Good feeling

We had to go to Tyken's house yesterday morning because he had forgotten his candy there the previous day and could think of nothing else. When we arrived the same little boy A- that had been there the day before was there. Tyken and A- played together mostly while Bohdin played with the toys. We stopped at the thrift store after Tyken's house. A- and his mom were going as well. When A- saw Bohdin in the toy section he ran over and said Bohdin!. It was great to see another little boy besides Tyken excited to see Bohdin. It made me feel so good and he told me later that it made him feel good. I wish he had more of that.

The rest of the day was spent picking up grandma from Colorado Springs. It took forever for lots of reasons. That trip is best forgotten. Bohdin has been warming up to people and went off with grandma while I tended to Nyla. He spoke with with her and didn't need as long of a warming up period compared to last year.

Tyken lives in a duplex. As we were leaving yesterday Bohdin said he wished he lived next door to him. "Then we could just walk over."

Stalking Tyken

We spent yesterday following Tyken. We went to Tyken's house. We went to the thrift store with Tyken. We went to eat with Tyken. We went to the playground with Tyken. Luckily, Tyken likes Bohdin a lot so he wanted us everywhere. For a while another little boy was with us along with his mom. Tyken plays with him frequently. At Tyken's house those two boys played together but Bohdin was too busy playing with all of the new toys to feel left out. At the thrift store though it didn't go as well. The other boy was telling Bohdin what to do and Bohdin doesn't know how to respond to this yet. He doesn't understand that he can just say no or let's do something else. I hope that is something he learns on this trip. Bohdin needs to learn to communicate more effectively when he's angry. The other boy was tired and needed to leave so soon it was just Bohdin and Tyken again. That worked out a lot better.

After eating, we went to a nearby playground. Tyken loves to climb but Bohdin didn't want to. Bohdin seemed a little mad from where I was standing but then went to a play structure that he was interested in while Tyken climbed. Eventually they found something to do together. They were exhausted from the climbing and running and settled in for some hole digging.

Bohdin and Nyla were both asleep by the time Paul came home at five. Nyla eventually woke back up for a few hours. That gave her some time to play with Paul's exercise ball and do some drumming.

 
 
 
 

There is an interview going around the internet so I did it with Bohdin. I want to make it a yearly interview. I asked these questions yesterday morning. I'm asking him again today. Any new answers are in []. It's interesting to see what changed and what didn't.

Interview with a 4 year old Bohdin.

1. What is something mom always says to you?
That you need to pee?
[Let's read]

2. What makes mom happy?
Cleaning up. That's my guess.
[Exercising]

3. What makes mom sad?
Falling

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
By making funny jokes

5. What was your mom like as a child?
Huh?
[You were a baby]

6. How old is your mom?
20?

7. How tall is your mom?
1 elephant (Children's books always use elephants as a unit of measure for some odd reason)
[As tall as a grownup?]

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
play?

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
You wait for me. I'm so good at these questions.

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
Being a magician
[Is it because you are a very good singer?]

11. What is your mom really good at?
Playing
[Singing?]

12. What is your mom not very good at?
Running

13. What does your mom do for a job?
Drive a airplane?
[Building?]

14.What is your mom's favorite food?
Pasta?
[Broccoli?]

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
I don't know. I can't think of anything.
[That you play so much]

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
You would be somebody that needs electricity. (He didn't understand this question. He was referring to the tv needing electricity.)

Why?
Because you need to watch tv.

17. What do you and your mom do together?
Play

18. How are you and your mom the same?
Your socks are the same color as my jeans
[We aren't the same. You're wearing a gray shirt and I'm wearing red underwear.]

19. How are you and your mom different?
I have a gray shirt and you have a red shirt.
[I already told you! You're wearing a gray shirt and I'm wearing red underwear.]

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
Because I exercise a lot.
[I don't know. Now let's keep reading.]

21. What does your mom like most about your dad?
He works

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
To the thrift store?

Best afternoon of the year

We flew to Colorado this morning. Bohdin was beside himself with excitement to see Tyken again. We had to call him as soon as we landed. Upon arriving at Paul's house we had a quick snack and then went to the playground to meet Tyken. There was just a few seconds of hesitation on Bohdin's part. Soon they were having a blast together. For some reason they are really compatible and play really well together. There was a bit of drama but not much. Tyken was telling Bohdin what to do and Bohdin didn't like it so he told Tyken "If you don't cooperate I'm never going to play with you again." I talked to Bohdin about what he was saying but the message didn't get through as I intended. Tyken's mom spotted the problem and corrected it. I like having another parent help out like that. Everything she says makes sense and two is better than one.

Bohdin spent basically the entire afternoon laughing. A big part of coming out here was for Bohdin's sake. I can't find Bohdin a friend in Maryland and he is lonely. It's good to see him having such a good time.
 
 
 

Tyken was playing around and when Bohdin made it to the bottom of the slide, he would tell Bohdin "You have beautiful eyes.". The next time he went down it was the same statement. The third time Bohdin was laughing as Tyken said it so Tyken said "Stop laughing." followed by "You have beautiful eyes." It was so funny. This picture was taken at that time.
 

The flight wasn't too bad. Nyla was much better than I anticipated. We had a whole row to ourselves which was nice since Nyla could have her own seat. In typically Nyla Wedge fashion though she wanted to sit in the seat crack between Bohdin and I. It was a long flight but it wasn't bad.

Nyla watches when she gets to a new environment so the first few hours at the playground today were nice because she wasn't doing anything dangerous. Towards the end though, I had to stay close. She managed to climb up the 4 or 5 step ladder by herself. I shouldn't have been surprised but I was. She still seems too little to be doing stuff like that. I thought she was my baby.

I asked Paul if he was going to have a garden this year. Paul thought no since at the time you harvest tomatoes they are cheap in the grocery store and you don't save any money. Bohdin disagreed. He said if you go to your garden and pick a tomato it is free. I thought he had an excellent point. Bohdin was hoping there was something growing out there today. He misses a garden so much. We'll have to do the best we can this summer to grow something. Patio tomatoes are better than no garden.

Not mommy

When Buddy comes back from a trip, Nyla usually shrieks and runs for the door. Bohdin usually finishes what he is doing before saying hello. Based on the initial response it would seem that Nyla is the most excited but it is really Bohdin. His emotional responses are more low-key. Within a few minutes he was all over daddy showing him things, telling him things, and playing with him. Nyla meanwhile had moved on.

Bohdin was so excited to have daddy back and hardly wanted anything to do with me over the weekend. If I repsonded to something he was saying I would hear "I'm talking to daddy". He wanted to hear daddy stories and play with him. We went to a playground in Columbia just to get out of the house. We have a coupon for a free donut from Krispy Kreme and that is our nearest one.

Bohdin catching some air.
 

Nyla dangling on the swing. This was the position she wanted. I think she looks funny.
 

On the way back to the car, Nyla and I chose a different route from the boys. Once at the car they decided to run up the hill before getting in. I tried to put Nyla in her carseat but once she saw that the boys had run off she wanted to go also.
 

Nyla and Bohdin like to run around the house and jump on the bed together. This weekend Nyla refused to play with Bohdin and I'm not sure why. He even told her he wouldn't play rough with her. Sunday morning she was sitting in my lap when Bohdin asked if she wanted to jump on the bed with him. In response, she hit him. I told her that we don't hit. Bohdin asked again. This time I was holding her arms so she headbutted him. I don't know why she was so opposed to the idea of playing with him.
 

Move over Van Trapp family

Bohdin has been singing to Nyla in the car since she was a small baby. Almost every single time that song was ABC. Now Nyla can hum the song but doesn't even attempt the words. I checked out a CD at the library and the ABC song was on there. She started singing along. Bohdin couldn't understand why she wasn't doing the right words but now just copies her lyrics.



Bohdin made up a dance to one of the songs which I think was inspired from him watching a video of a friend's dance recital. You can see part of Nyla's arm on the edge of the video as she copies Bohdin's moves.



Bohdin buckles the top buckle of his seat belt so now Nyla insists on doing her top buckle as well. If there is any hint of outside help she cries and wants to start over. Now it's even slower to run errands with them.

I've pretty much given up on the potty training for Nyla. She has learned a lot since beginning. She now holds her pee better and she knows when she needs to be. The problem is she hates getting pee on her leg which happens if there is an accident. So now to avoid any accidents in not getting to the potty in time she spreads her legs as wide as she can while standing and pees. I prefer diapers to cleaning up pee messes.

Bohdin wanted to make banana bread and this time Nyla wanted to help. Cooking with one child can be interesting but cooking with two is a challenge. They each wanted something to do. I found myself racing to get as much done as possible while they were focused on beating the eggs or measuring the flour. She did do a good job with the eggs but she didn't measure the sugar very well. In several years though I'll have two extra chefs around here.

Children's museum

Buddy has been wanting to take the kids to the Children's Museum in Baltimore for a long time. Yesterday he finally had his chance. The plan was for me to drop them off and stay in the area but it was much colder than I expected so I didn't have a jacket. Parking downtown also would hve cost $14. I didn't want to pay that much money to walk around in freezing cold windy weather. I tried to find the mall that was on the north side of town but instead stumbled upon the REI near an industrial park. I needed to go to REI anyway because we need a new part for our stroller. It was crazy luck.

The kids have been a little sick. Nyla sounds a bit congested at night but is fine during the day. Bohdin is coughing a little. Buddy said he felt a little guilty taking the kids around other kids when they were a little sick. That guilt cleared up right away when he saw how many other kids at the museum were sick. Buddy said they stayed in the grocery store section most of the time. They had a pretend grocery store and a pretend gas station. Bohdin doesn't really want to talk about it right now.

Buddy said that Nyla was frustrated that she couldn't open the bottles in the grocery store. She was thirsty and couldn't understand why she couldn't get a drink.
 
 
 
 

Sitting high

Bohdin woke up feeling completely better Friday morning. It was some sort of 24 hour fever. He didn't have anything else going on. Perhaps he wasn't 100% better because even today he is really grouchy. He usually isn't a grouchy sick but he is this time. Friday morning, Bohdin and Nyla had a boat popsicle together while I was getting dressed. Bohdin was watching some tv before leaving and Nyla joined him. This is a queen size bed and yet Nyla sat on top of Bohdin. He didn't seem to notice until I mentioned that she was sitting on his leg. Then he pushed her off.

 

Nyla threw up last night three times. Bohdin said he didn't like the way his body was feeling and frankly I didn't like the way mine was feeling either. I suspect it was our lunch. Bohdin likes to get hot dogs from Costco. I thought we could just get a package and I would pull some out of the freezer on occasion as a treat. It wasn't a treat at all. I'm going to write the company later (nobody who reads this has access to this brand so don't worry). Nyla came down with a fever in the middle of the night. She seems okay this morning except for some clinginess.

 

Running

Nyla was running away from me in the library yesterday. Another mom commented that she runs very fast for her age. I don't know whether that is accurate or not but Nyls does like to run away from me. Whoever invented the child leash had a child like Nyla. I have a friend with a daughter like this. She thought it was hilarious to open the gate and run across the street. Now I can see firsthand that it is more exasperating tham amusing.


 
 

Bohdin had a fever last night and through most of today. He looks really sick and even acted sick for a while. This morning he complained that he felt dry. This evening I had to talk him out of jumping. He wanted to exercise so he could be healthy but I convinced him he needed to rest right now to be healthy.

Catchup

Just some pictures from this weekend. It will be back to the cold weather again this weekend.

 
 
 
 

Spelling

On the way to the store today Bohdin wanted to know what some things spelled. He chose abd, adb, and caik. After each one I told him that they don't spell a word. After the third one he started crying and said in frustration "I can't spell anything". I tried to sooth his damaged ego. We decided that we would choose 10 words to learn how to spell. After seeing his list we may also want to choose another technique. His list is: tree, wood, house, bricks, wall, paint, car, van, truck, and jeep. When I get my computer back I'll have to reasearch some learning techniques.

Paul mentioned the other day that he likes Bohdin's inventions. He actually has a lot of them but I usually forget them when I'm on the computer. Since he told me I've been trying hard to remember. On the way back from the store today he invented the "superfast buying machine". It has a long arm that would pick up everything you need. In addition you wouldn't have to pay for the items. "Instead of paying 30 dollars and 100 cents you would pay 0 dollars and 0 cents so it would be free." I told him there would be great demand for such a product. When Nyla was having trouble pooping he wanted to invent something with batteries that would go up her butt and help the poop come out. That one didn't sound like as much of a winner. Other recent ones include a machine that would turn red lights green and cars that can drive on air so they can fly over red lights.

Bohdin has been killing me with hard questions lately. He must know that I can't look anything up on the computer right now. "What is inside an egg yolk?" "What is inside a root?" "What is inside a leaf?" "What is inside a belly button?" I've taken some of these things down to a subatomic level but describing these things are hard. I'm not exactly sure what kind of answer he is looking for. I described the belly button as 3 tubes but I don't know how to describe what is inside steel. It's just steel. It's iron and something. I'm not an encylopedia. In fact, I've discovered I know almost nothing.

Running Mate

The weather has been beautiful this weekend. We haven't seen such warm weather since early November. The playground was swarming with kids on Saturday. Bohdin was looking for somebody to run with but we couldn't find anybody. The kids there were either too old or too young. The two that were close in age didn't want to play with Bohdin (I asked). Bohdin felt so lonely. Nyla on the other hand was feeling quite adventurous. It was difficult to try to play with Bohdin while keeping Nyla safe. In the end I failed at both. Nyla fell off the playground equipment and Bohdin never played tag or store or bus the way he wanted.

We went for a long walk today and on the way back stopped at the playground. This time there was a boy there who Bohdin had played with last summer. He came up to Bohdin and asked him if he wanted to play chase. Bohdin didn't. I felt bad for this kid because he looked just as sad as Bohdin had yesterday. I didn't mind that Bohdin didn't play with him because he had a terrible sounding cough and the snot coming out of his nose was nearly to his lip. I don't want us to get sick. We're going to Colorado next week. We left the playground as quickly as possible. Nyla cried the whole way home because she wanted to stop.

The power cord for our computer is broken so there won't be any pictures for a few days and maybe not even posts. It's too hard to type on Buddy's phone. I'm using his work computer right now. Bohdin is tired right now so duty calls.

Three Things Bohdin Likes

We were driving to Costco yesterday and I mentioned that Daddy would be home the next day but possibly after he went to sleep. I asked him what he missed about daddy. He said playing. After a long pause he said "There is something I like more." That something is candy. As we kept talking he said "What I love about Nyla is when she runs. That makes me want to run." (The two of them have had a blast this week running around the house) Bohdin went on to say "I like 3 things - candy, tv, and Nyla." Neither Buddy nor I made the original list. He did later revise it to include both mommy and daddy on the list for a total of 5 things he likes. He also changed tv to Tom and Jerry. He is in love with that cartoon right now.

We were leaving Costco and I noticed that Bohdin was still chewing his last bite of food. When I noticed I apologized and told him that we could sit down and wait while he finished eating. He said "No. I can keep walking. I don't need my feet to chew."

Buddy's grandmother made the kids two dolls for Christmas. Nyla has really enjoyed playing with them. Yesterday she layed on them, carried them, and then tried to cut the hair with a knife.

 
 

I don't really know what is going on in this picture. Just lounging.
 

Bohdin exercising.
 

We were running late this morning since I was meeting somebody at eleven. I asked him if he could pick a book up for me at the library that was on hold. I didn't want to unbuckle Nyla and then rebuckle her. Bohdin knows where the reserved items are held. The library labels the books with a piece of paper with the patron's last name rubber banded to the book. I told him the letters in our last name and then Bohdin says "Write it down so I can match the pattern". When he said it again I said I couldn't do it while driving. "I didn't mean while you are driving. I meant when you stop the car." I did end up going in to help him. He couldn't find the right book. It was a difficult task since there are lots of books to choose from and he doesn't know that they are in alphabetical order.

We were going to stop at the comissary quickly after the library. Bohdin had found some change around the house and was going to use it to buy some candy. As we were leaving the library he noticed a Berenstein Bear book for sale that he had just enough money for. He decided on getting a book instead of the candy. He might want to revise his list of things he likes again.

We had to stop at the commissary for prune juice. Nyla has developed a fear of pooping and she needs to get the poop out. She drank a bit of juice before her nap. If that doesn't work we'll go to the store and get something else tonight.

Chalk Art

We went to Ikea on Monday to get Nyla a chair. Bohdin has a little table and chair where he does his workbooks and sometimes eats. Whenever Bohdin is sitting there Nyla has a strong urge to also sit in the chair. Bohdin found a child sized rocking chair that he liked. When he sat in it he declared if we bough the chair then he wouldn't need me anymore. I did not want to buy two rocking chairs but I may have to rethink that. Bohdin is still talking about it. While there we also saw an art easel which we picked up. It's missing the chalk bin so we'll have to go back to Ikea soon. Not today since it's snowing and actually sticking. It snowed for many hours yesterday but no accumulation.

 

The kids like to play on the rocking chair outside. Bohdin pretends it is a train. Yesterday Nyla insisted on being the conductor so Bohdin and I went to the other parts of the train like the closet and popsicle room.

 

Bohdin dancing
 
 

I'm trying to play stickerman while writing this so all of the things I had planned to write are now gone. I'm pretending to be Bohdin. He likes us to pretend to be different people although it is not a game I enjoy. Usually we pretend to be Tyken.

Bohdin made a mess on the carpet the other day. I told him how difficult it was to clean the carpet when there was dark chocolate ice cream melted on it. He told me we should get a special vacuum that uses steam. "Inside a pad it has some things that the dirt goes up through. It locks it in place so it can't go back on the floor again. But if you use a dirty mop and some clean water, the floor will be damaged. But if you use steam with clean water and that vacuum it makes the floor not damaged." Bohdin loves informercials.

Chocolate face

When it was snowing last week Bohdin thought we should make some ice cream. I put him off for several days but we finally made some this weekend. It was a chocolate cinnamon gelato with toasted pecans and toffee that was pretty yummy. When Nyla was sleeping on Sunday Bohdin took some out of the freezer and then came in with this face:

 

When we have leftovers in the fridge and I'm not cooking I let Bohdin decide what he wants for dinner. Last night he chose a bean sandwich. He made this sandwich himself and then did actually eat it. He had to give one slice of bread to Nyla because once she saw his food she had to have the same. I chose something different.
 

Normally when Buddy is gone I put one child to sleep first and then the other. Nyla is disruptive while Bohdin is trying to sleep so she is usually first unless Bohdin is very tired and Nyla isn't. Last night I decided to do both at the same time. I turned off all of the lights and had Bohdin on one side of me and Nyla on the other. That wasn't good. Nyla needed to be on the other side. Bohdin without grumbling gave up his side each time. I finally put an end to it because I knew that Nyla didn't want a particular side, she wanted to be in the middle. Eventually she got her way and Bohdin fell asleep soon afterward. It took Nyla an additional 15 minutes to fall asleep. I turned on the tv just in time for the half time show of the Super Bowl which I had no interest in seeing. I didn't watch much of the game.

There is still some ice and snow outside despite some warmer temperatures this weekend. When there was more on the ground I took Bohdin and Nyla ice sledding. The ice storm came right on the heels of the snow so there was a one inch layer of snow covered by a sheet of ice. Bohdin and Nyla slid down some small hills on their butts. It was so slippery that I was relieved to be back on regular ground. By yesterday the melting snow had formed some large puddles. Nyla couldn't resist any of them and came back home with cold wet feet. It's another beautiful day today so we'll go to the playground later.

Bohdin loves using the blow dryer because he likes to use the wind to move things around. It always starts off innocently enough by drying actual hair but then the blow dryer creeps toward the toilet paper and then out of the bathroom entirely to find something to blow. In the bathtub the other day Bohdin asked if he could blow dry his hair. I wasn't fooled by his request especially since his hair had not a drop of water on it. He likes to pour water on Nyla's head so he did dry her hair briefly.

Here is Nyla's mad face. She looks just like Buddy when he is mad.