The breaking point

The boys are always excellent shoppers. I try not to push my limits with them, but they are always great at the grocery store and out and about. So Wednesday I planned a very ambitious day. I needed to run to the post office to close a PO BOX, run to the bank for Project Lucas to make a deposit, run to another bank to make a deposit for work, dash to Babies R Us to buy baby gifts for a co-worker, and then I promised the library as a reward (lame I know). Just so you know, with two kids nothing is fast - so this trip would normally take me 45 minutes to an hour alone, no chance with the gear needed these days.

So the post office was good, except maneuvering a two kid stroller around the doors without any kind of handicap access. The boys were good and some how figured out how to wrestle while in the stroller. Bank #1 went well, Bank #2 the boys were less than amused. By Babies R Us they were out of their mind. Screaming (in case you don't know since the ceilings are very high in Babies R Us they make a great echo), wrestling in the cart, and trying to pump lotion out of the to be purchased lotion bottle. By the time we left Isaac was WAILING. Our outing was now approaching 2 hours and I was sweating. So, even though I had promised the library as a treat I thought I would try to get out of it and talk up an indoor picnic when we got home. The kids would hear NOTHING of it. We were going to the library. Luckily the boys were good, even though the 70 year old librarian wasn't amused with the boys' energy. The library trip was short, but just long enough to say I did take them, and they were happy. By the time we got home for lunch they were again crazy - cyring for no reason I turned on PBS and they were mad that they got in on Sid the Science kid half way through (I on the other hand felt blessed, that show is awful!) - try explaining to a 2 and 3 year old that you can't "rewind" TV. So I tried a movie and I started it right at the movie skipping all of the intro previews - Eli threw a fit stating that he "missed half of the movie."

Needless to say nap time was a time of peace. The boys passed out before I could close their door, and so did I. Lesson learned - only plan one, two errands tops, when you have a 2 and 3 year old in tow. If you plan more than two errands, bring ducktape and rope for the kids, and an ipod for yourself. A strong drink would probably help as well.

Gymboree

The boys were invited to a bithday party at Gymboree yesterday (Thank you ZN!). They had such a fun time! Here are some pics:

Allergist

Isaac had to go to his 6 month check up at the allergist yesterday. To start out with we started out with a breakfast for champions. Isaac had "shiny raisin bran" which is Raisin Bran Crunch, and I had Grape Nuts. Isaac asked for a bite of my cereal - when I shared he said ."Are these rocks?" Can't fool a kid.

On the way to the doctor's office John and I were prepping him for the testing to come. We told him the doctor was going to do some tests on him to let him know what foods would make him sick. Isaac didn't say much, and then he said "And docta say, No mi monke jumpin on bed." I guess in his head all doctors are concerned about monkeys jumping on the bed.

In case you haven't had to do allergy testing I thought I would include a picture of what this looks like. It is pure torture for the kid. They label your back with testing numbers and then they prick each site with the offending food. The ones that are red and swollen are the sites of his allergic foods.

Isaac was quite a trooper. After his testing the nurse brought in the prize box. He looked through it a bit and his eyes lit up when he saw a pencil - he quickly pulled it out and threw his arm around his back and tried to scratch his testing sites with the pencil - quite bright if you ask me. Anyway - the good news is we get to return some foods to his diet: fish (YEAH!), strawberries, cinnamon, garlic and chocolate. Several are still on his list peanuts, ofcourse, as well as oats, soy, seasame seeds and eggs (this has gotten a bit worse - we are supposed to avoid eggs like peanuts). We added a few new ones to his list as well: tomatoes, onions, and lettuce.
Poor guy - Isaac is quite a trooper though, thank goodness.

"I two"

Our little Isaac turned 2. Ok, it has been a couple of weeks ago, I am a bit behind. But wanted to capture the photos of his cake - Mater & Guido - from Cars, and a picture of him enjoying his favorite - Rigatoni & meatballs!

Learning

It amazes me how both boys are growing up so fast. Everyday they seem to say something that just shocks me. I wonder sometimes if they really know what they are saying, or if it just sounds super insightful.
At lunch today Eli and Isaac tore through a taco, so we offered them some fruit snacks, or "Scooby snacks" as they refer to them. Eli was waiting for me to clean-up his hands and Isaac, well Isaac is 2 you know, so he was repeating "I want Scooby snacks, I want Scooby snacks" - over and over and over. Eli looked at Isaac and said, "Isaac, you have to be patient." PATIENT! ELI! That is almost an oxymoron, but he actually described to me what it means. So, he knows what it means - lets see if he can put it into practice.
Isaac on the flip side surprised me in his own little way today. As you may know he has a laundry list of allergies. At church they have a "Special Needs' sticker - as we fondly refer to it as. this sticker says - "Please remember my special needs" and John and I write "Peanut Allergy - Isaac has his own snack." We stick it on the back of his shirt so his Sunday School teacher will remember that he has to have the $20 crackers in his back pack, instead of the church provided animal crackers. Today as I was changing his clothes I took the sticker off and Isaac said - "Is that my allergy sticker? I need that on my back." I hate that he has to deal with this, but for him to recognize at 2 how important his allergies are, gives me hope...

Toy Aisle

So, there is this secret mom code - don't take your kid to the toy aisle unless absolutely necessary. Kids have two weapons - they either won't want to leave the toy aisle, or they will want you to buy them a toy. And lets be honest - our kids have enough toys to run a pretty successful daycare for 30 kids, thanks to grandmas/grandpas/aunts/uncles. My secret - I think my kids have only seen a toy aisle once. We never go to that part of the store. If I need to buy a toy - I buy on amazon and act like the box is something super boring when it comes to the house.

Yesterday we had to visit the dreaded toy aisle. We had two pick out two toys for a family friend. We went to Meijer, I told the boys we were going to the grocery and to see the fishies - which the boys love. We started at the toy aisle. We walked through the entire toy aisle because we were buying for a girl and a boy. I was having a really hard time trying to decide what to buy. At first the boys were pointing out some of the toys they had and I thought "oh no they are going to want something." Finally Eli looked at me with boring disgust and said "Alright mom - when are we going to get to the food??" I think my kids are aliens, or something...

Catch Up

I am back. We have had a few nutty weeks, but hopefully we are over the craziness! Two weeks ago we were a house of puke, and last week we were a very dark house (no electricity from Wednesday - Sunday). Today we are a house of laundry! Here is what the boys have been doing:

• About three weeks ago Eli said "Oh My Gosh" about 20 times a day. It sounds a little too much like a violation of the second commandment. So, we had a detailed talk about how that word displeases Jesus. So.... they are letting everyone know. It turns out that "Oh My Gosh" is a frequently used phrase by just about everyone. The boys seem to hear every time it is used and they will repeat "You aren't supposed to say that" over and over again until they are acknowledged by the offender.
• This is a bit TMI, but it was funny. Two weeks ago Eli had vomiting and diarrhea. Diarrhea was very confusing to him, he would say "I'm peeping, no, I'm pooping, but it's wet, uhm I am not sure what I'm doing..."
• Eli occasionally says "shut up" I am not sure where he heard it, but he uses it totally out of context like, "Let's shut up" or "Are you shut up?" I am not sure what he is trying to say.
• Eli was trying to jump off his changing table and I told him he can't do that because he will break is arm, to which he replied - "I can't break my arm mom, there is something hard in there or something." A master of anatomy.
• Eli ends almost every sentence with, or something. Like "I am playing blocks, or something," "I get dressed, or something," my favorite, "I am being good, or something"
• We stayed with my parents while the electricity was out. Isaac learned that he can usually get what he wants if he asks around enough. He does not like milk, he will drink it, but he hates every minute of it. So, we have a rule, no juice before 10. Isaac is well aware of this rule. My parents drink orange juice in the AM, so Isaac asked them for his juice, and they gave it to him, at 6:30 AM. I came in to the living room and Isaac was sitting between "Pops and nana" and he said - "Pops has juice, Nana has juice, and Isaac has juice" he smiled and sipped away. What a turkey.
• I had to pick Isaac up from school today because he threw up. I really hate that, for the teachers - it was his first time believe it or not, so he was a bit traumatized. It seems to be an isolated incident. Evidently he was jumping up and down in a circle with his friend Logan right after lunch time. Isaac & Logan bumped heads, so Isaac threw-up. I brought Eli and Isaac home and gave them a bath. Isaac stood up and pooped in the tub. Eli thought it was hilarious, and so did Isaac, until he realized there was poop floating in the bath. He then started crying and said. "Stop waafing Ei, Stop waafing"

So - that is our house. You are tired just thinking about it, aren't you?