Jack and Ben are obsessed with Star Wars these days. Jack prefers the "Luke Skywalker" ones, but he really likes Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Ben seems to like the Prequels more, especially Phantom Menace. However, he did choose The Empire Strikes Back today.
My boys are nerds and I could not be prouder, even if Jack calls them lifesavers instead of lightsabers.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Preschool Types
These are the types of personalities I have encountered at Jack's preschool. These seem to be fairly standard across the board.
The One-Upper: This kid has every single toy your kid has. Even if your kid made it from scratch using a rare type of wood only found in your backyard, the One-Upper has one too.
The Twins: The Shining has nothing on these kids. They tend to run the pack since they can surround you. Literally.
The Princess: The Alpha girl in the class who tends to be the teacher's pet or focus of the boys attention.
The Napoleon: The littlest kid in class who is also the fiercest. Usually knows some sort of toddler karate that gets him in trouble constantly.
The Silent: This is the kid who never says much and tends to melt into the background.
The Buddy: The kid your child calls their "best friend." There could possibly be between 1 and 12 of these in every class.
The Jerk: You don't want to say it and you truly don't want to believe it, but in every class there is a kid you just don't like. This kid is often also The Buddy.
The Tattler: You often see this kid ratting out his classmates, usually just for fun.
The Mini-Teacher: This is often the Princess or another kid who likes to be the teacher's pet. Sometimes is also the Jerk.
The Girlfriend/Boyfriend: This is the kid your child will come home and say is their girlfriend or boyfriend. Most often it rotates on a daily if not weekly basis. This does not make your child a slut, just popular.
The Daredevil: This is the kid with scrapes and bruises who is willing to jump off the top of the jungle gym or shows your kid how to do physical maneuvers at your house that often result in broken or damaged furniture. This is the child to thank for any ER visits.
The Normal: Does not exist.
The One-Upper: This kid has every single toy your kid has. Even if your kid made it from scratch using a rare type of wood only found in your backyard, the One-Upper has one too.
The Twins: The Shining has nothing on these kids. They tend to run the pack since they can surround you. Literally.
The Princess: The Alpha girl in the class who tends to be the teacher's pet or focus of the boys attention.
The Napoleon: The littlest kid in class who is also the fiercest. Usually knows some sort of toddler karate that gets him in trouble constantly.
The Silent: This is the kid who never says much and tends to melt into the background.
The Buddy: The kid your child calls their "best friend." There could possibly be between 1 and 12 of these in every class.
The Jerk: You don't want to say it and you truly don't want to believe it, but in every class there is a kid you just don't like. This kid is often also The Buddy.
The Tattler: You often see this kid ratting out his classmates, usually just for fun.
The Mini-Teacher: This is often the Princess or another kid who likes to be the teacher's pet. Sometimes is also the Jerk.
The Girlfriend/Boyfriend: This is the kid your child will come home and say is their girlfriend or boyfriend. Most often it rotates on a daily if not weekly basis. This does not make your child a slut, just popular.
The Daredevil: This is the kid with scrapes and bruises who is willing to jump off the top of the jungle gym or shows your kid how to do physical maneuvers at your house that often result in broken or damaged furniture. This is the child to thank for any ER visits.
The Normal: Does not exist.
Monday, February 07, 2011
Super Bowl
Didn't get to watch the Super Bowl until after the kids went to bed. They had zero interest and had a tough day (no naps). I enjoyed the commercials, especially the Vader Kid one. I could see Jack in that suit very easily. Cracked me up. Had to watch it twice.
Very inspiring story. Kid has a congenital heart defect and a pacemaker at the age of 6! And he has never seen Star Wars!
Very inspiring story. Kid has a congenital heart defect and a pacemaker at the age of 6! And he has never seen Star Wars!
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Monday, January 31, 2011
Grandma's Candles
We celebrated my mom's birthday with a dinner at my sister's last night (ordered out Chinese, baked a cake). Jack made a card which included a portrait of Grandma which Wany found endlessly entertaining. We also gave her a box of taquitos.....b/c she loves them so....
We sang Happy Birthday, and waited for my mom to blow out the candles...except Jack thought it was a race and blew them out himself first declaring himself a fire god of some sort.
So we lit the candles again and this time, Grandma and all the grand kids blew out the candles together.
Ellie lost her upper front tooth (hooray, Ellie!) in exchange for $5 from the tooth fairy.
Kate is an excellent driver (hauled all 40 lbs. of Ben around in Sydney riding along car).
Sydney was her usual easy going self...man, she's such a good baby!
Ben pooped twice, slid down the bunk bed steps- face first, and screamed about anything he wanted to his heart's content.
The grown ups ate way too much.
We sang Happy Birthday, and waited for my mom to blow out the candles...except Jack thought it was a race and blew them out himself first declaring himself a fire god of some sort.
So we lit the candles again and this time, Grandma and all the grand kids blew out the candles together.
Ellie lost her upper front tooth (hooray, Ellie!) in exchange for $5 from the tooth fairy.
Kate is an excellent driver (hauled all 40 lbs. of Ben around in Sydney riding along car).
Sydney was her usual easy going self...man, she's such a good baby!
Ben pooped twice, slid down the bunk bed steps- face first, and screamed about anything he wanted to his heart's content.
The grown ups ate way too much.
Thursday, January 06, 2011
Jack's Brain
Sent via email this morning from Taylor:
This morning on the way to preschool I was listening to Eric and Kathy.
The traffic report came on. Jack asked what the guy said about Woodfield....key here is he didn't ask WHAT Woodfield was, but what was being said about it instead.
Does he know Woodfield is the mall?
I told him it was the traffic report. "What's traffic?" so I told him it lets me know how many cars are by Woodfield. He understood and asked how many cars the announcer
said there was...."I think he said about 20 cars, Jack." and he replied, "that's a lot of cars, Mommy."
This morning on the way to preschool I was listening to Eric and Kathy.
The traffic report came on. Jack asked what the guy said about Woodfield....key here is he didn't ask WHAT Woodfield was, but what was being said about it instead.
Does he know Woodfield is the mall?
I told him it was the traffic report. "What's traffic?" so I told him it lets me know how many cars are by Woodfield. He understood and asked how many cars the announcer
said there was...."I think he said about 20 cars, Jack." and he replied, "that's a lot of cars, Mommy."
Saturday, December 25, 2010
"Thank You, Santa Claus!"
The boys really understood Santa Claus this year. Apart from the holiday shows about sharing and giving and family togetherness, they truly understood that if they were good all year that Santa would bring them gifts. I know they are not getting the religious side of the holiday, but growing up in my household, Christmas always meant a time to be with those you love and share in making each other happy at the coldest time of the year. I think that Christmas is the one holiday that can transcend faith and be a time for everyone around the world.
Jack and Ben wrote letters for Santa and left him a cookie with milk. I ate it. We also tracked Santa on the NORAD website as he went from Africa to Europe to Canada and was hitting Central America when they went to sleep. We wrapped everything last night and the boys went NUTS with excitement this morning.
Now its time to let them play while we prepare for family to arrive this afternoon for a delicious meal.
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good day!
Jack and Ben wrote letters for Santa and left him a cookie with milk. I ate it. We also tracked Santa on the NORAD website as he went from Africa to Europe to Canada and was hitting Central America when they went to sleep. We wrapped everything last night and the boys went NUTS with excitement this morning.
Now its time to let them play while we prepare for family to arrive this afternoon for a delicious meal.
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good day!
Friday, December 03, 2010
Sunday, October 03, 2010
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
Jack's Swim Lesson
Jack had his first formal swim lesson yesterday. I got to stay home and hang with Ben while Taylor took Jack. She said he did a fantastic job. He jumped, he kicked, he boogie boarded, and he was not afraid! Good job to my big guy!
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Jack's Jet Plane
Jack was very proud of the toy/model jet he painted and built last week. As you can see from the photos below, he was very focused on his creation.
We stopped by Michael's today and they had about 12 similar wood model kits, each only a dollar. Looks like Jack has some craft time coming up! I knew he should have been one of Santa's elves!
We stopped by Michael's today and they had about 12 similar wood model kits, each only a dollar. Looks like Jack has some craft time coming up! I knew he should have been one of Santa's elves!
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Failure to Update
Blog posting has fallen by the wayside in 2010. What with those newfangled cellular telephones and The Facebooks, there doesn't seem to be quite the need to post redundant information on here as well. But, since Taylor has done the majority of the Facebooking, I figured I should be more vigilant on this blog.
Jack
Jack has been having trouble sleeping lately. He has off days and good days. We went through a patch where he was getting up every single night at least three times. Mostly crying and not going back to sleep himself. We keep saying we will let him cry it out the next night, but my instincts kick in while half awake and I go to check on him anyway. It becomes very frustrating and difficult to not get mad at him at 4am when he is screaming that his blanket does not work. It does seem to relate to how much sleep he gets during naptime and also whether he has too much to drink close to bed time. He does go potty right before bed, but if you had a cup of milk or juice you would have a full bladder at midnight as well.
Ben
Ben's language has grown to the point that you can have conversations with him. He has several sentences that he uses to communicate what he needs. It is really cool to watch him mimic his brother's mannerisms. Ben also has been posing in funny ways to get us to laugh. But, he still screams like a nightmare. They are nonstop and run the length of the day. It is almost unbearable. We have been trying to use the idea of Inside Voice, but he does not seem to quite get it. When he isn't screaming, he is a delight. But, when he does scream, it makes you want to scream as well.
Overall
Things are going well and we are on track for Jack to begin Preschool in October. The Illinois law states that children who go to the same private preschool and kindergarten are eligible to enter 1st grade without needing to attend public kindergaten. We would still need to test him for early entry since he is 24 days past the cutoff for Illinois. We are very confident he will get in.
Jack
Jack has been having trouble sleeping lately. He has off days and good days. We went through a patch where he was getting up every single night at least three times. Mostly crying and not going back to sleep himself. We keep saying we will let him cry it out the next night, but my instincts kick in while half awake and I go to check on him anyway. It becomes very frustrating and difficult to not get mad at him at 4am when he is screaming that his blanket does not work. It does seem to relate to how much sleep he gets during naptime and also whether he has too much to drink close to bed time. He does go potty right before bed, but if you had a cup of milk or juice you would have a full bladder at midnight as well.
Ben
Ben's language has grown to the point that you can have conversations with him. He has several sentences that he uses to communicate what he needs. It is really cool to watch him mimic his brother's mannerisms. Ben also has been posing in funny ways to get us to laugh. But, he still screams like a nightmare. They are nonstop and run the length of the day. It is almost unbearable. We have been trying to use the idea of Inside Voice, but he does not seem to quite get it. When he isn't screaming, he is a delight. But, when he does scream, it makes you want to scream as well.
Overall
Things are going well and we are on track for Jack to begin Preschool in October. The Illinois law states that children who go to the same private preschool and kindergarten are eligible to enter 1st grade without needing to attend public kindergaten. We would still need to test him for early entry since he is 24 days past the cutoff for Illinois. We are very confident he will get in.
Tuesday, July 06, 2010
Tuesday, June 08, 2010
Ben's 2nd Birthday
Ben had a great birthday. Thank you to everyone who came to celebrate with us at Pump It Up. It seemed everyone had a great time. Ben may have been a little too young for it, or maybe it was too early in the morning. But, lessons learned for next year.
Sunday, his actual birthday, we spent going to the park, getting a toy at the mall, having a nice lunch out, and then playing with the brand new water table which you can see was a big smash.
I cannot believe how fast these kids change and grow. Ben's language is growing exponentially and Jack is a little man already. It is only a matter of time before they are bigger, taller, and stronger than us.
Sunday, his actual birthday, we spent going to the park, getting a toy at the mall, having a nice lunch out, and then playing with the brand new water table which you can see was a big smash.
I cannot believe how fast these kids change and grow. Ben's language is growing exponentially and Jack is a little man already. It is only a matter of time before they are bigger, taller, and stronger than us.
Wednesday, June 02, 2010
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Memorial Day with The Buzzards
We spent the Saturday before Memorial Day having fun with Jacob and Eloise (and EJ and Tim, too). The boys enjoyed running and playing and having a great time. Eloise is a cutie pie!
We also played with water guns outside. The boys loved that too!
We also played with water guns outside. The boys loved that too!
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Jack is Iron Man!
Jack fulfilled his goal of pooping on the potty three times (intentionally). His reward was this Iron Man costume which he treats like it was the real thing. We are very proud of him.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Monkey Joe's
Jack attended the birthday party for his friend Matty from daycare. It was Jack's first birthday for a school friend. He was a little standoffish until he recognized his friends and then he ran and jumped and enjoyed cake. It was nice seeing him within the circle of friends.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)