Desert Rat

Desert Rat

This guy seems pretty cool. I like to get a perspective from people other than MY warrior.

Boys, what would we do without them? 

Water, water everywhere.

The kids have discovered water. Not just discovered it, they are obsessed. They can not stay away.

It usually starts with the new-found discovery of the ability to reach the water dispenser on the fridge. The "baby", now 22 months old, will use anything, ANYTHING that can possibly hold water, and fill it up. At first he begins to drink it. But then the temptation to control and do something that only the big people have been able to do thus far, is too great. He then begins dumping it. Sometimes it hits the sink. Sometimes, he opens the trash can, which is on a rollout shelf, and dumps it in there. This usually takes too much forethought though, so he will usually just end up dumping it on the floor, so he can get back to the big boy business of filling it up again.

Usually, his next two older brothers will join in. (For the purpose of this and future stories - I call them the "middle boys", as they lost their "little boys" status when baby was born.) They usually start out trying to stop him, and yes, they will even (sometimes) come tell Momma. However, on the rare occasions that this occurs, I am usually engrossed in something that requires all of my attention, and say something stupid like, "Really, ok, that's nice," and keep on balancing the check book, vaccuming, or washing my hair, oblivious to what is happening. I have used countless towels in the past fewweeks to mop up the kitchen floor, but it doesn't end there.

Oh no, it doesn't end there. We are potty training. And this requires access to the bathroom, sometimes (most of the time) without Mom's presence. With three toddlers it is almost impossible to always supervise bathroom visits. Besides, the older "middle boy" has graduated to full bathroom capabilities. Various combinations of these three children have gotten into the bathroom and filled the bathtub with toys, clothes, pillows, towels, etc. in the name of washing hands. After enough warnings, trips to the "naughty chair", and yes, even spankings, they seem to have figured out this is not ok. What they did not figure, and in my adult foolishness, I thought they did, was that this also applies to the sink/s. Earlier this week, the older two filled the sink, closed the stopper, and added various other items, while washing hands. There was more water on the floor than there has ever been during bathtime when they think that pouring water out of the tub is a fun activity. There must have been at least two gallons on the floor. A subsequent check of the basement confirmed that a previously discovered leak, has indeed come from above in the bathroom, (that's another story,) proven by the copius amounts of bubbles from the new foaming soap.

Yes, they were punished - naughty chair, and no T.V. for the rest of the day. Alas, this is only punishment for Momma and big brother. Sigh. Stay tuned for more in the form of 'Toilet Travails" and "Kitchen Capers", as I am sure these serial events will return soon enough for future entertainment. And speaking of "cereal", baby likes to empty the boxes so he can "help" Momma "clean". Yikes!


Bad Boys

Non-stop Puke

Yesterday at the end of the family group meeting, Henry happily in my lap, cuddling while I chatted with other women in my situation, out of nowhere, burps, then non-stop gushes puke all over me. All of a sudden, with little warning, - he had been playing fine all afternoon, I am covered, and soake through from my collar to the front of my pants, and half-way down the pants legs. Of course, I had brought extra clothes for the kids, but none for myself. These days, I generally wear an XL shirt to be comfortable, but I soon found myself squeezing into a S/P "Hooah" shirt that had been given out to the kids.(At this point, my husband is wondering why I didn't take pictures.)