R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Driving down the road today (after our first trip to the first Sonic in Massachusetts ,woohoo for cherry limeades!), Mia stated very subtly, "Boston may be the birth place of The United States, but Texas has a lot more...Respect."

Pretending to play with Freckles, Papa and Nana's doggy.

Driving home after playing with Freckles.

I'm having bad visions of these two taking my car out as teenagers. Yikes!

First day of school. Lennon looks like he is going too.

Oo Un Tum Too?

Lennon is sort of a one step forward two steps back kind of kid so far, but when he takes those forwards steps, he's so much fun. He can be really silly and fun these days. Right now, he is very much into building fires in the backyard. He's actually quite good at it too. He goes into the woods and gathers sticks and piles them all together in a really nice circle. He gets very serious about it. If another kid wants to help they have to do exactly as he says or the world comes crashing to a stop. He totally loses it if someone "messes up" his fire. We have yet to light one that he has built, but we think they would be really good if we did light them.

Another thing he's into right now is Dora, who he wants to be for Halloween. We're not going to give in to that, although we think he would be a really hilarious Dora. He says "how about" all the time. How about Doia Mommy? I suggest something else to which he replies, "How about Doia?" He also says "oo un tum too?" That means "You want to come too?" Yesterday when he got up from his nap and found Mia home from school he went over to her and said "Mia, I waked up. Oo un tum atch Mick Mouse Cubhouse if me?" Translation: Mia, I woke up. You want to come watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse with me?" He talks pretty much constantly.

I was just realizing the other day that I had such a hard time feeding him for so long and thought for a while that he was going to be picky eater. I had forgotten because as of the present, he is a really good eater. Equal to Mia I would say. There are some things he won't eat, but for the most part he eats whatever he is served. Neither of my kids really like to eat onions or peppers unless they are well hidden in chili or burritos or something of the sort. But, I can't think of another vegetable that I cook on a regular basis that they won't eat. Lennon balked at Rattatouille at first, but once he tried it he liked it. He loves fruit, eggs, any type of meat out there, especially sausage. I think the boy could survive on sausage alone if we would let him. He loves cheese too and crackers. We were packing snacks the other day for something and he suggested we pack "cackees and ban-aids." (Crackers and band-aids.) He is very much obsessed with band-aids right now. He needs them any time he bumps anything and acts very dramatically about teeny little boo boos. Not so much with tears, but lots of heavy breathing and sighs and "Oooh, owee, oweee." Very silly. He's so much fun when he's happy. And likewise, he is a veritable nightmare when he is not happy.

Inspecting his apple at Nashoba Valley

One day recently Lennon was convinced that if we got him tin foil, tupperware and water he could make a rainbow. We let him have a go at it, but didn't seem to get results. He was so confidant that I almost expected to see a rainbow myself.

This is first thing in the morning. He wakes up and says "I'm eady go downtairs. Need amol.(animal. whichever is closest. Usually swimsuit doggy, mickey mouse or elmo.) Then we turn on Dora, Backyardigans or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. He has to sit on his Elmo couch with two pillows behind his head and one as a foot rest. He needs a snack while I prepare his breakfast and his animal has to be to his right on the couch. I am never allowed to sit next to him on the couch. I must either be on my couch or the chaise, although he usually doesn't want me on the chaise even. He's a weird little dude.

And yes, I know what you're thinking. My house is so clean right? Sadly, no, it's not. And yes, that's pretty typical. I'm not a fun person when I work too hard to keep the house clean. So, it usually looks a little bit like this.

Chatty (Again)

So, two weeks into the school year and we've already gotten "the talk" about Mia. "She's just too chatty." We are told again this year. "It's a problem." I mistakenly ask if there could be any chance she needs to be challenged more and her teacher responds as if that is the most ridiculous idea ever. "She's not even finishing the work I'm giving her, so I don't think she needs more work." That's not at all what I meant, of course, but I didn't bother to argue with her. "We'll talk with her about it and she'll do better next week." I say. With a look of almost horror on her face, Mrs. Sokol says, "At one point the kids were broken up into partners and I looked over and Mia was actually standing on a chair looking out the window!" "No!" I think to myself, "Not the window! How awful!" I bite my lip and try to think of what she would expect me to say. "Aww...gee. I'm sorry. I'll really work with her on focusing more. I'm on your side. Just let me know what I can do to help."

All weekend we discussed motivation for Mia to pay more attention in class. Respect for the teacher and others. She'll understand assignments better and finish quicker and have more time for reading or writing which she really likes. All of this seems reasonable to Mia, but she still can't see how she could get through the whole day without chatting constantly with her friends. Monday after school I got a report that she had a much improved day as far as listening is concerned. When I asked Mia how math was after listening careful to the directions she responded with amazement, "MUCH easier!" Epiphany.

Helping Mia eat the most enormous caramel apple ever at Nashoba Valley on Sunday

Mia is always ready for a little cuddle with Lennon. He rarely wants a hug from anyone... Sigh.

Mia is the one with crossed arms and a huge yawn while the ball is only steps away from her.

Being silly on her first day of school.

We had one of the most horrible days ever with Lennon yesterday. He literally screamed and cried all the way to Mia's school and all the way home. We walk and it's about a half mile each way, so ours ears were ringing by the time we got home. I was also watching Anderson for the day which made things tricky. It's a good thing Anderson is so easy going because Lennon was on a major rampage. If Anderson so much as considered looking at something that Lennon had ever considered looking at or playing with a sudden, loud SHRIEK would emit from the beast and he would come running screaming to yank his precious item away. Each time Anderson just let it go and looked at either me and Shelby as if to say, "what is his problem?" We would make Lennon give it back, go to time out, etc etc. Nothing worked. I would say for about an hour straight - at least - he was hysterical screaming. We tried taking him up to his bed to calm down. I tried everything I could think of. Shelby - new at the being home all the time to see Lennon's really really bad side when it comes out - did a great job improvising and trying to think of ways to calm Lennon down and get him to play nicely. It was a total Mr. Hyde moment for Lennon. He was horrible. Nothing we did or said was right. Finally Shelby got him calmed down by reading him some books. We even managed to convince him to share some of his canteloupe willingly with Anderson. We headed off to the park and afterwards it was lunch and naptime. After his nap he was a totally different kid. He was still a little cranky, but nothing like he had been in the morning. Then as the day got later he was suddenly in this awesome mood. He was being super silly and laughing and loving on all of us. I was definitely ready for some rest when it was time for him to go to bed, but it was still hard to put him down when he was being so much fun to hang out with.

I have to say, it was nice for Shelby to be there for that yesterday. I don't know if he ever really knew how hard it was for me those first 18 months when Lennon was like that most days. It's nice to feel like someone understands. Today was much better. Although this morning he wanted to go to the mall to pet the poor little doggies at the pet store and when we got there and the store opened the stupid lady wouldn't let us see a dog because "they hadn't even had their water yet." Well, as far as we could see no one was tending to their water quite yet anyway, so we didn't understand why we couldn't give these poor caged animals a little tlc. Oh well. Lennon took it pretty well and we headed off to the overpriced mechanical rides to spend a couple bucks before heading home.

I don't know what I'm doing with Lennon most of the time. I just try to do my best by him. With Mia I feel like most of the time I make good decisions and steer her the right direction, but with Lennon I feel totally lost a good amount of the time. I just hope I don't screw him up too badly. If I can screw my kids up equal amounts at least they will have each other to lean on in the end.

BAM BAM

Lennon has been begging for a pair of Spider Man, or "Pibey Mam" sunglasses for almost a month now. As luck would have it, Mateus just today was getting rid of an old pair of just that. Lennon was so thrilled to have them. When Claire first gave them to him he put them on, exclaimed "Bam!" and immediately said "Doze miiiii tundasses!" (Those are my sunglasses.) At dinner he insisted on having them with him. Every once in a while he would proudly display them on his face and shout "BAM" - just for a moment - before taking them back off and going right back to the dinner set before him. He was very non chalent about it too. I got a short video toward the very end, but it was coaxed a bit, so it doesn't show it in it's true spontaneity. He's a pretty funny dude and he's reminding me more and more of Jeremy. Especially the way he can totally zone out in front of the television. And - he's totally in love with Dora the Explorer... a hispanic girl. Totally Jeremy. Here's to you Uncle Jer!

Not a Moment Too Soon

So, recently I posted about how Lennon wouldn't pay any attention to tv and how although I'm not a huge fan of tv it would be nice if I could distract him with it occasionally. Well, I got my wish. In the time since that post he has gone through a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse phase, a Backyardigans phase and now he is on a Dora kick. There are of course other random shows/movies interspersed, but those are the main shows. He gets a big kick out of turing on Space Chimps, but he won't really pay attention to it for long. I think he just likes requesting it. It gives him an extra opportunity to act like a chimp. He's a crazy boy. We love him. I'm going away for the night on a women's retreat with girls from church so Shelby will be alone with the kids for almost 24 hours. I don't know if that has ever happened. I doubt they'll even notice I'm gone before I get back.

Sandbox Francis and The Rock Star

For those of you who are not Facebook junkies, Lennon wants his name to be changed to "Sandbox" Francis. If you ask him his name he will tell you plainly, "Ennon Sandbox Francis." He wavered once and said "Ennon Michelle Francis," but I think he knows "Sandbox" is just a way cooler middle name for a boy with curly, crazy, blonde hair. We don't have any idea where he got it either. We have never referred to him as anything like that.

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Shelby walked Mia to school this morning. On the way they had a really nice talk. This is just a cute little tid bit from it.

Mia: When I grow up I want to be a rock star.

Shelby: I still secretly want to be a rock star.

Mia: Why is it a secret? Did you tell someone and they laughed at you?

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Mia: I don't even care if I'm a public rock star. I can just be a rock star at home.

Mia: I love you Daddy.

Shelby: I love you too Mia.

Lennon: Iiiii uv oo too Miiiia. Mia's cooooool. Mia not go bye bye.