Time Flies…

Tomorrow is Janie’s 2nd birthday.  Hard to believe.  It’s been so long since I’ve posted on here that there is almost too much to share about everyone’s status.  I’ll try to give the high points as quick as I can here:

  • Janie is walking, running, jumping, talking, and otherwise completely two years old.  She occasionally uses the potty and loves sesame street. She is very sweet and loving, and cares for all her dolls and stuffed animals much like Marie did when she was this age (or a little older). She looks up to her big brother and big sister very much.
  • Brian is 5 1/2 years old, and is enjoying Mrs. Lane’s Kindergarten class very much. His favorite things are Super Mario and Angry Birds, and if he were permitted to play video games 24 hours a day, he would. (I wonder where he gets that from.)  Brian would do anything to protect his sisters.
  • Marie is 7 1/2 years old, going on 22.  She is doing great in Ms. Murtha’s 2nd grade class, and loves her teacher very much. Marie’s favorite things are reading books and making art. If I had more time and energy I’d post more images of her fantastic artwork. She loves to sing, but doesn’t love it when people make a big deal about it!

What Matters?

Marie uses “what matters?” as an expression. It’s kind of an interesting one. I’m not exactly sure how she came up with it, but it is something she figured out on her own. It means something like “what does it matter?” or “who cares?”. For example:

Dad: “Are you going to wear your brown shoes or your white shoes today?”
Marie: “What matters?”

Eventually things like this disappear and we forget they were ever said. What matters?

A nice bedtime

Marie and Brian are sleeping in the top bunk of Marie’s bed tonight. I’m not sure that’s allowed (we had a pretty strict policy of needing to be 6 years old to be on the top bunk, well at least until Marie was 6) but they are so excited about it. I heard them saying to each other “tonight is going to be the best night ever!” It’s so refreshing when they enjoy spending time with each other 🙂 🙂 🙂

Getting bigger

Drastic new measures for self-protection need to be taken around our house these days. Marie can reach the top of the refrigerator when she’s standing on a chair. This is where we’ve traditionally kept the candy jar, and we have recently seen a precipitous decrease in the amount of candy available. Also, Janie can now open most of the doors in the house. If you don’t want a tiny visitor when you’re in the bathroom, you have to lock the door!

emoticons

Brian is currently making up his own emoticons to send to me. Highlights include:
><:)

  • that last one is “happy because he got slammed in the face by a fish”

>8

  • scissors

O:O)
OO:)
OO:PLK)
><O:O)
:><@:)
?:)
:#)

  • Your guess is as good as mine!

What to do?

So what exactly do you do when your child seems like he might be sick, but he might not? Brian has an elevated temperature and seems a little lower energy than normal. Take him to baseball camp and see if he gets miserable? See if the other parents there burn you at the stake for bringing a possibly sick child in? Or, take him to the doctor, where the doctor will say “he might be getting a cold”? These are our current challenges of parenthood 🙂

been a while

Life has been crazy here in Virginia. Patrick has brought his parents back east. Marie finished first grade, with constantly improving marks through the year. Brian finished preschool. Janie has learned to walk, and is learning to talk. Too much to catch up on. Facebook has made us lazy.

For the meantime, enjoy the new icons, and hope that I’ll make some more substantive posts soon!