One of these things just doesn't belong...

Do you remember that skit from Sesame Street?  Well I do, and now I have the nifty little jingle stuck in my head.  Anyway, today was Nolan's last day of school so his class had a field trip to the park.  They got to play on the playground, blow bubbles, shoot silly string, play basketball, shoot water guns…good times good times.  Well in an effort to keep the kids in order and easy to pick out they are all supposed to wear their school t-shirts.  Sounds simple right?  Wellllllll.  This morning Nolan woke up and we of course were in a mad hurry to get ready to go so I sent him to the bathroom to do his thing while I got Bennett out of bed.  Then I hear this…"Moooooom, my shirt is all wet".  Not exactly what you want to hear 2 minutes before you are supposed to be walking out the door.  So I ran in there and he is holding his shirt showing me the large wet corner!  I said shouted "WHAT DID YOU DO", and nonchalantly he said "I dropped it in the toilet, and there was pee in there".  Awesome.  In his defense the school gave him like the last leftover shirt and it was about 10 sizes too big, but I still didn't think it would land in the toilet!  So we changed his shirt scrubbed his hands and were out the door.  I think he just wanted to stand out amongst the crowd, he's a leader that boy.

I thought I would also share what Nolan gave his teacher.  

I would really like to know what people did before Pinterest, because my dear they have some spectacular ideas! 

One Day

One day I vow to invent something amazing, something that you simply can't live without.  Something like…puffs.  I mean seriously whoever invented these things should go down in the Guinness Book of World Records as the smartest person alive (or possibly dead).  Move over Albert Einstein because you've got nothing on this guy, whoever that guy/girl might be.  I realize puffs are just a glorified Cheerio I do, but something about the fact that it has the Gerber brand on it makes me think it is somehow better and there is no way it could ever harm my child.  I mean have you seen an article about a baby choking on puffs…nope didn't think so.  You probably haven't seen an article on one choking on Cheerios either though.  So apparently not only should the inventor of puffs be celebrated, the Gerber marketing team needs a round of applause as well.  

Why are they so great you ask?  Because they will entertain any newly eating child for a really long time. I'm talking we can go out to dinner and eat in peace kind of time.  Bennett loves these things, as did Nolan.  Although I have to say Bennett is much better at eating them than Nolan was at this age.  Nolan took the whole handful approach whereas Bennett is pretty good with his little pinchers and goes for one at a time…really savoring the moment.  The glorious quiet, peaceful, calm moment.  Thank you Puffs Inventor Guy you have my never-ending respect.  

Up To Something

That Bennett.  He always looks like he is up to something, and usually something no good.  You know like playing in Cooper's water bowl or something.  This is the mischievous look I'm usually taking in, kind of like he's saying…"What?  I'm not doing anything wrong, I swear."

Not only do I have to worry about him falling down the stairs at this point, I also have to worry about what he is pulling himself up on and what he is going to bonk his head on next.  I swear this kid needs a bubble.  He's been pulling himself up on things on and off for a while but within the past week or two it has become a constant.  Save us a seat at the emergency room, we will surely be needing it.

3 going on 13

It's totally happening, Nolan is becoming a teenager.  Here was my conversation walking out of school yesterday:

Me:  Did you have a good day today?
Nolan: Yes
Me:  What did you do?
Nolan (stopping dead in his tracks, throwing his hands in the air):  Why do you always have to ask me the same questions?
Me: Because I want to know what you do each day.
Nolan:  I do the same thing.  I play.  That's it.

Lovely, something tells me I will be having this same conversation with him for the next 10 years.  Can't wait.  Maybe tomorrow I'll open with "I met Darth Vader today, what did you do?"...perhaps that will grab his attention.

Fast forward to this evening when we decided to go on a nice walk as one big happy family.  Yes, Nolan is definitely sporting a Wolverine mask on this walk.  Choose your battles people, choose your battles.  Anyway, Nolan was being less than desirable on his little bike on this particular evening.  He tends to get distracted VERY easily.  Stopping for every stick, leaf or crack that he sees.

Eventually we made it to the destination…eventually.  And moments like these, when I'm sure Nolan is saying something totally inappropriate (I can tell by the look on Chad's face), make it all worth it…

And then this conversation transpired…

Chad:  Nolan it's time to go home.  Mom and Dad are leaving without you, I guess you can go live with another family.
Nolan (pointing): Well there's another family, I can go with them.

I'm glad we are so irreplaceable in Nolan's eyes.

Running with Dad

Lately Chad has gotten back into running on a regular basis.  This is all well and good but the rule is he has to take one of our little miracles with him!  We sometimes give Nolan a choice of what he wants to do, but I think Chad just crosses his fingers and hopes that he lands with Bennett as he is a whole lot lighter at this point!  And lets face it, Nolan just looks plain silly squashed in the stroller.  It's really a win/win because Chad gets his run in and Bennett usually gets in a much needed cat nap for the evening. While they are gone I am reminded of how nice and easy and peaceful it was to only have one child to take care of!  What a glorious 25 minutes…maybe I'll start running too (I don't know, can you sense sarcasm over blog?).