an update ~ May 2010

I’m posting an update on the kids today. I’ve been wanting to record some of these cute stories, and while I’m at it, I thought I would also write down some details about their personalities and what they like to do.

Last week Jed and I were talking in the kitchen and Jed looked over and saw Benjamin trying to climb up the toy closet shelves to reach something. Jed said, “Benjamin, don’t climb on the shelves! The toy closet might fall over on top of you… and break one of your bones… or give you a pneumothermer…” I busted out laughing at that because ‘pneumothermer’ is a sort of inside joke between the two of us. We both like the movie Just Like Heaven, and there is a hilarious scene where Reese Witherspoon (a doctor whom no one can see or hear) is trying to direct Mark Ruffalo in treating a pneumothorax. The scene is so funny because he is totally uncomfortable and freaking out while trying to follow her directions, and it appears like he is talking to himself, etc. Anyway, Mark Ruffalo keeps mispronouncing it as ‘pneumothermer’ and so that’s what Jed was referencing. Anyway, bringing up that funny scene made us both feel like watching it, so while the kids were playing in the front room, Jed looked it up online and called me over to enjoy the scene with him. We were half way through when suddenly I realized that the kids had descended upon us and were clamoring in our ears: “I want to see it! Let me watch!” and “Sit on laff! Sit on laff!” (Eliza says ‘laff’ instead of ‘lap’). I had been concentrating on trying to hear it and hadn’t even noticed them until they were so loud that it broke my concentration. At the same moment, Jed also suddenly couldn’t take it and was like “woah, woah, woah!” and turned it off. We both extracted ourselves from the little ones climbing on top of us, and started laughing. The entire scene (not the movie scene, the one in our home!) was so funny! Here we are, trying to steal just five minutes alone to enjoy something together and >WHAM< the kids are jumping all over us. Boy, oh, boy!

Eliza

When my sister, Mindy, came to visit, she brought a birthday gift for Eliza. It turned out to be a Ballerina Barbie, wearing a yellow leotard (which was part of the plastic body) and a tutu. When Ben saw it, he said, “She’s naked!” Eliza immediately latched on to that and started looking at the Barbie concerned, and turning the Barbie so she could see under her tutu, and saying, “She naked! She not wearing pants! No pants on!” It was soooo funny! We were all laughing and I had to tease Mindy, “Nice, Mindy, give her a naked Barbie!” It was pretty funny.

Eliza reading 'bookies'.

She has been going to down for naps and to bed with a few books lately. Initially it started with just one: “A bookie! A bookie!” and then it moved on to “A bunch of bookies! A bunch!” So now Eliza goes to bed with “a bunch of bookies.” Even though she just turned 2 years old a few months ago, she can talk a mile a minute. When she talks to my mom on the phone sometimes she will tell her something over and over without letting my mom get a word in edgewise in way of response. Such a silly girl. She pronounces words well. The only words I can think of that she says wrong are ‘lap’ (she says, ‘laff’), ‘zip it up’ (she says, “rip it up”), 'spill' (she says, "I didn't fill!"), and ‘hamburger’ (she says, “hangerber”). The other day, Eliza built a tower of blocks on the carpet by Jed. She wandered away and Ben came over and crashed them down and said, “Eliza, look!” Eliza came over, saying, “Yes, Ben? Yes?” expectantly. When she saw the crashed blocks, her face got all mad and she looked at Jed (Ben had made a get-away) and said, “I’m mad!” Jed said, “You’re mad?” and she replied, “I’m Super mad!” Jed thought that was pretty funny. She has continued to say “super” a lot lately – the way she says it in her little voice is cute.

For my birthday and Mothers Day, Jed instigated a little game at the dinner table. He said, “Let’s tell Mommy why we love her so much. I love Mom because she takes care of Sam and never complains, even when she has to get up in the night. Okay Ben, now it’s your turn.” Ben said, “I love Mom because she makes us yummy food.” Then Jed said, “Eliza, now you say why you love Mom so much.” Eliza looked at me and pointed and said, “I love you so much!” It was cute – her funny intonation and baby voice can’t be duplicated in print. This went on; Jed would take a turn, and then Ben again, etc. Ben usually said things about my cooking (probably since that is what he could think of easiest since that was what was in front of him), “…because she’s a great cooker!” or “…because she makes us yummy stuff.” Sometimes he would say, “…because she is so nice” or “…because she plays with us.” Every time, without fail, Eliza would look at me with a smile, and say, “I love you so much!” Sometimes she would sing it, “I loooove yooou sooo muuuch!” in her sing-song voice. They were both so sweet.

Eliza has been doing a sing-song voice for prayers lately. When Jed or I prompt her with what to say in the prayer, she will sing it instead of just repeating it. I’ll say, “I’m thankful for my family” and she will repeat it like a song, “I’m thaaankfullllll foooor my fammmmilllly.” Tonight she pretty much yelled all the phrases she repeated at prayer time. Ben was covering his ears. Afterward, she turned to me (with much more energy than she should have at bedtime) and said in her regular voice, “I say it loud!” Jed and I looked at each other like, “yeah, we noticed.” :) Such a quirky and cute little thing.

Eliza has entered the tantrum stage, much to my dismay. One moment during the day she is absolutely adorable and then the next moment she is completely unmanageable. It’s crazy! Let’s see, this morning she had a tantrum about wanting yogurt for breakfast instead of cereal, tonight it was about wanting more books to go to bed with (I have to put the limit to 3 or 4 or else she is up way too late straining her eyes to look at them!), and I’m skipping a few in between. Yesterday it was at the checkout lane because I had to strap her in because she kept standing up in the cart. Her piercing screams echoed through the store. Being anywhere nearby made your ears ring. I tried to appease her and talk her out of it, but she was past the point of no return. Yeah, that was immensely embarrassing. Oh boy. I don’t remember Ben going through a stage of tantrums. Hopefully this stage is short and ends, say, tomorrow. (It was lunch time and nap time and it had been a long grocery shopping trip, in her defense.) She has also become pretty stubborn, where she refuses to stop doing something (ie kicking Ben from the seat in the grocery cart when he is helping me push it or standing directly in front of the TV when she and Ben are watching a movie) or refuses to do something (ie apologize). When I have to somehow intervene, she has a tantrum. Her tantrums definitely stem from her recently acquired stubbornness.

It’s so interesting how Ben and Eliza are different from each other. Whenever I want Ben to say something, all I have to do is prompt him and he will repeat me. For instance, I will say, “Ben, say ‘Eliza, don’t worry – I will share with you. You can play with this as soon as I am done.’” And Ben will repeat it word for word without hesitation. Or I will say, “Ben, say ‘Eliza, I’m sorry for teasing and I won’t take the puzzle piece from you anymore.’” And Ben will say it to her. Eliza, on the other hand, is usually feeling too stubborn to repeat any of my promptings. I will be just about to give her the much coveted bowl of applesauce or yogurt or something, but first I will say, “Eliza, say, ‘Sorry, mommy, for crying.’” Nope. She won’t do it. Instead she gets upset that I am not handing the bowl to her and she will start crying again. She will usually say it after I give it to her, though. ‘Holding’ something (any incentive like food, activity, etc) in Ben’s sight will always get him to do whatever it is, but Eliza isn’t motivated that way. Jed and I have to learn a new way of motivation. :) (Of course Ben is old enough now that he is motivated by intangible things, like if I talk about what Heavenly Father would want him to do, or talk to him about having the Holy Ghost in our home. He almost always changes his attitude and behavior when we talk about the Holy Ghost being with us.)

Even with her little stubborn streak, Eliza is a cutie pie. The other day I was doing funny faces to the kids and whenever I did a sad face Eliza would cock her head and say, “Don’t cry! Don’t cry Mommy!” in her cooing voice and pat my leg comfortingly. Now whenever I make that face, she will do that.

Right now she is reading a book (actually singing the title over and over) to her baby on the mini armchair I bought for her. She’s a cutie.

Benjamin

Now we have three kids in the back seat of our sedan, and so there are three carseats all smashed together back there. Trying to buckle Ben in can be aggravating (especially since he can do it himself if only the seats weren’t crammed in so tightly). Anyway, yesterday I was running late for a doctor appointment, and was feeling stressed and exuding stressiness to my children as I was running around ordering them to get their shoes on and get their water bottles, etc, as I grabbed this and that. I herded them out to the car and ordered Ben to get in his seat while I hurriedly strapped Eliza in. I ran around to Ben’s side and, as I was struggling to buckle Ben’s seatbelt, he sweetly said, “Mom, don’t worry. Don’t worry, Mom. I like to be bent over. It helps me sleep better.” I realized that he was doubled over as I was squashing him in an effort to get his seatbelt buckled. What a darling boy. At that moment, his sweet words helped me feel calm and slow down. I thanked him and got in the car to drive, feeling much better and not so stressed anymore. Sometimes he gets so super sweet, and it always makes me feel happy (or guilty if I was not being very patient or nice to him!).

This is Ben's 'scary face'.

Last Monday (5/10/10) (when Jed happened to be home in the morning), Benjamin came into my room in the morning and said softly in my ear, “Mom!” I was so tired and was hoping he would either go over to Jed or just climb in bed with us (which he normally does at 7am until I can get my lazy bones out of bed – when it’s just me at home, he will actually just lay there while I sleep for another hour). But he persisted and whispered, “Mom!” two more times in my ear while he gently rubbed the blankets that were over my shoulder. I finally opened my eyes and said, “Hi sweetie.” Then he smiled and said, “Mom, I want to tell you something. I had a dream. I dreamed about Jesus and the children.” I smiled and he continued, “And Mom, there was no darkness—it was all yellow. I was filled with yellow. There was yellow all inside of me.” He is such a sweetheart. I said, “Just like sunshine?” and he nodded his head yes. I smiled and he said, “Mom, did you dream about Jesus and the children?” I told him I hadn’t, and he said, “Mom, you can dream about Jesus and the children, okay?” He gently rubbed the blankets on my shoulder and smiled sweetly at me and quietly whispered, “You dream about Jesus and the children, okay Mom?” I nodded and gratefully closed my eyes again (I was feeling so very tired!) and he quietly climbed over me and crawled under the blankets between Jed and I. Then he let me sleep for quite a while after that. He is such an angel. When he feels the Spirit, he gets all soft and gentle and has such a sweet little smile and countenance. That is how he was that morning, trying to show love to me by letting me dream about Jesus and the children too. It melted my heart. He is such a sweet boy.

This morning (5/12/10), at about 2 or 3am, Benjamin tapped me on the shoulder and told me that he had had a scary dream. I was immediately alert and said, “Oh, sweetie, I’m sorry,” and I pulled him to me and gave him a hug. Then I said, “There, sweetie. Now go back to bed and get under your warm covers.” But he said, “No, I want you to tuck me back in.” So I got out of bed and helped him into his bed and then talked to him about that funny part that he liked in the movie How To Train Your Dragon. I gave him a hug and a kiss, a glass of water (per his request), declined laying in bed with him, and then left with a reminder that his friend was coming over for dinner that night. An hour or two later, he tapped me on the shoulder again saying he had another bad dream. This time I was pretty groggy and feeling super tired, so I hugged him and told him to go back to bed. When he resisted going back alone, I gently told him that I had already been up with Sam and I was very tired. He sweetly agreed and left, and I was a little surprised and very relieved that he understood that I was tired and didn’t make me get out of bed. After a while he woke me up yet again, saying he had a bad dream again, and I gave him a hug and sent him back to his bed, and he left without any further urging. I guess he just needed to tell me about his bad dream and wanted reassurance. I was surprised he was up three times about it; the second and third times were probably just because he was having a hard time going back to sleep. He never wakes me up because of bad dreams. Anyway, I thought it was sweet that he responded sweetly when I told him how very tired I was. I think he is getting more and more mature and understanding.

He is 4 years old (turning 5 this summer) and he will start Kindergarten this fall. He is getting to be such a big boy!

Benjamin has begun a ‘quit sucking my thumb’ incentive program. He has prizes on display for when he doesn’t suck his thumb for 1 day, 3 days and 7 days. I’ll let you know how it goes! The band-aid on his thumb in the picture is part of our effort - it reminds him not to suck his thumb. Right now he is eating a bowl of dinosaur macaroni and cheese for lunch, because he didn’t suck his thumb all morning. He picked it out at the grocery store. It’s maybe the second time I’ve ever made mac & cheese, so this is a real treat! :)

He is signed up for Tball this spring and the other day Jed took him out to get a mit, a tee, and a bat. He is pretty excited about it. Now if it will only stop raining so we can have practices…

This is what Ben came downstairs wearing the other day. A pair of baseball pants, a dark t-shirt, and a dark blue tie loosely tied around his neck. Surprisingly, he looked so new-age... like he was straight from Hot Topic or something.

Samuel

Sam is such a darling little thing. He is two months old now. At his checkup this week he weighed 12 lbs 12 oz (50-75%ile) and was in the 50%ile for height. He really reminds me of Benjamin at this age – sometimes I look at him and think he is the spitting image of his big brother. He nurses every 2 ½ to 3 hours, and has been going 6 hours at night this week (last night it was midnight to 6am, and the other night it was 7 hours- 10:45pm to 5:45am). That is a great improvement from last week when we were still getting up at 3:30am. Hopefully it lasts. He is such an easy going and content baby. He is so mild – even yesterday when I tossed Eliza’s soft stuffed piggy into the front room and it accidentally landed right on his face, he didn’t even whimper. I raced over there to comfort him, but he just looked a bit surprised and that was all. :)

He loves sleeping in his carseat. He will sleep for ages if he’s in his carseat while I’m on the go. It makes going on errands and going shopping amazingly easy for toting a new baby along. He will go way past his feeding time if he’s in his carseat. When I went grocery shopping this week (yes the trip when Eliza made a scene) he slept the entire time. And it was a 2 ½ hour trip. What that means is he went four hours between feedings. I could kiss him (and I did) for being so cooperative! I don’t know what I would have done if he had started screaming for food while I had a loaded cart and a crazy Eliza to deal with. (Of course, I only attempt long trips like that because I know that chances are he will sleep the whole time. And I love getting all our groceries at once and not having to go back for a long time.)

He has followed in Ben’s footsteps when it comes to liking that thumb of his! Last night I heard weird sucking noises and went over to him and he was struggling to suck his thumb through his nightgown. His little thumb was poking out, with wet pajama material all over it. :) Luckily he also likes his binki, so hopefully he will choose binki over thumb, because that’s easier to manage!

Well, there’s my long update! If you made it this far then you can be considered family- if you aren’t already! :)