Window Washers

The boys have been doing this for two days straight. I gave them a bucket of soapy water and some sponges and they are in Heaven.

Our little patio ain't much, but apparently it works for them!

The Baby Whisperer

I've commented before about my regard for the Baby Whisperer, whose advice I feel is responsible for our having three out of our three babies be incredible sleepers and all-around happy kids.  It could be luck and we could be in for a surprise with the next one, but I'm still sticking with her advice.

But that's not who I'm talking about.

I'm talking about Matthew. He is so good with Molly it's unbelievable.

You know how some people are just good with kids? Matthew is one of those people. He can get her to stop crying, he is always coming up with silly songs or silly things to do to entertain her.


For him, Molly is not someone who is just sort of there and he has to work around, but he really is a good friend to her and he seems to really enjoy playing with her.

So much so, as our family was battling pinkeye the past two weeks, we caught Matthew, who was pinkeye's latest victim out with her in the morning wiping her eyes, "Taking care of Molly." .

As horrifying as it was to see a person with a very contagious disease using a tissue he was just using on his own eye to wipe his baby sisters, it was very endearing. And so far, she is pinkeye free.

I'm so blessed we have such a good helper as Matthew! I'm hoping the trend will to continue when his baby brother arrives in September!

More Best Friends

After Mass on Sunday the boys simultaneously wrapped their arms around each other.

I had to snap a picture a) because it was so endearing and b) because that kind of unprompted affection is definitely not the norm...

Nighttime Adventures

We love that the boys are best of friends and have their little bonding time at night.

But sometimes their antics, especially lately, are getting a little silly.

Somehow, in the recesses of a boy brain, they discovered that it's funny to "shake their bottoms at each other."

But, this isn't just a boy doing a silly dance, in order for the humor to really take effect, the shaker has to be totally naked.

So, after we say our prayers, kiss them goodnight and send them to bed, one boy or another strips off his clothes and shakes their bottom to peals of laughter from the other boy.

We've asked for a demo of this ritual. I'll admit, it's hysterical, but not really conducive to bedtime.

The next thing they do comes from this hyper-competitiveness to be the first one to get dressed in the morning. 

It's awesome that for the past several months, I haven't had to even suggest that they get out of their PJs because they wake up and instantly get themselves dressed and so they are ready for the day before I even know they are awake in the morning.

But if one boy should get dressed before the other and the slower one woke up on the wrong side of the bed, he SCREAMS and yells and pouts. Michael and I run in there because it sounds like someone got seriously hurt only to find out that he was just the second one to get dressed and that merited a total meltdown.

So, trying to get a head start on the other to guarantee he will be best first, the boys have started to just get themselves dressed in their day clothes....at night!

We put them in their PJs, read them a story, say goodnight and turn out the light, and sometime after that, one or both of the boys will clamber out of the bed and get dressed and ready for the next day.

Overall, they are pretty good about going right to bed. Every once in a while, we have to get in there and quiet them down, but boys will be boys.

Taken a few months back when we had to put our video monitor to keep an eye on the chaos. A  blanket as a very warm scarf? 

Molly's Hair

This post is for Sarah who asked about Molly's curls.

Yes. She has amazing, amazing curls and I LOVE them.  They may be a struggle as she gets older (I know you have mentioned in the past that sometimes curly hair can be a pain to get just right, but for the record, since I've known you, your hair has been flawless).



But I really enjoy Michael's Lebanese genes that are manifesting themselves in her hair (and her beautiful brown eyes and beautiful long eyelashes-I also enjoy the other manifestations of Michael's genes in the kids, for the record).

Molly's hair began straight with one curl on top, as regular readers of the blog may remember, then the ones in the back started coming like crazy

and since then, her hair has gotten curlier and curlier and curlier.

Every once in a while, the most perfect ringlets form in the front and around her ears. Oh my, it is cute.

The two down sides are the tangles in the curls in the back; and the curls on top which aren't always as cooperative as the ones in the back. They flatten like a pancake and it doesn't look very good at all.

But my sister-in-law who is a cosmetologist gave us some great products that I can use to make the curls on top look awesome and something to help with the tangles for the tight curls in the back.

Photo credit: Michael's Dad

In the mean time, her hair keeps growing bigger and bigger, and cuter and cuter!

Best Friends

The Plague

Our house has been infected by the plague lately.  The stomach-churning, carpet-staining, breakfast/lunch/dinner revisited plague.

Right now, it is currently waging war on the kids, who have been absolute troopers.  Michael, at the young age of four has somehow mastered the art of running to use the toilet when the plague strikes. Bless him. I love him to pieces already, but I love him all the more that he has the wherewithall, even at 3 in the morning, to get the toilet.

Matthew is fifty-fifty.  Instance number one was in his bed, over just about every stuffed animal he has, his blankets, the floor and all in hair. Then, he managed to make it another time to the toilet.

Molly just does her business wherever. Beds, train tables, people laps. Then when she's done, she smiles and laughs and carries on her sweet way.

In other words, the poor kids are troopers. This really is the most miserable kind of sickness. It's terrifying for a child to have such a violent thing happen to them. It's nasty from looks to taste, and, unlike the other kinds of illnesses which you can usually coddle with special meals or special drinks, everything you put into the kid (who usually has no appetite to begin with) must be taken with the cautionary tale of: "What ever goes down will probably come back up." So I'm not so inclined to give them their favorite foods because, if it's like my childhood, that's a quick way to make them not-so-favorite anymore.

So far, Michael and I have held our ground against this plague.  Though, I tell you, every time one of the kids get sick, I always feel one step closer to succumbing to it myself.  I can't quite pin down the incubation period of this bad boy because Michael picked up from who-knows-where, it lasted less than 12 hours, and then over 48 hours later, with no symptoms to speak of, Matthew got sick and then a few hours later Molly got sick.

....And then today, Michael got sick again! What?! What kind of sickness goes away for three and a half days and then offers one final (hopefully final) kick in the pants?

So, it's really going to be impossible for me to figure out when we're all in the clear.

All I know is that I hate seeing the kids weakened and sad, nervous when they cough because they don't know what's going to happen next. I can't stand their look of desperation when they are getting sick and know it's going to be bad but they can't stop it from happening. I just wish I could fix it all for them.

And as much as juggling two kids instead of three at the same time, it breaks my heart when Matthew voluntarily toddles off to bed for a three hour nap, or when Michael doesn't want to play light sabers with his dad and just wants to go straight to bed.

So, we are in a bit of a quarantine here for the next few days hoping the plague will depart from our home and will stay away from Michael and I so that we have the stamina to deal with it.

In the meantime, we are trying to look on the positive side and are grateful that, though it's tough being in limbo with a house we really are hoping to buy, we are so glad this wave of the plague is taking place on brown ugly carpets of a rental rather than beautiful new carpets of our dream home.