Hide and Seek......

Let's play hide and seek, mom! My kids love to play hide and seek....unfortunately, they are not old enough yet, where it is fun for them to play it with each other, without me being involved. Then again, on the other hand, they ARE young enough for me to get away with 'sort of' playing.

Here are some highlights:

Much to JJ's frustration, Cari loves to hide where ever he hides...but she doesn't stay there....she hides, then when you say 'ready or not, here I come'...she comes out and says...'here we are'! I try to pretend I don't know where they are hiding. I walk around naming a bunch of other potential future hiding spots...hoping maybe it will give him some idea, all the while knowing exactly where he is hiding. But he thinks it is the most brilliant hiding spot in the world....and thats really what it is all about isn't it?

The best was when he hid in the front entry of our house. We have a wall hanging with hooks for coats in that area, but we never use that door, so it becomes kind of a storage area. Jim has a hunting jacket (deer hunting, so think bright orange) hanging there, and at one point, I hid in that spot with the jacket over me, but it wasn't really a good disguise. He found me, but did think it was a funny idea. So funny that later he tried it. It was by far more effective for him, being much smaller. Of course, Cari was giving him away the whole time, but he actually hid so well in that corner, that I started to walk away, not believing her that he was there....until he giggled. ;o) Then he came out, so proud...and said "I was camouflaged, wasn't I mom? I blended in to my surroundings." ;o)

It isn't any easier for me to hide with Cari than JJ....I hid in our bedroom at one point, with her, and said, shhh we have to hide.....then she hears JJ ask daddy, "have you seen mommy". Her reply??? She goes running out of the room and says, "here she is JJ" and takes him by the hand and all but drags him back to where I am hiding...giggling all the way. ;o)

All in all, they had a blast and it was a fun time for all. At least today, JJ didn't seem to mind his sister spoiling his hiding places.

Big Brother helps out.......

Last night, we were going out to dinner for my sister-in-law's birthday. I had just gotten home from work, and had to take care of a couple things, so asked JJ to start getting his boots and coat on. After all, what good is it to have a kid who can now do these things for himself if you don't take advantage of it once in a while! ;o)

He had his own coat on, and from the kitchen, I hear Cari and JJ having the following conversation:

Cari: Here's my coat JJ.
JJ: Here, I can help you get it on. Do you want me to help you?
Cari: Yeah, sure!
JJ: Ok. Cari, hold still. No, Cari, put your arm in THIS sleeve. CARI, I'm trying to HELP you! Cari, stop moving around so I can help you get your coat on.

I couldnt' help but laugh, because after all, how many times have I experienced those exact same things helping either one of the kids with stuff! ;o) I just thought it was really cute that 1) he wanted to help her, and 2) that she asked him to (sort of).

When they get along together, it really is a bonus! ;o)

My best friend in the whole world!

Lately Cari has come up with a bunch of odd phrases for a 2 year old. I am sure she hears us, her brother, her 5 year old cousin, etc.....but still, they sound funny coming out of her mouth! Things such as:

-- "This is my baby, mama....she is my best friend in the whole world"

-- "I LOVE macaroni and cheese....it's my FAVORITE!!"

--"But mama, we HAVE to...." (fill in the blank...apparently there are lots of things we HAVE to do)

If she has a 'momentary lapse in judgement (what 2 year old doesn't), where she chooses not to listen or to argue with us about something....she will loose a toy for a certain time period. In general, she looses several babies over the course of a week. Lately if she can't find something, anything, not just babies, she will say "I loosed it"....most of the time not the case.

Yesterday when I gave her back one of her babies she had lost last week, she gave it a hug and a kiss, and said "Hi Baby....I miss-ed you. Are you ok? I give you a kiss, ok baby?" ;o)

-- "Good job mommy....you did it...you came home from work! YAY!"

-- and my personal favorite...when I put her to bed, our ritual before I close her door is to say "I love you, sleep good". She always says, Sleep good, I love you too" and when I say thank you, she always says "Your welcome mama" ;o)

There is always something she is saying that makes me stop and wonder when she got so big. ;o) Now, if we could just tackle some other 'big kid stuff' like potty training.....................

Valentine's party

I got to spend the day today with JJ's preschool class helping with their Valentine's party. Being a working mom is rough when it comes to stuff like that, as I feel like I am missing out. But I made a promise to myself that I would help with a party, and go on a field trip with him and so, I made good on part of that promise last week, and the other half will be next week.

It was so much fun to see him with his friends, and interacting with the kids, and all that. Although it doesn't really seem like he does interact a lot. He kind of does his own thing a little bit, but along side some of the other kids. He does play and interact some, but when it comes down to it, he would rather give way to someone else than stand up for himself, or tell someone that they took something of his, etc. That bothers me a bit, but I am not sure how to help him with that.

Point in case, he made a picture for me in the 'office' play area while I was there, and then put it in the mail box, and wanted me to come over to see it. I was helping kids with a project and was in the middle of painting with one of the other kids, so I wasn't able to go over and see what he had made. At some point, one of the other kids took his picture out, and put theirs in. The look on his little face was so sad. ;o( I was disappointed in myself that I hadn't taken 30 seconds to go over and see it. I told him to try asking some of his friends, and he did sort of. But he was standing there next to me, trying so hard not to cry, but that picture was obviously important to him. It broke my heart. A couple of the other kids helped him look for it, which I thought was nice, but they never did find it. We went back to look for it after the class was over, even though he was convinced that one of the other boys had put it in HIS pocket. Once he actually had time to tell me exactly what it looked like, I found it in 10 seconds flat! He was so happy! I think it had made his day. Thankfully I don't think that the picture fiasco caused him to not enjoy the rest of the party. He was excited to pass out his valentine's and to have ice cream sundaes.

Not sure whose idea it was to serve 4 and 5 year olds ice cream sundaes, sugar cookies with half an inch of frosting, M&Ms, Smartees, and marshmallow hearts, plus red kool-aid, at 11:30, but I am quite sure it was someone who KNEW they weren't going to have to see these kids again until Wednesday of the following week.

Big Brother shares his vast knowledge......

Let me start by saying that I have never been one to shy away from calling things what they are, so when JJ was younger and started asking about specific body parts, I had no problem telling him what his boy parts were called. But, when he started inquiring about what girls have, since they don't have a penis, I struggled with if I should give him the term or not. Visions of the kid from Kindergarten Cop ran through my mind (If you haven't seen it, there is a kid in the kindergarten class whose parent is a gynocologist, and the little boy is well versed in correct anatomical terminology). I also felt like I should discuss it with his dad first, before I told him....don't ask me why...because I didn't do that before I told him he had a penis.

We really didn't discuss it, and I finally did tell him the term. He had to ask several times, as he couldn't remember what it was called. For all I knew, he still couldn't remember.

Fast forward to last night at bathtime: JJ was in the bathtub but Cari was fresh out of the tub, and sitting on the potty chair....to no avail, unfortunately. But she sat down and said, "I have a penis". I politely told her that no, she didn't, boys had penis' and girls didn't and thus, she was a girl and did most definitely NOT have a penis. The rest of the conversation went like this:

Cari: "Yes I do mommy, I have a penis like JJ"
Me: "Honey, I know you love your brother, and want to do everything he does, but you don't have a penis."
JJ: "Cari, I have a penis. You have a vagina" You can't have a penis, you are a girl, and girls have vaginas." So, apparently he did finally remember the name.