No girls allowed

Not only am I the lone female in the house, but Avi and Noah are now throwing a fit about "girls singing" in the Pandora mix. "No girls," they've declared. "Can we have 'Dynamite' or 'It's Gonna be a Good Night!'?" I'll point out that Cary put the girly music into the Pandora mix to begin with, he and his love of the Ingrid Michaelson-Sara McLaughlin type.

What will you remember?

As a mom, I'm afraid I'm perpetually impatient, quick to anger, and a real no-nonsense drill sergeant too much of the time. But I do do fun things with the boys too. Will they remember how I was creative and clever with them when they look back or will they just remember me on a broom? I sure hope they can remember the good things. You'd think it would inspire me to do more fun stuff and be less of an impatient tyrant, but it's awfully hard sometimes.

And I thought last week was hard...

I haven't been able to get anything done with Ezra's climbing and adventurous nature lately. It also been increasingly difficult to find a place for the big brothers to play with toys with small parts because Ezra gets up on the tables. But now the game got even harder. Avi's playing with Magnetix and Ezra just scaled the bar stool and got up on the kitchen counter to wreck havoc. NOTHING is safe anymore.

So I hear...

I've been told that not all toddlers repeatedly climb up on the dining room table and run across or climb cupboards or try to take all the dishes out of the dishwasher. That certainly hasn't been my experience. Likewise, all of mine have repeatedly responded to a stern and loud "No!" with peels of laughter. Apparently other children actually are startled when parents do that. Personally, I have yet to experience that.
Those are just two of MANY examples which lead me to believe that these three have to be three of the most trying, challenging, strong-willed children ever born.
How did this happen to us I continually find myself asking? Two formerly rule-following "easy" children?

The perfectionist painter

I win a freakin' medal. Not only did I not put my 4 year old out on the street for neighbors to take in when I discovered that he had splattered and spread paint all over the utility room, but I even got to the bottom of the problem and figured out why he did it. Question is when do I get my medal and how much is it worth in cash?

Speaking of Communication...

I was in the bathroom earlier this afternoon with Ezra outside the door. The phone rang, and unable to get to it at the moment, I ignored it. Ezra started squealing (yes, he has NO words at 16 months), then apparently went and got the phone and tried to slip it under the door to me.
He may have no words, but like Avi at this age, it is increasingly apparent that he understands what's going on. I can give him simple commands and he follows them (unless of course he doesn't feel like it). "Go get your shoes and your coat," is nearly always successful, whereas "Show me your nose" just elicited a mocking response such as laughter and fingers in his mouth. I'm SURE he know where his nose is and is just messing with me. And of course there many other examples every day that he is understanding language just fine. I'm promising everyone that I won't worry about this one's language delay so much.

Grown-up style communication

Avi was just singing a song about a "great white shark," but I was a little confused because it sounded like a "grey white sock swimming in the sea," so I asked him to try saying the word SHaRk with me. He didn't want to. I persisted. He stomped his foot and said (with perfect pronunciation), "I don't want to have this conversation!"
Love it. The kid may not be able to say "shark," but he sure can say what's on his mind!