Jack Sprat

Benjamin and Isabella are like Jack Sprat and his wife in most ways.

Benjamin only likes strawberry cream cheese; Isabella only white.
Benjamin likes egg whites; Isabella likes the yokes.
Benjamin likes marinara sauce; Isabella calls it "too spicy" and only likes Alfredo.
Benjamin likes his ice cream without the cone; Isabella will dump the ice cream in the trash and only eat the cone.
Benjamin loves fruity yogurt; Isabella always chooses vanilla.
Benjamin hates most kinds of meat; Isabella will often eat the meat first.
Benjamin never wears a coat and is almost never cold; Isabella almost always cries if she's out in the cold for more than a few minutes.
Benjamin loves to give hugs and is very physically affectionate; Isabella screams if Benjamin hugs her.
Benjamin loves to draw pictures for me and often writes me little love notes; Bella likes to color on the chairs, table, or herself.
Isabella is incredibly verbal and has been since a very young age. Although Benjamin is now, his only word was "Da" until he was nearly 2 and 1/2.

Yet, despite these and a myriad of other differences, these two are best friends. Today they were cat and dog or prince and princess or alien and astronaut all day long. We also did our usual Wednesday craft time today. We painted and made alien headbands.


Then they requested we play their latest favorite game "musical numbers." I made this up one night while I was trying to figure out how to teach Benjamin higher numbers. He recognized 1-10 just fine, but when you started to combine them, such as in 67 or 98, he was unable to name it. So I wrote down about 30 different random numbers between 1 and 99 on pieces of paper about 2 inches square. I wrote the number 1-10 in one color and all higher ones in another. The next day I spread them out all over the floor and had the kids dance around to music. When I stopped the music, they were to be on a number of their color. (Bella got the numbers 1-10 and Benjamin all the higher ones). If they were on a number when the music stopped, they got a point. If they were able to correctly name the number, they got another point and the number was removed from the game. We played this about a month ago for the firs time and they loved it so much that they now want to play it every week after craft time. It's amazing how it's helped too! Benjamin now knows all the numbers 1-100 and Bella went from knowing no numbers to knowing all of them 1-10. Because they've learned it so well, next week I'm going to change it a bit and start on reading. I decided to do letters for Bella and sight words for Benjamin. He knows a lot of them already, but this is a great way for him to practice more.


One last update: I took Christian to his 6 month check up on Monday and he's grown into the 75 percentile in height now. Yay for my little peanut! I guess he's not so little anymore! That was a funny doctor's visit because it had snowed about 6 inches the night before, so the roads were a mess. But I purposely left early and drove carefully and made it fine. I was in the parking lot, just walking in, when my phone rang. It was the doctor's secretary telling me that he was stuck in the snow and awaiting a tow truck and I shouldn't come in. I told her that I was already in the parking lot and could I see someone else in the practice? She said no, that they were all too busy. Do not tell me that I just drove 40 minutes in the snow with three kids to be sent home! So I walked into the office and again asked to see a doctor. I guess it's easier to say no to someone on the phone then to someone who's standing in your office. We saw a doctor and were out in 30 minutes. :) Don't mess with Mama Bear.

Night Owl Christian and Flying Bella

How can you not love this little guy? He is so stinkin' cute! I have to keep reminding myself of that when it's 1 and 3 and 5 in the morning and he's crying hysterically. It's at those times that I have to smell his head and hold his snuggly little body and remind myself that really I do love him, even if I'm so brain dead from sleep deprivation that I'm a hazard to myself and others. Case in point #1: Benjamin asked me yesterday what a national anthem is and when I told him it was a country's song, he asked me to sing ours. I couldn't remember it. I stood there staring at him and couldn't come up with "The Star Spangled Banner" or the lyrics or even the tune!! I finally had to go on Youtube and play it. Case in point #2: Took the kids shopping. Got them all in the car, drove to the store and what did I not bring? MONEY! Yes, I brought snacks, diapers, bottle for Christian, but not money. So much for our shopping trip. Case in point #3: I'm a member of a book club. Each month we choose a book to read. Sometimes we choose a few books in advance too. Apparently everyone else was clear on when we were reading each book. I, however, was not, and read next month's book. At least I'm prepared! Case in point #4: I decided to make lasagna for dinner, so I walked over to the freezer to thaw some beef. I have no memory of what happened next. Apparently I never thought of beef again because all I know is 3 hours later, I'm at the stove ready to start the lasagna and there's no thawed beef. I have no idea why I never made it to the freezer, but needless to say, we had vegetarian lasagna tonight. Case in point #5: I teach the nursery class at church (children 18 months to 2 years). There is one boy with a milk allergy. I remembered that when we started passing out snack (quesadillas) and made a point not to give him one. About 3 seconds later as I'm rounding the table and get to his place, I drop on one his plate. Next thing I know, one of the other teachers is saying, "That has milk in it!" and grabs the chewed up bite out of his mouth. I felt so incredibly terrible I wanted to walk out and never come back. Case in point #6: I was preparing a bottle for Christian. I'd already poured in 2 oz. of pumped milk, so I needed 4 oz. of formula. I thought, "I need 4 ounces" then I proceeded to pour in enough water and formula for 2 and shook the bottle and it wasn't until I saw that there was still some missing that I realized I'd only prepared 2 oz. How can I forget something I thought of only seconds before!? Need I go on with examples? Let's not forgot the stories I wrote about here. I'm a mess. But he sure is cute, isn't he? He makes the funniest pterodactyl-like sounds too. He cracks me up.

Bella seems to think he's cute too. Yesterday all day long she'd come up next to him and ask me to take their picture. Although, I'm not so sure it was really about Christian, because as soon as I got out the camera, she'd strike a model pose with head back, legs stretched out, arm posed just so. So hilarious. I was always laughing too hard to take a picture. She finally gave up and just smiled for the camera.


At Benjamin's request, I took the kids to the mall today to play on what a friend of mine once called "the giant germ." It's the kids' play area which is made up of colorful climbable structures in various shapes. Benjamin is actually above the height limit for the play area, but I told him he could play on it when there weren't too many little kids. He was really good about keeping that rule and so I offered to also let him go on the new bungee cord ride they have next to the play area. Of course, that means Bella gets to too. Sadly, I forgot to take pictures until Bella got on after Benjamin, but they were both so excited. This thing is a blast. If I didn't have to hold Christian, I would have gone on it. Benjamin was jumping so high on it I thought he'd hit the ceiling. Bella was more cautious, but they both laughed the whole time. I told Kelly that he's going to have to take Christian some time so I can go on it too.

Being a Mom is Being an Actress

I recently came to the conclusion that being a mom is all about being a good actress. I love my kids dearly, but boy do they know how to drive me crazy!!! Yet, what kind of a mom would I be if I let that show? So at some point every day, I play the role of "Happy Chipper Mom." I understand being a 2 and 4 year old is tough. But the emotional drama that goes on in our house over nearly every little thing pushes me to the limit sometimes. Whether it's that the oatmeal is too hot, the gloves are hard to put on, or the desired book is missing, the reaction is the same: mass hysteria. Whining, screaming, crying. Many times I thought someone had been cut or burned based on the reaction and come to find out, it was something like their sunglasses had fallen on the ground. My gut reaction at these times is to scream, "Are you kidding me?!? That's all it was!? Are you out of your mind!? I ran all the way over here thinking you were dying! Stop crying over nothing!" But that's when my acting skills come out and I become Empathetic Mom! "I'm so sorry you can't find your other glove/dropped your spoon/are having trouble putting on your shoes. Let me drop everything and come help you. We'll fix it together!" And the Oscar goes to Michelle! I think this whole thing helps me understand God so much better too. How often does he likely think, "You're upset about that!? That's nothing!" Yet he shows empathy, sends comfort, answers prayers, and leads us along. And I'm guessing he's not just acting. I have a lot to learn.

When I find myself slipping and the volume of my voice rising, then I take the kids and flee to a place where there are sources of distraction. On Saturday this was Ikea. Man, I love that place. I just want to buy entire showrooms there. My kids love it too. Wanna know what we don't love? The fact that once you're ready to pay for your items, you get to walk another 10-15 minutes through the rest of their store to the checkout, even if you know all the shortcuts. Marketing genius but a mom's nightmare. But that aside, we had a great time playing and especially trying on hats and headbands.



Last week my choice of distraction was the zoo. Should have checked the weather. It snowed about 3 inches while we were there. We had a blast, though. Sure, you can forget about the tigers and the giraffes in that weather, but man are the seals, penguins, otters, arctic foxes, and polar bears in rare form. It was a real adventure. And no one complained of cold or whined once! A true success.



By the way, Happy Valentine's Day! We made Valentine mobiles for the kids' room last week. I wish I'd remembered to take a picture of the final product before Benjamin destroyed it while he was in time out yesterday. But here's a cute picture of Bella with part of hers.


Benjamin's class did a Valentine's program where they hid in boxes and then after we'd come into the room, they all jumped out and sang a song about mailing themselves to us. Very cute. Also, Kelly and I went to our ward's Valentine's dance on Saturday. That was a blast. I requested the Electric Slide and had so much fun dancing to it. Strangely, Kelly and I were the only ones who knew it! So we rocked the casbah all by ourselves. We're nerds and proud of it.


Oh, and Happy 1/2 Birthday to Christian! Little Man turns 6 months today. He's still waking up a lot at night, but he's learned how to roll and sit (with occassional falls), he's eating solid foods, and he's getting so big! He's a wonderful, happy baby and we love him.

The Great Escape

We finally made it out of the house for our first big outing post sickness. We've done little things - grocery shopping, library story time, etc. but aside from mine and Bella's lingering consumption-like cough, we were better and ready to get away. It felt so good! We went to the Ann Arbor Hands on Museum and had a wonderful time. I love it there. It is a great museum for kids, but above that I love that they rotate the displays and are always bringing in new things and that everything is clean and well maintained. (Take note Detroit Science Center!) It makes it a continually fun, new experience.


Today they had a display on ship wrecks in lakes around Michigan that fascinated me and Benjamin. We could have spent all day there. He just might be another history buff like me...or maybe it was just the boats. Not sure. But the whole place was great. Bella's favorite part was the ambulance. She really makes a great little paramedic....when she's not busy sucking her thumb.


Funny stuff: Benjamin kept spontaneously hugging Bella today and she clearly didn't like it. She screamed bloody murder every time. He continued when we were home and also during dinner. "Why do you keep hugging her when she clearly doesn't like it? Please stop!" I finally demanded, exasperated. "But she's just so cute!" he responded. Can't argue with that. A very cute thing she did today was on the way to the museum. It's a 2 block walk from the parking garage to the museum and so as we were walking down the street, I heard Bella mumbling something about "beautiful." I stopped and asked her what she was saying and she said, "The sky is just so beautiful! It's so blue and sunny!" I looked up and truly, it was a gorgeous sunny day. We took a moment to admire it together and notice the white fluffy clouds and the way the sun sparkled on the snow. It was a really sweet moment.