Sally Says

Hooray! Grandma Sylvia's Here!

 

Ask a silly question...

Today was bring your favorite stuffed friend to school day, so Chester Cheetah got to spend all day with Tommy.

Me:  Why is Chester wet?

Tommy:  Because I washed his hands.

Me:  You washed his hands when you washed your hands?

Tommy:  No.  I washed his hands to get the band-aids off.

Me:  Oh, I see.  Wait.  What?

Tommy:  Mom.  (He sighs and starts speaking really slowly as if it's a challenge to explain such a simple thing.)  We were playing doctor and Chester was the patient.  We put band-aids on his paws and they wouldn't come off.  So I washed his paws.  I even used soap.  The band-aids came right off, just like mine do in the bath.

Me:  Did your teachers help you.

Tommy:  No.  They didn't even know a thing about it.

Me:  Well, Chester has been getting a bit stinky.  How about we give him a bit of a scrub in the sink.  Since he's already wet...

Tommy:  Ok.

Whew!  Mission Accomplished!  I've been trying to figure out an argument for washing that stinky but beloved cheetah for months.  Washing Chester inspired me to wash Charlie's favorite blanket too.  When Charlie realized it was in the dryer, he sat right next to the dryer wringing his hands until it came out.  Now all is right - and fresh - with their worlds.

Petroglyphs

I'm embarrassed to say we've lived in Albuquerque for more than 6 years, and hadn't ever visited the Petroglyph National Monument.  We went today, and hiked around one of the shorter piles rocks covered in prehistoric graffiti.  We'll definitely go back again.  There are lots of trails left for us to discover and it's literally on the edge of town, 15 minutes away from home.

  

Tommy had lots of fun climbing the rocks.  He just didn't want to sit still for a picture.   

Good Day

We seem to be free of strep throat and other assorted illnesses.

Tommy and Charlie both went to school today, so they were both happily engaged and stimulated all morning.  (I decided to pay the drop-in fee for Charlie to go since he was really bored cooped up in the house while Tommy and I were sick.)

It's a gorgeous 70 degree sunny day.

I had the morning to myself - David at work and they boys at school.

David's back home after just attending a couple of meetings and doesn't have to go back to work until Monday.

The house cleaners came this morning while I was out buying new pillows and eating lunch by myself.

Everybody's happy.

Grandma Sylvia comes to visit on Friday, which always makes all of us smile.

I went to a chiropractor on yesterday morning and haven't had a headache since then.  It's too soon to tell if it's gone for good, but I'm optimistic.

It's a good day.  How could it not be with boys like this on the couch?

Massive Photo Catch Up Part 3: Everything Else

  Tommy's 2nd loose tooth was rediculously wobbly for the last couple of weeks.  It finally fell out yesterday at dinner.  I'm glad, because I was really getting grossed out watching him flip it around in his mouth.

 Charlie's newest phrase is "My hurt me!"  He's a total drama queen about getting hurt, especially if you're trying to get him to do something.  If you touch him at all when he doesn't want to do something he immediately clutches at the "injured" body part and says "Oh, oh, ow! My arm!  My arm hurts me.  I hurt!  I hurt!  Stop Mommy!  My hurts me!"  It's rather embarassing when we're out.  I know that I'm not hurting him, but strangers probably don't.

 He loves his new tea set.  It didn't come with a cream and sugar set, so I need to dig an old one out for him to go with the tea pot and cups and saucers.

 He also really likes his stir fry set.  Unfortunately he now thinks that the real kitchen knives are something he should be able to use.  Nope.  Not going to happen.

Massive Photo Catch Up Part 2: Charlie's Birthday

Tommy and I officially have strep throat.  I have all the same symptoms only worse because my uvula is so swollen it's choking me.  Sadly, I suspect we infected all of Charlie's birthday guests on Saturday.  Tommy showed no indications at all of feeling sick that morning.  By the time Charlie and I woke up from our naps he had a high fever and was complaining of a very sore throat.  I knew it was strep.  We went to the urgent care to get a strep culture rolling.  I knew it was too early for it to show up on the quick-strep-test, but expected them to call Sunday when they got the more accurate test finished.  I was right. 

On to the party pictures!  Charlie's birthday party was a great success despite my complete lack of planning.  Instead of learning that I should start planning his birthday early enough to order things online, I've learned that you can totally fool a 2 year old into thinking that a few freebie printables and plain party stuff in Wiggles colors is the Real Deal. 

This Wiggles comforter for his big boy bed was his main present from us.  He saw it as soon as he woke up and loves it.

Tommy gave him his present before the party.  It was a Wiggles DVD, naturally, and of course Charlie loves it too.

He got Lumpy from his Uncle Terry & Aunt Amy and Roo from Uncle Ben & Aunt Erin.  They are best friends in one of his favorite movies.  He's given them a proud place in his crib and carries them around a lot.

He got so many nice present from all our friends and family.  He's sitting in a Bilibo (imaginative prop) from us.  Got a tea set from David's parents, another Wiggles movie from Ben & Erin, a cool fire truck from Caleb, some Handy Manny tools from Claudia and Duncan, and a great wooden stirfry play food set from Eric and Karen.

  

 

Charlie's best friends Duncan and Caleb were the only little boy guests.  Duncan's big sister Claudia was here to keep Tommy company and Caleb's little brother Joshua was here for us grown ups to ooh and ah over.  Our grown-up neighbors, Eric and Karen, also attended, and Charlie's still talking about Eric coming to his birthday party.  He really likes Eric.  I guess that's only fair since Karen was Tommy's absolute favorite grown up when he was two. 

David and I put up streamers and printed out Wiggles pictures to tape up around the house the night before.  We made cupcakes and frosted them in the four Wiggles colors.  I also did two special cupcakes just for Charlie that I painted the Wiggles logo onto using writing frosting.  Luckily, Charlie can't read yet, because the letters kind of ran together as the frosting warmed up in the house.  They didn't look too bad though, and he was super excited about his Wiggles cakes.

Well, it's taken me just about 24 hours to write this.  David's making chicken soup from scratch right now, bless him, and Charlie's napping.  Tommy's been on antibiotics for a day now and is feeling better.  I'm just going to go take my first dose now that I have some jello in my stomach.  Then I'm going to go take a nap.

Being Two Means You Run Away When Mommy Tries to Change Your Diaper

 

  

 

Massive Photo Catch Up Part 1: The Grandparents

Tommy's sick today.  He suddenly came down with a high fever and a sore throat about three hours after Charlie's birthday party yesterday.  Hopefully he didn't infect all our guests.  I took him to urgent care, and the quick strep test came back negative.  We'll see if they call us Monday with a positive from the culture.

Despite a sick Tommy and a completely well Charlie (read: one needing lots of snuggles and one ready to play,play, play) I am determined to catch up here.  Let the photo uploading begin!

We had a really nice visit with my parents last week.  It's been a long time since they were both here.  My mom had a new job this year, and that has kept her from visiting quite as often as usual.  Tommy and Charlie were very happy to have Grandma and Grandpa here. 

If you'll remember Tommy and Charlie had been taking turns being sick in early February, but they seemed to be feeling better the day my parents arrived.  We managed to have one day filled with fun outings -- the Natural History Museum and Little Anita's for lunch --  but Charlie got sicker again by the second day.  It's hard to remember the exact details of all the various illnesses in February.  February's kind of been kicking our butts, between David's crazy work schedule and all the boy's colds and my cluster headaches.  I was pretty distracted while my parents were here.  It's a miracle I took any pictures at all.

Charlie loved this Very Hungry Caterpillar felt board story my parents gave him for his birthday.  He asked Grammy to tell him the story over and over and over.

 On Tuesday, David woke up early and he and my mom too Tommy to karate.  When Charlie woke up from his nap, he and my dad had a really nice time watching a movie together.  One of Charlie's favorite movies these days is a collection of Pixar short films.  He and my dad had lots of conversations about the different short movies and which movies was coming next.  Charlie's favorite one is Jack Jack Attack (from the Incredibles).  He likes to shout "Oh no!  Baby is on FIRE!"

 Getting four people to look at the camera and smile simultaneously is very difficult, especially when two of the people are young.  That's why it's smarter to take your camera out before the last night of a visit.  Sometimes I'm not so smart.

 We love you Grandpa.

 We love you Grammy!

Promises

In an attempt to get back on track, (I just mis-typed "back on" as "bacon."  My efforts to get bacon know no bounds.  Ahem.  Back to the sentence.) here's one of the pictures I promised you.  Charlie's 2nd birthday is tomorrow and his party was today and I promise I'll do a "real" post about it sometime tomorrow.

  Back before my parents visited, when Charlie was sick with a cold, he fell asleep while playing by himself in my bedroom.  I knew it was too quiet back there.  He always sleeps wrapped up in this blanket, and carries it around the house with him when he's awake. 

 Bonus picture!  Tommy spent a lot of time playing with this Indiana Jones Lego set while my parents were here.  He eventually added R2D2 and Anakin Skywalker to the tableau.  They helped Indy and Marion escape from the skeleton...or something like that.

Dawn of a new era

The thermal vacuum testing of the satellite which has been going on 24/7 for months now is over.  That means no more night shifts for David.  Yippee!  Even more importantly, the end of testing means the "don't shave and grow  a crazy beard" contest is over.  Double Yippee!  David is clean shaven and will be sleeping here at home tonight.  His bosses have given him a few days off next week, but then he's agreed to be in charge of the next round of testing.  Fortunately, the tests are of a different sort so they won't have to run equipment 24/7.  We'll see if working during the day, but with potentially long hours ends up being nicer than wroking nights. 

 

  

I've been too busy to blog lately, but will have time to catch up now that David's home at reasonable times.

Coming soon:  a photo of Charlie zonked out on the floor, my parents' visit, my birthday tea with friends, Charlie's birthday!

Happy Valentine's Day (a bit late)

 

  

We made a lot of valentines last week.  Tommy wrote all his friends' and teachers' names on them.

I

Hopefully you had enough pink candy to make you feel loved, but not sick.  

I took the day off

 

Daddy was home to do all the driving to school and little gym, so I was on my own most of the day.  There was tea involved.  Now I'm fortified, which is good because my parents arrive tomorrow and David starts working nights again tomorrow night.  One day off is better than none.

One Sided Conversation

We've been talking to David every night after dinner while he's in Orlando.  Our day today was filled with a quick trip to Wal-Mart, making some valentines, playing Lego Indiana Jones on Wii, teaching Charlie how to blow his snotty, snotty nose and watching alternating snow flurries and blinding sunshine.  David spent the day swimming with wild manatees in some cove somewhere in Florida.

Are you thinking what I'm thinking?  Yeah.  Best not to say it.

When Tommy was talking to David tonight, I heard his side of the conversation.  It was pretty funny, and shows that even 5-year-olds notice a bit of "not fair" from time to time.

T:  What did you do today Daddy?

T:  What's a manatee?

T:  Oh.  Wow!  You went swimming?!?!  I LOVE swimming.

T:  What's all that noise?

T:  A party?  The manatees invited you to a party?  Under the sea?  An underwater manatee party?

T:  Oh.

T:  We went to Wal-Mart and found the Meet Blue's Baby Brother DVD in the sale bin.  It was four dollars.

You can expect very little from me this week

David's in Orlando for a work conference.  I suspect he'll get to romp around Disney World a bit before he comes home.  At least he won't have trouble finding gifts to bring home for the boys.

Charlie has the cold that Tommy had last week.  He's not TOO sick yet, so I'm trying to figure out if he should go to school today.  He doesn't actually seem to be feel bad at all right now.  He just has some congestion.  He slept well last night too.  I think I'll try giving him some decongestant and see how he looks when it's time to leave for school.  (Finally!  He'll be two in two weeks and I have some that's OK for 2-year-olds!)

Speaking of turning two, I haven't done anything for Charlie's party yet.  It's going to be a Wiggles party, of course, but I haven't looked to see if they have Wiggles things at party city.  I know I can order some on E-Bay or direct from the Wiggles Shop in Australia, but I've waiting a bit late for that.  I also haven't invited anybody yet, so I need to get on that. 

My parents are coming next weekend.  I don't have much to do to get ready for their visit, but we always have a family birthday celebration when they come in Feb and I haven't bought their presents yet. 

Valentines Day is Saturday.  Tommy and Charlie need to make valentines for their school friends.  Getting Tommy do anything 15 times is always a struggle.  He'll be fine for the first 3 or 4, but then we'll have to start negotiating.  Of course, we'll want him to make valentines for the people he loves in our family too...early enough to mail them out.

Um.  It's going to be a busy week, especially with David gone and Charlie sick.  Don't expect too much blogging from me this week! 

So

"Want whole orange please."

Five isn't THAT old

He wears cool black All Stars on his feet, but I still have to tie them for him.

He doesn't take naps (unless he has a fever), but he'll still fall asleep in his car seat in under 30 seconds when he's tired.

He's not too old to come running into my arms yelling "Mommy!" when I pick him up from school.

He flashes the peace sign when I try to take his picture, but when I ask him what he's doing he says "it's the number two, of course."

He may love to play video games, but there aren't any blood, guts or swear words in his games.

He might enjoy big-kid TV shows like Ben 10 and Batman the Brave and the Bold, but he'll laugh uncontrollably when watching baby shows like Wonder Pets and Elmo with Charlie.

He still sleeps with Chester Cheetah tucked between his shoulder and chin.

Five might sound really old, but it really, really isn't...or at least that's what I tell myself.

 

Tommy Tidbits and Charlie Chiplets

Charlie can sing the alphabet.  He expects applause if he sings the whole thing.  If Tommy sings it, he always stops in random places and lets Charlie fill in the next letter.

Tommy has declared that he doesn't ever want to move away for college.  There's a Blue's Clues episode where Steve moves away to college and Joe, his brother, moves in to take over the show and take care of Blue.  This episode worries Tommy, and moves him to tears.  He's quite worried that somebody will make him move away from us and go to college.  He plans to buy a house next door to ours when he grows up and be our neighbors.  He wants to have his own house, but to be able to invite us over for dinner.  He's thought a lot about this, and is quite sure of his plans.  I've told him that he might feel differently in a few years, but if he still feels the same way he can just go to UNM.

Charlie has learned how to spell his name.  He doesn't recognize the written letters or anything yet (now that would really be precocious), but he'll proudly say C-H-A-R-L-I-E if you ask him how to spell Charlie.  Actually, he starts spelling out his name anytime he sees written words.  The "Panasonic" label on our TV and the "Step 2" label on his play house both spell Charlie, don't you know.  He's pretending to spell, and I think that's pretty cool.

Tommy's getting really good at writing.  He's not to that stage where he wants to write everything yet, but he's not afraid to try any more.  He's starting to make the letters smaller and closer together.  I really, really need to start practicing writing with him more, and help him read his phonics readers more often too.  All it would take for him to learn to read at this point is a couple of weeks of true focus from a patient grown-up.  It's that close to clicking for him. 

Unfortunately, I have learned that teaching someone to read is NOT one of my strengths.  I'll read interesting books to him for hours, but absolutely do not have a knack for working through Mac sat on a cat 20 million times.  Even more surprising to me, we have figured out that David does have the gift of teaching reading.  He's really patient and encouraging and gets results.  He's just not here very often these days.  I'm thinking David might decide to make teaching Tommy to read his mission when the satellite is finally finished late February and he can take a couple of weeks off.  Maybe he'll decide to simultaneously potty train Charlie.  How cool would that be?! 

High Altitude Nestle White Chip Chocolate Cookies (updated)

Tommy's quite ill today.  When he fell asleep on the couch I needed to come up with something to do with Charlie that would keep him away from Tommy. Charlie's very interested in the idea of other people sleeping, especially since David's often asleep during the day, but he doesn't really GET IT.  He has a tendency to yell "Are you sleep?" really loudly right next to the sleeping person. 

I thought that baking might keep him busy in the kitchen for a while.  We didn't have any chocolate chips, but I found an unused bag of Nestle white morsels.   (Are they supposed to be white chocolate?  I have no idea.  They don't say the word chocolate anywhere on the package.)

There was a recipe on the back for chocolate cookies made with cocoa that had white chips stirred into them.  There weren't any high altitude adjustments though.  Since I was just trying to quietly fill the time with Charlie, I decided to fiddle with the recipe and see if they turned out.  They're actually really, really good, so I thought I'd share the adjusted recipe with my fellow high altitude dwellers.

Yeah.  I know that 90% of my readers won't be able to make these because you don't live at a high altitude.  However, it's taken me SIX YEARS to become proficient at adjusting cookie recipes for high altitude and this one is worth the blog space.

High Altitude Nestle White Chip Chocolate Cookies

Cream together:

1 stick butter

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup white sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla

In a separate bowl, stir together:

1 + 1/4 cup flour

1/3 cup baking cocoa

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.  ADD TWO TEASPOONS OF WATER!  (I forgot this part the first time I posted this.)  Then stir in 1 cup of Nestle chips/morsels.  Plop spoonfuls onto a baking sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees for 9 minutes.  This made 20 cookies for me.  You could probably get 2 dozen out of it if you made them smaller.  This was actually a 1/2 recipe because I was almost out of flour, so I suppose you could double it and use the whole bag of chips.

Happy Birthday to ME part 2

 

Tommy's well enough to go to school, so Charlie's going too.  Flying Star, here I come.  Oh, and I opened six presents and all six were books.  You can't get much better than that!  Thanks everybody. 

Happy Birthday to ME

David whisked Tommy and Charlie away right before bedtime last night.  Charlie returned with some flowers that he chose himself.  "Happy Bird-day Party Mommy!  Blue fowers smell nice."  Tommy was secretively clutching a Borders bag.  I suspect there was a present for me in there. 

I'll open my presents when David gets home from work about 8 am.  I was planning to spend a nice morning shopping and go out by myself for a Flying Star breakfast, but it might not happen.  Tommy woke up early with some congestion and a cough, so I'm not sure yet if I should send him to school.  If he doesn't go to school then Charlie certainly won't have to.  He likes school once he's there, but doesn't like for me to LEAVE him at school.  Seeing me walk off with Tommy would be just too cruel.

All is not lost, however.  My excellent present from David is a tea party at the St. James Tea Room for me and 8 friends.  That will be on Saturday.  Footing the bill for a tea party is a perfect present, and I'm really looking forward to it.  I just hope I don't come down with Tommy's cold and chest cough before then.