaurs when they were at the same exhibit. Not one child so far has been interested in the things he says. Perhaps it's the age. We were at the playground the other day and a little girl almost Bohdin's age was talking my ear off about an upcoming trip and the fact that she woke up with a cold and "an up and down fever". Hopefully we can teach him eventually to see that the other person is not interested in what he's saying. The art of small talk can be taught. Not yet though. For now he'll remain a chatty little boy.

Getting out

On my deleted post the other day I mentioned that we had went to the library on Thursday for the story time. N- was there also. Both the kids had a good time although they enjoyed different parts. Nyla danced to the music. Bohdin liked the stories. We met N- at the playground the next day and the two boys had never had so much fun together.

Nyla slept really poorly Friday night and all of us woke up late on Saturday. It was nearly 9am. We didn't do much on Saturday. Buddy's parents finally had their power restored that day.

Nyla eating chocolate yogurt. She's not supposed to have chocolate until 2 I think but she's a rule breaker. She had already had it once before when she took my empty carton from the trash and licked it.
 

Bohdin making a scary face
 

On Sunday we went to DC. We didn't really have a definite plan. Parking is so so awful down there. We ended up finding a parking spot near the Capitol building. We meandered around, stopping in one of the wings of art museum and then the Natural History Museum. The Natural History Museum was packed. I took Bohdin so Buddy could explore in peace. Bohdin and I saw the soil exhibit, the dinosaurs and the nature pictures. His favorite part of the day was seeing the elevator.It was a glass elevator with exposed cables. Bohdin thought the moving cables was pretty cool. He also liked the "twisty wisty stairs" nearby. Actually he said his favorite part was the big machines but that was a different day. Buddy liked the meteorites. I was just tired because Nyla had slept poorly the night before again. My favorite part was going into the art museum to use the bathroom without the kids and then taking a few minutes to look around by myself.

Buddy checking the football scores on the way back to the car. We were all hungry. Bohdin was carrying a bag of popcorn and could not have walked slower. A very elderly couple passed us without effort.
 

Bohdin and I were both dragging on the hill up to the car. Buddy ended up carrying both kids for a while.
 

Last night Bohdin and I were playing a game called Mystery Garden. It is sort of 20 questions but you draw a tile that corresponds to the picture on the game board. Bohdin decided he liked it better if he just gave a description and then have me guess. Here are some of his descriptions:
"It swims in water and is swimming this way" (points)
"It's something you play with"
"It's something you wear on your head"
Then there was this one: "It's something that you kill, then you take off the fur, then start a fire and then cook it and then you eat it." The answer is a rabbit. Bohdin still asks for stories a lot so the other day I told him a story of a little boy in the woods who had to catch his dinner. I guess the story made an impression.

Making sushi

My post disappered and I don't want to retype it. I'll let the pictures do the talking.

 
 
 
 

Signing

As of last night Buddy's parents were still without power. I'm glad it's not me. That's probably one of those situations that is harder with kids though. A bit of fence needs to be replaced but everything else is fine.

The other thing everybody seems to want to hear about is our downstairs neighbor. As I mentioned earlier we received a note on Saturday. It said that she had tried knocking twice on Friday but nobody answered. She was also not happy that she was awake at 7:30am Saturday morning because she heard running upstairs. It's very unfortunate that us living our lives makes her life miserable. We haven't responded to the note yet. I don't know what we're going to do. If we're going to move on base we need to do it soon because you have to be around for at least a year. That deadline is coming up pretty soon. Does anybody have any advice or thoughts?

Nyla has started signing a bit. She'll sign more if she's encouraged. I think she has signed airplane. She may be signing cup. Her movements are still jerky and imprecise so it's hard to be certain. She's getting older so she should start picking them up more rapidly soon. She doesn't really say any recognizable words. She has said mamamama but I'm not sure she's referring to me. One time she said "en" when I said Bohdin but again it's a bit ambiguous. She's a loud baby so I'm not really looking forward to the talking stage. It will be even louder around her when she starts verbally challenging Bohdin.

It's hard to read

Bohdin and Nyla haven't been going to bed as early as usual. Our nights are more active with Buddy around. Bohdin was extremely grouchy yesterday. He had a huge meltdown over a popsicle yesterday. Today, after declaring the morning nap dead, Nyla took a morning nap that extended into the afternoon. Bohdin took an early nap today also. Hopefully this will help us get back into a good routine.

Last week when we met the new little boy, the mom mentioned the preschool he attends and that there are still vacancies. It's a coop preschool so I would have to help out in the classroom once a month. It only costs $150 per month which is a huge bargain in this area. I'm sort of considering it. Bohdin said he would like to go. We have some travels coming up soon so I can't commit to anything now but I'll give it more thought.

When I was pregnant with Bohdin, I was talking to Buddy one night about the book he had been reading forever. He said "It's hard to read". I misunderstood his comment. In my mind he was saying it is difficult to read in general as opposed to the book being difficult to read. It still makes me chuckle. Last night, Bohdin walked into the bedroom carrying a book. Buddy was on the bed and asked Bohdin if he wanted him to read the book. Bohdin said. "No. Mommy can read it. She reads well." It reminded me of Buddy and his difficulty reading. Bohdin told me to stop laughing so I could read his book.

Bohdin just broke the glass jar I told him to be careful with this morning and Nyla stinks because she was playing with the old container of milk. I fished some dry crusty sour milk from her mouth. So disgusting. It's time to get to work.

Quiet birthday

Buddy's 34th birthday was yesterday. He's not one for much hoopla so not much happened. I had planned to take him the soil exhibit at the Natural History Museum. (Soil science was his favorite class in college so it's not as weird as it sounds for a birthday jaunt) When we were in the car he complained of not feeling well so we went to Costco instead to get milk. Bohdin wanted to go back to NASA. Then he was whining because he wanted to go to a museum. I had already told him we were going to a museum. He's never liked museums much before so I don't know where that came from.

It was a really quiet day. The kids napped. Buddy watched some football. After the NE game was over they showed the rest of the Broncos game. We were so excited they won. I told Buddy that it was his birthday present. The Broncos did not really earn their win. They were given a chance to score when it should have been San Diego's ball. Those Charger fans must be devastated. Human error on the referee's part led to a San Diego loss. That's a tough loss.

Buddy didn't receive a call from his parents yesterday. The last we've heard from them is soon after the hurricane passed. Practically everyone was without power in Houston and I guess they have yet to have their power restored. Since so many people are without power, the cell phone towers are inundated. I can't imagine how horrible it must be down there right now. It was near 100 degrees here yesterday with a lot of humidity but at least we could go somewhere air conditioned and enjoy a cool drink.

On an unrelated note, Nyla is learning a lot of behaviors from Bohdin. Some fine but some not. Bohdin likes to put his hands is his drink now and suck it off his hands. Nyla saw that and tries to do the same thing. She also only wants to drink out of cups. Nyla has started looking a little pouty when she doesn't get her way. It looks a lot like Bohdin. She has started grabbing toys from his hands just like he has done to her countless times. Bohdin has been saying he wants more babies to play with but now he has changed his mind. He also doesn't quite understand the question since he says he wants to keep Nyla.

I've given up on 2 naps a day for Nyla. I'm tired of spending the whole morning trying to get her to sleep. Bohdin doesn't like the new schedule though because he watches tv when she's sleeping or trying to go to sleep. Bohdin has been taking naps most days this past week so it leaves almost no time for him to watch anything. He's in withdrawal.

I made Buddy a cheesecake for his birthday. Bohdin helped me out the night before instead of going for a walk. He did a good job with the mixer. In the morning I put a chocolate ganache over the top. Nyla insisted on being held so it turned into a messy endeavor. I also didn't end up liking the flavor. It was too overwhelming.
 

Bohdin blew out the candles. He refused to try any cake even though he enjoyed licking the batter. He's still on a store bought is better streak. He had a popsicle instead. Nyla didn't eat her dinner and didn't have any cake.
 

Celebrating a Bronco touchdown
 

Kisses
 

Launchfest

Bohdin's want ad playdate was yesterday afternoon. Moments before they arrived, my nose started running like a burst pipe. It became even worse through the evening. I didn't sleep well last night and my restlessness kept Buddy awake also. He was tired in the morning and ended up crashing after nine. NASA has a campus nearby and was holding an open house today. I had heard that this was the first time in 4 years but I don't know if that is true. I thought it would be fun to attend but Buddy wasn't really excited. With Buddy asleep, I packed up the kids and headed down there. Tons of other people had the same idea. They offered shuttle buses from various locations. I parked at a local high school and went to the end of a line that had several hundred people in it. I thought about giving up but didn't. The line moved very slowly and it was hot outside. After about 30 minutes we were able to board a sweltering bus for the short ride to NASA. There didn't seem to be any reason for the bottleneck. There were so many buses just sitting there waiting for passengers.

The dropoff was near the visitor center. I was now hot, tired, sick, and mad (I forgot to mention the note from the downstairs neighbor I found this morning). The area had a lot of tents set up. There was a band and some demonstrations. Bohdin wanted an ice cream cone right away and I couldn't blame him. He did a great job waiting in line despite the heat and lengthy wait. I bought him an ice cream cone and we wandered around a bit. There wasn't a whole lot to see there and I was let down. The whole thing seemed disorganized. There were school buses that took people to various places around the campus. Each stop had different things to see. There was a lot they offered but I was having some difficulty figuring it out. I thought I would take Bohdin to the robotics exhibit but an employee who was there with his family thought the tech area would be better. I decided to follow him. After some snafus trying to get on a bus we headed to another area. We only had time for one stop and I'm glad this was it. We ended up in the building where the components that are sent into space are tested. The giant building is filled with huge machines that mimic various conditions in space. One of the coolest things for Bohdin and I was the huge centrifuge. They didn't have a spacecraft on it but they did have it spinning slowly. It was a really neat site. Bohdin received 3-D glasses at one of the exhibits which he was quite excited about. We passed a glass wall with a silver spacecraft inside the room. Bohdin asked what it was. I then asked the employee for him. It is the actual telescope they are sending to the moon in December. When we walked away I repeated what the man had said and asked Bohdin if he had any questions. He wanted to know how they were going to get it out of the building. We went back and asked. We also saw a robotic arm with a camera attached. Kids were taking turns controlling it from a computer.

Bohdin and I both thought the experience was neat. I'm still shocked at how those spacecrafts look like they are built by 5th graders with popsicle stick and aluminum foil. The employee near the moon thing admitted they had a nickname for it. I only caught the first part but he said duct tape ___. He said it looks better before the thermal blankets are applied. Despite all of the hardships of the day it was a worthwhile experience. Very few people probably get to see where the spacecrafts are built and tested.

Being sick and dragging two kids around with one on my back was a bit tiring. Life goes on though. I just came back from the grocery store to get a few things I forgot yesterday. It's time to make Buddy's birthday cheesecake before it gets too late.

Goodbye

Yesterday my grandmother died. She was the last of my living grandparents. Her 97th birthday would have been next month. When I was 14 and Paul was 13 we went to Czechoslovakia to visit our relatives. Communism had recently fallen and we were able to visit our relatives in their homes. We spent the summer being handed off from one relative to the next. We met aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. We made the trek to the small village where my dad grew up and his parents still lived along with an aunt and some cousins. There was no bus service directly to the village so we had to walk a few kilometers from the next town over. I was a teenager and had enough clothes in my suitcase for the summer. It felt like a very long walk. This was before suitcases with wheels.

In 1991 when we visited the house had no indoor plumbing. There was an outhouse and a well in the side yard for water. I remember the kitchen being in a separate room next to the house. There was a garden there. Every single person we visited had a garden though. The quality of the food is so much better there. Chickens are butchered outside and brought inside to make soup. Chickens in America are treated poorly, given crap food, then rinsed in bleach before making it into our soup pot. The soup my grandmother made had an incredibly rich flavor. In fact, all of the things she cooked were delicious.

One of the more memorable parts of our visit to my grandparent's house (my grandfather died months after our visit) was our visit to the bar in town. Bars are not off limits to kids there so it was an adventure for us to go. It's not at all like American bars. I remember a big open space with a snooker table in the middle. It was a well lit space. They offered sodas as well as beer. It was more of a friendly place to relax than a trendy pick up joint.

My parents spoke Slovak with us from birth since it was their native tongue. When I started school I learned to speak English. I've always said I could speak Slovak like a 2 year old. My comprehension was well above my ability to say words. Unfortunately, my grandparents spoke a different dialect so I couldn't understand anything they said. At 14, I didn't know what a terrible thing that was but now that I'm older I realize the opportunity I've lost.

In memory of my grandmother. Oct 22, 1911 - Sept 11, 2008

Sick

We cannot enter a room full of kids and not emerge a few days later sick. The free rhyme time on Monday came with a free serving of cold virus. This is the first time that both kids are sick at the same time. Usually Bohdin gives it to Nyla. It's just a cold but it's still a pain. We couldn't attend the story time at the library today. We also couldn't go to the Smithsonian thing yesterday.

We have a playdate scheduled for tomorrow as a result of the ad. Bohdin hasn't needed a tissue yet today so I think by tomorrow afternoon he should be okay. I hope it works out.

I was watching something on tv yesterday and some people were having their second child. They wanted to ensure that everything they did for the first they would also do for the second so he would feel loved. I don't subscribe to this theory. Things don't have to be equal to be fair. Since I've been making Nyla so many outfits, I was wondering if Bohdin was feeling a little left out. I'm not making him clothes because he already has a ton and the boy fabric isn't as cute. I make Nyla's clothes so she has something that fits her. I asked Bohdin if he wanted me to make him something and he said yes. I think I'll make him a bag like my purse. He loves carrying my purse around as a mail bag. I'll go to the fabric store soon and let him choose something. I can't imagine what he'll choose.

Here are some older pictures that never made it in the blog:

Nyla's new pants. It's the first pair of pants she owns that are not skin tight. Who sizes these girl clothes anyway? I'm not kidding when I say you can get low rise pants for toddlers. Nyla is not skinny enough for girl pants. She can wear boy pants but they generally look like boy pants. I've already made another pair but the legs aren't as wide as the ones in this picture.
 

Nyla eating a cone. I found a recipe for pureed frozen fruit that is pretty tasty. Bohdin won't eat it. He prefers store bought but Nyla eats it right up.
 

Here we are making the chocolate cupcakes a few weeks ago.
 

Still searching

On my mission to find Bohdin a friend I posted a want ad in two forums I belong to. I have one lead. We'll see how it works out. We also went to Annapolis yesterday to a free Rhyme Time class at a studio downtown. They offer performing arts and dance classes but those are not free. Bohdin didn't participate but he enjoyed watching. He said it was fun but that he doesn't want to go again. We may anyway. I had thought previously of enrolling him in one of the classes but it won't be this semester. He's not quite ready for a drop off class yet. I did meet another mom there with a 4 year old son. She told me about the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center which hold mommy and me classes for preschoolers. It's once a month with the next one being tomorrow. We're going to try and make it.

The program yesterday was during Nyla's usual nap time. I thought I would be able to put her down during or before the program but it didn't work out. I didn't even try. Nyla did fine during the program. She wandered around looking at all of the people and started playing with a little girl. She also had a good time with the mirrors lining the walls. She fell asleep in the car but woke up right after I put her on the bed. She refused to take another nap later so we went to the playground. It was still a little hot outside. Bohdin found a 5 year old boy to play with and they had a fabulous time. He knew more than Bohdin did and was happy to share his hilarious words with Bohdin. I don't know if Bohdin will start using potty humor or not now. The mom could not have looked more unfriendly. I just played with Nyla. When it was the little boy's time to go she was having a hard time getting him out of the playground. She kept asking him if he was ready and he said no. I saw the trouble she was having so I told Bohdin it was time to go and left to make it easier for her. I've been there before.

I was reading about some little kids with irrational fears the other day and was really proud of myself and Bohdin for having sidestepped such a common thing. I thought maybe I did something right. It turns out I didn't. I remember from psychology class an example of a child being scared they would go down the drain. So I asked Bohdin if he could go down the drain. He scoffed at me and said no like I was an idiot. Then a few days later he woke up in the middle of the night saying he didn't want to go down the drain. He fell back asleep. The next day in the car he started crying saying he didn't want to go down the drain. I hadn't brought up drains again since that initial time. I tried explaining to him that he was too big but that wasn't working since then we was fixated on really big drains. We came home and I showed him the difference between liquids and solids and said only liquids go down the drain. He couldn't possible go down the drain because he's not a liquid. It really eased his mind. So if drains ever come up in conversation with him remember that ONLY liquids go down drains. I'm sure there is a point when he'll discover that it's not true but I want it to be after his fear is resolved. He was putting leaves down the storm drain yesterday but luckily the association hasn't been made. I rushed him along as quick as I could. He's going to realize someday I lied to him. I need to think of a way out this. I'm the one who is going to go down the drain.

ISO Friend

Tropical Storm Hanna looked like just another storm. N-'s 4th birthday was a few days ago but his party was yesterday. I thought it might be rained out but the heavy rain only lasted a short time. By two the rain was mostly gone. We headed over to his house. Bohdin was the 3rd boy there. He was quite shy in the beginning, staying very close to me. As time went on he went further and started playing with the toys. Two other boys eventually showed up. Bohdin played with N-'s mom and had a great time. It sounded like the most fun anybody had at the party. We had cake and ice cream and Bohdin watched three of the boys playing freeze dance. N- was in a corner playing by himself. Bohdin enjoyed watching the freeze dance but didn't want to participate himself. At some point he may have. They had those large punching balloons blown up and other three boys had been roughhousing with them earlier. In between the cake and present opening, Bohdin and another boy started playing with them together. That just made me see again that Bohdin needs a friend who he can play with like that. N- is even quieter than Bohdin. Bohdin needs someone who is capable of some aggressive play. Perhaps N- is but he and Bohdin have an incredibly difficult time communicating. My goal this week is to try to find him a friend or a situation where we can meet new people. The library starts story time this week. It's at an inconvenient time but I think we need to try and make it. I may also put out an ad to my local mom's groups and see if I can come up with somebody suitable.

Buddy had to work almost all day yesterday. After a quick dinner we headed outside. The storm brought lots of puddles to the area. Here is Bohdin dancing in the puddle and rumbling his truck through the puddle.

 
 
 
 

Bracing for Hanna

Tropical Storm Hanna is supposed to be swinging through here in a few hours. It's all over the news. Stuff is being canceled. There is a lot of talk of emergency preparedness. When I see it on tv it looks like a bit of rain with some wind. That's not unusual for this area. We'll see in a few hours what happens. It's been raining since 7pm last night.

Bohdin's friend came over yesterday to play. They really don't play that well together. They're both on the shy quiet side and nothing ever happens. They sort of go about and do their own thing. Bodhin still asks for him. I don't know if it's because he likes him or he doesn't know anybody else. He did manage to talk the mom's ear off. He showed her everything he could find. He talked about all of his toys. He brought out books to show her. It was practically nonstop. At one point he and N- tried playing together. Bohdin was playing with a toy that N- had brought over but not in a way that N- liked. He was upset but didn't know how to say stop. Bohdin didn't want to stop doing it. Both adults interfered a bit. Bohdin became upset when a compromise was reached. He has a lot of emotional growing ahead of him. It probably didn't help that he was hungry and tired.

Don't touch

Before Bohdin was born I knew he was either going to hate being touched or want to be touched all of the time. In a way, he is both. When he is sad or sleeping he is comforted by touch. That's why he slept with us for so long. Now he's losing his need. That will increase as he grows up. On the other hand, he doesn't really like hugs. He'll tolerate Buddy, or Nyla, or I hugging him but he doesn't care for other people to touch him. In fact, he hates it. Tyken tried to give him a hug when we were in Colorado. From his expression you would think that he was going to get a hug from somebody who hadn't bathed in 3 weeks and was covered by bugs. He was horrified at the thought that Tyken might actually put his arms around him. He did successfully dodge the hug. Some people are put off that he doesn't like physical affection because they don't understand that it's not personal. He wouldn't give me a hug on Mother's Day because he said "But I'm not sad". He's okay with touching other people on occasion but they usually can't touch him back.

Nyla's sleep has been all over the place recently. In the past 10 days she has went to bed as late as midnight and as early as 7:20 (last night). In the morning she'll wake up between 6:30 and 10. If she has another really really late night (although past midnight is really unlikely) we'll be able to watch the Broncos season opener on Monday. The game starts at 10:15pm. We'll be lucky to watch the opening drive before having to go to sleep.

I've been focusing a lot of time on cleaning the past two days. I went through the boxes and bags of toys I had stashed away. They toys are mostly organized now and there are two boxes ready to leave the house. I hope it lasts at least a little while. The problem is that toys and books and puzzle pieces just get put in the nearest available space instead of the correct space.

Since a tired Nyla refused a nap yesterday I just let her play while i cleaned the kitchen and prepped dinner. Bohdin was playing nicely and quietly with his toys. Nyla was quiet although she didn't always do the right thing. She did manage to open some play dough and eat it. While I was working yesterday it seemed that two kids was finally becoming much more manageable.

Everything didn't go completely smoothly yesterday. Nyla was grumpy after Bohdin awoke her from her nap. We needed to get out of the house. I grabbed a piece of leftover chicken from the curried chicken and sweet potato I had made earlier. Nyla ate it but it was a little messy. Bohdin saw her face and said "Nyla has poop on her face". When I looked at her it did look like poop. She has had diarrhea the past several days and that was the same exact shade. Interestingly enough, now that she has eaten the curry her poop is back to normal.

I have a milestone to report. Nyla finally has enough hair that she can wake up with bed head. Blond hair sure is slow to come in.

When Bohdin was sick a few weeks ago I checked out the Magic School Bus from the library for him to watch. He is now very interested in it. It's a nice program. He was telling me how baby stars needed to be squeezed before they can shine. I thought he was wrong but Buddy said it was correct. Astronomy is so boring to me. We've also been reading some of the books so he's been talking about white blood cells as well. I'll have to check if they have more of those videos at another branch.

Too Hot

We are in the middle of a heat wave right now and it's too hot to do anything comfortably outside. It's not too hot to swim but the pool is closed now. I don't think we've been doing much of anything. Bohdin and Nyla's naps were staggered yesterday so the afternoon was spent with one awake baby. I did a lot of cleaning. I guess I'll mention some past stuff since I can't think of anything recent.

Bohdin is still interested in rhyming words. Sometimes the rhyming word is not really a word although it does rhyme. A few weeks ago we were doing some rhyming he says ten n that rhymes. In my head I was thinking "en" is not a word so I asked him what an "en" is. He said "A letter"

Nyla is progressing really well on the slides. She has stopped trying to walk down them and instead can sit and scooch herself until she gets going. It's crazy to see how good she is.

Bohdin wanted to use the ladle the other day and suggested we make a cake. We did make some chocolate fudge cakes. It would have been better for our waistline to make soup though.

We've been reading a lot of books like usual but I don't feel like reviewing them all. I'll highlight the ones Bohdin liked:
Animals aboard! / Andrew Fusek Peters
Ducks don't wear socks / by John Nedwidek
Get to work, trucks! / by Don Carter
Good morning, Digger / by Anne Rockwell - This was a rerun. We had it when Bohdin was about 2. It took me a while to realize why he was saying broken glass and vacant lot. He got it from this book.
Home for a tiger, home for a bear / Brenda Williams
The Hoppameleon / Paul Geraghty
Just like daddy / Frank Asch - This book had Bohdin picking flowers for me
Old black fly / Jim Aylesworth
Our community garden
Truck driver Tom / Monica Wellington
Flora's surprise! / Debi Gliori

Bohdin just woke Nyla up. He insists that "this time I'll be quiet". He just doesn't get it.

Labor Day

Buddy was reading a book to Bohdin tonight. The opening sentence introduces a character named Audrey Aubergine. As Buddy wondered aloud the correct pronunciation of Aubergine, Bohdin says "Can mommy read me the book or something?".

Buddy has been talking about the new iphone for a while. Although I have shown zero interest he thought it would make a great birthday present for me. Today we went to the store to check them out. I only went because Buddy was so interested. I did end up trying it out and it was actually pretty neat. We walked out with one iphone but it was for Buddy not for me. So there is his birthday present. I was going to get him a new cookie sheet but that will have to wait.

We went to the pool today for the last time. It closes after Labor Day. The water was a bit chilly. The forecast for the next several days is 90+ degree weather so it's a bit unfortunate. Bohdin was kind of swimming today. Buddy held him with a noddle and he kicked off from the wall. He doesn't like to be reclined in the water. It was good that he tried.

I had my first stranger approach me to ask where I bought Nyla's outfit. It was one of the ones I had sewn. I thought that was pretty exciting. While Buddy was checking out the iphone, Bohdin and Nyla ran around the store. They kept each other occupied really well. It probably looked like we were raising wild animals though. On the way home they were giggling so hard in the backseat. Bohdin was pretending to squirt her or something with a strap from the Ergo. They both thought this was hysterical. I love hearing them have so much fun together.