Pets

Emma: I like dogs!

Aaron: No you don't. You like bees!

Several of our friends have bees. They make honey. We are tempted to get bees. Several of our friends have dogs. They make poop. We are not tempted to get dogs.

Sick and More Sick

John has taken it in the shorts this year, actually starting in December of last year. He came down with bronchitis and an ear infection. Simultaneously he had a staff infection that we had taken care of in January. Then he needed to get some muluscum taken care of a couple of times because the first time didn't work. The muluscum were the instigator of the staph infection. He had another ear infection where the doctor also scratched the inside of his ear while attempting to clean out some wax and a possible penicillin allergy from the antibiotic from the ear infection. He also tripped an had to get a couple of stitches on his chin. We went in to get his stitches taken out and found out that he had come down with the flu B that afternoon.

John has been a trooper through it all, but just don't try to touch his head. He now accepts medicine droppers in his mouth. Emma believes that all prescriptions are for John.

While John had the flu, he woke up in the night screaming like he was being dismembered. Aaron and I ran up stairs to find out that he couldn't find his jammy shorts. When I offered him some other pants he cried because they didn't match his shirt. I tried to explain that nobody was going to see him and he still wanted to match. Really he needed a drink and had a fever. The next night I heard John wake up so I go up to catch him before he could scream. No luck. This time it was worse than the night before. Aaron jumped up on our bed, but tripped on our covers and landed on our laundry basket. We are now down a laundry basket. We asked John why he was screaming. He was coming to get us to tell us something and got to the stairs and it was dark so he got scared and screamed and ran back into his room. When we asked him what he was going to tell us he said, "I don't know, it left my head." When Aaron told me about the laundry basket, I couldn't stop laughing. In fact I was crying I was laughing so hard. Now, whenever I see the basket I giggle.

John's Birthday

We now have a 4 year old in our family! I woke John up on his birthday and said happy birthday to him but apparently he was still asleep and then I told him that he was 4. He countered with "no I am not!" I counted back like a true 37 year old with "yes you are." This went back and forth for a while and then he caught on and very excitedly asked, "is it my birthday?" That morning he pointed out all of the things he could do now because he was 4 years old and he couldn't do them when he was 3 years old because he is bigger now.

John got to go to preschool on his birthday and he brought fruit snacks for a treat for his friends. There are food allergies so no cupcakes for this class. Then I picked him up from preschool and took him to a PTO meeting - super awesome birthday present, I know. John was a good sport. When I told him what we were doing he said, "for my birthday I just want to go to school and to a PTO meeting." Cue twinge of guilt! However, I let him open his present from Grandma Marsha and Grandpa Keith. They sent him a book about trucks and several little construction trucks. I grabbed a bunch of dried beans and let him play on the floor with the beans and the trucks during my meeting. The funny part was that if you asked him what Grandma and Grandpa gave him, he would reply "beans." I corrected him several times but without much success.

After that, we got to play with Emma after school and thence took Emma to ballet. Aaron picked John up from ballet and took him home and played with him there until Emma and I got home. Then we had mac and cheese for dinner, carrots, and apples. I made chipotle mac and cheese for Aaron and I. Then for dessert, we had John's cake and ice cream. That is a story all by itself.

I haven't made cake for birthday's. I have made cupcakes but no cakes. John requested cake and ice cream and on his cake he requested a picture of a rocket. It morphed into a picture of a turtle with a rocket on its back. I had seen where you put frosting on wax paper over a picture and color the picture with frosting and then transfer it to the cake. Easy Peasy right? So we were looking at pictures of rockets online so he could choose one that he liked. He zeroed in on a picture of a turtle with a rocket on its back. I gave in.

The day before his birthday, I let John pick his cake and frosting out at the store, He chose a tie die cake with bright blue frosting and fish sprinkles. We made the cake that day. As it turns out, this is harder than it looks. We made the cake just fine. Getting it out of the pan was another story. It required a phone call to the cake support line (a.k.a. Grandma Lindy). Unfortunately the cake support line's ultimate answer was summed up with "it is hard to get a cake out of a pan." So the cake came out in chunks. I put them back together as best I could and then proceeded to frost the cake. When it came time to frost the sides, Emma told me to stop and asked what on earth I was doing?? I pointed out that you frost the sides of layer cakes. I showed her pictures on the box because it was then that I realized she had never seen a layered cake. I told her that people normally frost the sides of cakes. She replied, "So you are trying to be normal?" Yup, I am trying to be normal. After the cake was frosted, it fell apart. John said his prayers that night and said thank you for his cake and he was "ok that the cake was cracked."

On his birthday I attempted to do the turtle. When Aaron walked in the house I announced that he should come see my cake because there weren't words to describe it. Then John piped up and said, "It's messed up!" Truer words were never spoken.

John was a good sport about his cake being less than perfect. It tasted just like a store bought cake and frosting should taste and the added bonus was that the blue frosting turned your poop green. That was awesome for the next few days.

For his presents, John wanted a few lego sets. During the time leading up to his birthday, he would tell me all about the sets that he wanted (a wrecking ball and crane, a cement truck, and a pirate ship). He is really into legos these days. That is all that he wants to play with.

Aunt Mary was teasing John that she got him  barbie princess lego set earlier in the day. I had a conversation with John about how no matter what he gets for his birthday, we need to say "thank you." So I made a video of John thanking Aunt Mary for his barbie lego set. I think he is so in love with legos that he wouldn't actually care what the lego set was about as long as it is legos.


Aunt Mary and Uncle Brian got him the wrecking ball set, not the barbie set he was thinking he was getting. When he figured it out, he said, "she didn't get me barbie legos!" Aaron and I got him the cement truck. Grandma Lindy and Grandpa Rich gave him money so he could pick out a present this summer since his birthday and Christmas are so close together he has a present flood and drought.

We have spent the past couple weeks putting together these legos. It stretches John's attention span to work on these but he loves them. I am amazed at the ingenuity of the lego designers. I am finding I love legos and wish I had them as a kid. I wouldn't mind putting together the Sidney Opera House set if I had infinite money to spend on things.

John is a funny kid who has a quick mind and wit. I don't know that I will ever understand how his brain works but thoroughly enjoy it. He loves reading, tools, digging in dirt, helping with projects, helping with cooking, he always is looking for someone to play with him, snacks, carbs, his balance bike, his friends, wrestling, learning about everything, and space.

John doesn't like cooked peppers, loud noises, rides that move, going places (he just wants to be home), and shrimp.

We enjoy having John in our family. He makes us laugh, and have fun, and play, and learn new things.

Bedtime

We put John to bed and then he came downstairs.

John: Mom, I need to tell you something.
Me: What?
John: I have a hard time going to bed because I keep sneaking out.
Me: True. Go back to bed.

Emma

I had my first parent teacher conference with Emma's teacher this week. It went about how I thought it would go. I wasn't really worried that Emma is a trouble maker. The teacher said she has tested for reading at a level 18. That is where kids are supposed to be at the end of first grade. She is probably higher but the teacher can't test for higher because they don't want to expose kids to the content at that level too soon. Apparently it is too mature. I have suspected that she can read at about a second grade level and it was finally confirmed. Mrs. Allen also said that she can do her math just fine. She said that normally kids at that are higher thinkers can't do the math or they can only do the math in their head but can't explain how they got to the answer but Emma doesn't seem to have that problem. She also said that Emma is a rule follower (not terribly shocking) and is good about not talking to others when she isn't supposed to be. She said that she plays with her friends and is doing well socially. Emma loves kindergarten and Mrs. Allen and I told Mrs. Allen that she was so sad when she was out sick for strep. Mrs. Allen said she had missed Emma as well because she uses Emma as an assistant to go run things to the office or different places because she knows Emma will go straight there and come straight back.

The Sunday before my birthday Emma told me that she wanted me to take her to HEB so she could buy a birthday card for me. I told her that they were expensive and that I would love a homemade card from her. She finally agreed and made a card for me and made my present for me. She wrapped it up very nicely. She had asked what I wanted for my birthday and I told her snuggled. She responded with, "no snuggles until your birthday!!"

I finally got to unwrap my birthday present from Emma on my birthday and here is what I got:

I still smile when I see this paper!

Almost but Not Quite

A neighbor of ours is moving and offered us a desk. This desk has a hutch on it with a cork board on the back and a little shelf. We put it in John's room since that is the only place we currently have room for anything.

One day John called me up to his room. He was beyond excited to show me his "shift." He put his pillow and blanket on top of the desk and was pretending to sleep on top of the desk in his "shift." I was confused as to why he was calling the desk a shift. John reminded me that we had read from a book about astronauts that they "slept in shifts" so someone could fly the shuttle at all times. He thought shift was another word for bed. I have tried and tried and tried to explain that a shift means taking turns and is not a bed. He caught on to a shift means taking turns but would not let go of the idea that it is a bed.

He even explained to his sunbeam teacher that astronauts sleep in shifts and that means taking turns and it is also a bed. He had one confused teacher.

Last night John and Aaron got into it over what shift meant. Finally John said, "You are wrong and I am right!" Aaron asked John to put a shift in a tupperware container. John said he couldn't because the tupperware is too small. He also laughed as such silly request. Aaron explained that a shift can't go into a tupperware container because it is something in your head, it isn't an object. John said he got it but I am not convinced.... time will tell.

On the same Sunday that John had taught his primary teacher about shifts he taught me about stuffed animals.

John: Stuffed animals' bodies are too small for a spirit. That is why they aren't alive.
Emma: John, where did you learn that?
John: Primary.

Here is another conversation with John after I had already put him to bed:

John: I need to tell you something.
Me: What do you need to tell me?
John: Wait, I need to look it up in my head....

Interview with John and Emma

Interviewed By Jamie

1. What is something I always say to you?
John: I don't know
Emma: No treats on Thursday

2. What makes me happy?
John: I don't know
Emma: snuggles

3. What make me sad?
John: I don't know
Emma: When I don't listen

4. How do I make you laugh?
John: I don't know
Emma: read the blog story where John says, "Daddy no gonks"

5. What was I like as a child?
John: I don't know
Emma: I don't know

6. How old am I?
John: 6
Emma: 37

7. How tall am I?
John: This tall {using hands}
Emma: 1049 lbs

8. What is my favorite thing to do?
John: tickle
Emma: tickle us

9. What do I do when you are not around?
John: come play with me
Emma: I don't know

10. What am I really good at?
John: ironing
Emma: doing my hair (Emma's)

11. What is something I am not good at?
Perfect Squirt: knitting
Emma: I don't know anything that you are not good at

12. What do I do for a job?
John: clean up
Emma: you take care of us

13. What is my favorite food?
John: carrots
Emma: raviolis

14.What do you enjoy doing with me?
John: playing with me
Emma: Emma daughter dates