bananas

I haven't had much time to blog, and still don't, but I had to share this one. Ella, my 17 month old, loves bananas. They are probably her favorite food.

Yesterday she woke up cranky. She cried and tantrumed from the moment I went into her room to get her out of her crib. She screamed, writhed and kicked me all the while I changed her diaper and her clothes. She loves to eat so I offered her breakfast. Usually this would stop the crying, but not this time. So I put her in her high chair anyway and asked her if she wanted a banana. The crying imediately stopped, she smiled and yelled "nana nana!" Since we have been working on being polite I asked her "what do you say?" So excited about the prospect of eating the banana she replied with "please, there you go, thank you, welcome". She was wasting no time!

She loves her brother!

My 4 year old went to his first sleepover last night (aside from Nana's). He was thrilled and now that it is over he told me that he hopes it is 2 days next time. He didn't miss me at all.

I was thrilled to have a little Mommy and Ella time, which almost never happens. Yesterday we had a wonderful time doing what girls do best, we went to the mall. Not that we spent any money but we did have a wonderful time walking, talking and browsing. After that nice time together yesterday I thought this morning would be equally as nice. I was wrong. From the moment Ella woke she asked about her brother. "Brother? Brother?" she would repeat as she looked around for him. I believe she thinks "brother" is his name. When we got in the car to go to church she looked over at Micah's car seat and asked again about her brother. Without the comfort of her brother she moved on to her other comfort, her blankie, which was in the washing machine because of a wet bed that morning. With only the one blankie and one brother, I couldn't appease her. So I had to endure a 25 minute drive with a screaming 17 month old. When we arrived at church and her brother walked in the door, the tantrum stopped and all was well. She sure loves her brother, making me much more hesitant to allow future sleepovers. This however would start a whole other tantrum and I'm not sure which is worse!

Missing Daddy

Yesterday Micah stuck out his bottom lip, his eyes got all glassy and he told me he missed Daddy. I asked him why he missed him and he said he missed playing with him. Mommy is the "caregiver" and Daddy is the "fun one." I'm trying to carve out time to spend playing specifically with him but it is difficult to fit into the day when there is a 1 year old running around. We did however discover that Windows Live Messenger, that we use to web cam everyday, has a games section. Micah now loves being able to play tic tac toe, Uno and others on the computer with Daddy. Today they spent half an hour drawing pictures of dinosaurs, birds, and each other on Messenger. Isn't modern technology great (at least today)!

One of those days

OK, Jason has been gone less than 2 weeks now and I'm already having those days. Yesterday was the kind of day where the kids do everything they are told not to and nothing they are told to do. The kind of day when my toddler pulls at my pants screaming as if the world is about to end. . . did I mention this caused me to trip over her repeatedly thus increasing the sound decibel. It was just one of those days when I want to scream and yell and throw a temper tantrum of my own. A day that I just don't know how I'm going to make it one more minute without my husband's help. But somehow God shows his infinite mercy (and strength, cause Lord knows I don't have any left) and I make it to the next minute and the next hour and finally the next day. I thank God yesterday is passed and today is not one of those days!

Why go to the park?

Why do we go to the park? I took my kids to the park today. My four year old dug in the sand. . . we have plenty of that at home. My 16 month old spent almost the entire time climbing in and out and in and out of the stroller, which I would be happy to park in the backyard so she could do it at home. I think I went down the slide more times than they did! So why is it that the kids get silly grins on their faces when I mention the park and they can barely contain their enthusiasm, bouncing in the stroller as they see it up ahead. I don't understand it. Even so, just to make them smile and see them happy, I continue to put on clean clothes and a little lipstick, pack the kids water bottles and goldfish and make the trek to the park. Somehow it's worth it!

The newest American Idol fan

Today Ella discovered American Idol. I caught her sitting on my stepper, which makes the perfect size seat for a 16 month old, watching AI and singing along with one of the guys. I think she's picked her favorite already! If I only had a video camera. . . .

Leaving

Tomorrow Jason leaves for another short (47 days) training class. He will be all the way across the country and my son is having a hard time with it. He says he likes to talk to daddy when he is here, not on the phone. Apparently the web-cam doesn't count either! Micah is pretty sad. I think this will be the hardest separation to date.