Last January, Ellie emphatically resented the Pack n' Play and its caging of her free spirit. Her brother, a snuggler through and through, offered sharing of his toddler-sized bed. The result is tons and tons of pictures like this:
Note: we actually do have two beds. Heck, we actually have THREE beds for them. Clearly if we ever need more space they're going up on Craigslist.
Kekoa (after playing together): "Thank you for your time, Ellie."
Me: "Kekoa, did you try your onion yet?"
Kekoa: "Did you just say Aaron? That's soooo silly! Yes, I ate the Aaron. I'm eating Uncle Aaron!"
Me: "Okay, goofball. Did you try the turkey?"
Kekoa: "No, but I did try the Peter."
Kekoa is a dashing four. Ever since his rabid obsession with clocks at eighteen months old, he has been prone to falling deeply in love with some concept or item and then that obsession becomes his identity. After the clocks were star flags. After the star flags were robots. And this year (besides the eternal undying love for vehicles) is...lobsters.
An enabling Mimi allowed him to live out his dreams of becoming a lobster. It was supposed to be for Halloween, but a sly lobster has been seen slinking around on any day of the week.
Kekoa: "Daddy, do you know things?"
Josh: "What things?"
Kekoa: "All the things."
Josh: "No, I don't know all the things."
Kekoa: "But I do."
Kekoa: "Mom, did you know I'm not actually a boy? I'm a fellow."
LEGOs are our other obsession right now.
After resisting heavily getting Ellie a "baby house" as she calls them because of her (alleged) carelessness with her toys, Josh built her a LEGO baby house so as to prove this carelessness.
It turned out to be quite a fruitful endeavor, because not only is the house intact a month later, but two Ewoks, a Wookie, four Jedi, one astronaut, and a guy have been potty trained in that baby house. Not a single LEGO accident around here.
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| Yes, that is Chewy on the potty and Ewok I in the bathtub |
Josh was a little flabbergasted that in 20ish years of his LEGO-building experience, he had never once made a LEGO potty, sink, or bathtub. But I am pleased to report that not a single occupant of this (very crowded) baby house has forgotten to wash his hands.
Josh: "Ellie, do you have to go potty?"
Ellie: "No."
Kekoa: "Ellie, do you know why it's important to go potty?"
Ellie: "Why?"
Kekoa: "Because if you don't go potty, then you will get cavities in your brain."
Kekoa: "I don't like bathrooms."
Josh: "Why don't you like bathrooms?"
Kekoa: "Because they're unkind to me."
We also enjoyed family visits this year, and a fun cruise with both sets of grandparents. Kekoa's favorite part of family visits is when the visitor is here for breakfast. Ellie's favorite part is when she is adored. Both of them love being told bedtime stories, especially when Piglet and emergency vehicles figure prominently in the stories.
Kekoa: "Daddy, you and I have a relationship."
Josh: "Yes. And what is our relationship?"
Kekoa: "You are my Dad and I am your son."
Josh: "That's right."
Kekoa: "Mommy and Ellie have a relationship too. Theirs is a pirate ship with a flag."
Kekoa discovered Oobleck this year (in the years of his foolish youth he had deemed it too messy to touch). Mommy discovered that Oobleck is a great outdoor activity.
Ellie discovered the great joys of birthday breakfast-in-bed this year when she turned two. Mommy discovered that two-year-old breakfast-in-bed is a great outdoor activity.
Kekoa: "Hey Daddy, do you know what takes food to your tummy? It's your asparagus."
Kekoa: "You know Mommy, I'm going to find a new land where it's okay to eat oatmeal every day. And I shall be the king."
We're not really needed around here for the parenting. Kekoa takes care of most of that for us.
Ellie: *wails*
Kekoa: "Oh Ellie, what's wrong?"
Ellie: *wails*
Kekoa: "Oh, are you feeling frustrated?"
Ellie: "uh-huh"
Kekoa: "Oh, because you want a puppy?"
Ellie: "uh-huh"
Kekoa: "But I'm sorry Ellie, you don't have enough money for a puppy. But save your money and you can buy a puppy. Does that sound fair?"
Ellie: "Yeah. Puppy!"
Josh (watching Ellie eat): "Man, I love Ellie. We should keep her forever."
Kekoa: "No, we can't keep her."
Josh: "Why not?"
Kekoa: "Because she eats too fast."
Me: "Can I keep you?"
Kekoa: "Only for a little longer. Then you have to take me back to the library so other people can get a turn."
Kekoa is showing glimmers of being a productive member of society. This year he gained the ability to make money, and in return took over cleaning the bathtubs, cleaning the toilets, wiping down the table, wiping the kitchen counter tops, collecting the trash, and unloading the silverware from the dishwasher.
We were watching the Daniel Tiger potty episode while Ellie sat on the potty.
Kekoa: "After this, can we watch another episode?"
Me: "If you want to watch something you have to finish your chores."
Kekoa: "But I don't do chores. I'm a watchin' man!"
Kekoa asked to watch something, but it was almost dinner time so I said no. About five minutes later:
Kekoa: "Mom, I have a really good idea. If you turn on an episode, we can have something really special for dinner. Sound like a deal?"
Me: "What would we have for dinner?"
Kekoa: "Chicken nuggets!"
I still said no (tempting as it was), but about five minutes later:
Kekoa: "Here's another deal for you: if we watch something now, then while we eat we can watch a movie."
Clearly he's got this win-win negotiating down to a science.
We carved our first jack-o-lantern this year, designed by Kekoa. The children were about as interested in the process as they appear in the picture.
I'm excited for this next year. Ellie has buckets to say, but we only catch about half of it. But considering how entertaining one verbal kid is, next year will be even more fun!
Three overfriendly ducks approach us.
Kekoa: "I think they're deciding who to eat first."
Josh: "Nope, it's closed today."
K: "Yeah, Dad. That's why you have to try the door."
Kekoa: "Mom, I'm juicy."
Me: "You're juicy? Do you mean you're thirsty?"
Kekoa: "If I say I'm thirsty then you'll give me some water. But I want juice, so I'm juicy."
