Gender Differences

Our conversation at breakfast this past weekend:

Q: "I'm a boy".
C: "I'm a boy".
Q&C: "Daddy's a boy".
Q: "Mommy's a girl".
Mom: "Yup. What's the difference between a boy and a girl?"
Q: "Mom starts with M and Dad starts with D".
True 'nuf.

Swimming

I just found Quinn standing on a stool at the kitchen sink, his head fully submerged in my dirty dishwater. The kid is DESPERATE to swim, in whatever water is available. My husband just shrugged and said "at least it wasn't the toilet". Yeah. TODAY it wasn't the toilet, but who knows about next time.... I would've taken a picture, but I didn't want to reinforce bad behavior. It was a tough parental call. I was torn, but good parenting won out for once.

The Benefit of Twins

Now that the boys are potty trained, they are taking alot of the "congratulations" load off of me. Colby went "brown yuckie" today, and instead of calling for me, he went straight for Quinn. "QUINN! QUINN! I went brown yuckie! Come see!". I'm obviously not needed anymore. Oh wait... here they come. They BOTH want to show me their "successes" now. And give them a treat. So, until Quinn learns to bake cookies, I guess I AM still needed :) Thank goodness.

A conversation

Our conversation on the way to the parade today:

Q: "We're going to a parade not a circus. Circus' have elephants".
Mom: "Yes. "
Q: "Can I ride an elephant?"
Mom: "When you're a big boy."
Q: "I'm bigger!"
Mom: "How old are you?"
C: "I'm Colby."
Q:" I'm Quinn."
Mom: "No, how OLD are you?"
C & Q: "I'm a boy."
Mom: "No, how OLD are you?"
Q & C: "3?"
Mom: "Yes, and how old will you be on your birthday?"
No response.
Mom: "You will be 4 on your birthday."
Q:"Mom, can I be 4?"
Mom: "On your birthday."
Q: "Mom, can I have a birthday?"
Mom: "In a few months."
Q: "Can I ride an elephant on my birthday?"
Mom: "How bout you can ride a school bus when you turn 4?"
Q&C: "OK".

Independence Part II

So, I'm glad that they're trying to fix their own breakfast. That's a good thing, right? But using the butcher knives unsupervised to cut up bananas, and then pouring their own oatmeal... when does independence become less hazardous and messy??????

For the Record

Just to document it officially for all posterity.... Colby wore underwear to bed last night and woke up DRY. WOOO HOOOO. Quinn also wore underwear to bed and woke up soaked. 50% ain't bad.

Independence

Colby is dressing himself these days. He doesn't always get it right.

Papa Jim

The boys found little wooden sticks this morning, and put them in their mouths, saying "Mom! Look at me!" At first I was afraid they were pretending to smoke, but we don't even KNOW anyone who smokes. Then I noticed that they kept calling each other "Papa". Papa? "Model T Papa" they said. Then it occurred to me... my dad walks around with a toothpick in his mouth, and drives a Model T. We were on our way to ice cream (see our News Flash under Essentially Aho), and I had to encourage the boys to get into the van. "I'm not Colby, I'm PAPA!" he said. He refused to budge, unless I called him Papa Colby, and let him take his "toothpick". Funny.

The Tramp

No, it's not really this warm outside.... my children just insist on taking their clothes off, despite the 50 degree weather. They're obviously moving around enough to keep their body temperature up, so I won't be too concerned.

The Circus

We took Quinn and Colby to the Shriner's Circus last night. Given that it STARTED at bedtime, we should've had low expectations, and we were not disappointed. Quinn actually paid attention, and seemed to enjoy himself, but Colby whined CONSTANTLY... "I want juice, I want popcorn, I want a toy, I want cotton candy".... unfortunately, there are alot of things to "I want" at the circus. We were tempted to cave when it came to riding an elephant (how often can you say that you've ridden an elephant?), but at $7 a pop for a single loop around a 10 ft diameter circle, I'd say he could wait. The animal acts were amusing, but I don't know WHY, at a family affair geared for children, the acrobats have to wear next to NOTHING. The ladies wore thong little outfits that left very little to the imagination, and I had to explain that to 3 year old boys. "Mom, is she wearing a diaper?" No. "Mom, is she even wearing underwear?" Apparently not. "Mom, she has a belly button." Yes. For all the world to see..... Oh well. We left at intermission, as it was almost 9:30 at that point and well past bedtime, dragging two crying, whining children with us. Happy day.

Jesus and the Garbage Truck

Quinn has named his little toy man "Jesus". Jesus is a garbage truck driver, and does things like run over the piano in his yellow truck and yell "Get out of here, girl!". I thought this was a tad disrespectful, and suggested that the driver be named "Diego" or "Joe". Nothin' doin'. I suggested calling him "Garbage Truck Man", but that is apparently too long. Rob suggested pronouncing it "Hay-Zeuss", like the spanish do. That was also nixed. It seems as if "Jesus" has stuck.