Clark is nearing the fine old age of 2.  How did this happen so fast?  One of his favorite naughty things to do is pull out the drawers in the kitchen and use them as a ladder to climb up on the counter.  He knows he is not suppose to do this, so every time we wants to climb up, he stands in front of the drawers, turns to me, and says, "Bye Mom.  Bye Mom."  And waves me out of the room.  I let him think he could get away with it the first few times so that I could peak around the corner and chuckle at him.

As I gave Caleb a haircut the other day, he was upset that he would have to go bathe afterwards.  I warned him that he would be very itchy if he didn't.  "Can't I just wiggle a lot to get the little hairs off?"  =)

Anderson recently earned his Wolf badge in Cub Scouts.  He was so excited and so proud.  As he talked to people during the day, I could hear him saying, "I just earned my wolf 20 minutes ago!"  Later: "I just earned my wolf 2 hours ago!"  Even later: "I just earned my wolf 6 hours ago!"  Way to go Anderson!  I am proud of you.

The Curse of Saint Patrick

Caleb is afraid of losing his teeth.  According to Caleb, it is not the pain of losing the tooth that concerns him.  I think he just feels very sentimental towards them; it makes him sad to lose them.

This leads us to our current problem: the dead front tooth hanging in Caleb’s mouth.  It is now brown and crooked and I am very tired of waiting for it to fall out on its own. Caleb, because of reasons previously listed, refuses to let us even wiggle it. 

A mother in my situation starts to plot things. 

So I ask you…Which do you think would be more traumatic to a child: 1) waking up in the middle of the night to his mom yanking his tooth out, 2) having your mother ‘accidentally’ hit you in the mouth, or 3) being placed in a headlock by your mother and having your precious tooth yanked out by force.

Despite the nasty tooth hanging in front of his mouth, Caleb still continues to entertain us.  The other day he spilled his milk.  He growled and went to the sink to fetch a wash cloth.  As he cleaned up his mess he muttered, “This is the worst day ever!  This bad luck is all because I didn’t wear green on St. Patrick’s Day.”  Then he raised his fist in the air and yelled to the heavens, “Curse you Saint Patrick!”  We all laughed and he put on his fake frown that he uses when he is trying to stay mad.

Pure Joy

We recently bought a new home phone.  This means that our old phone became Clark's toy.  The phone has always been forbidden for Clark, so of course it is the item he most desperately wanted to play with.  Check out his pure joy when we gave it to him:

Sugar 'n' Spice and a Nose Wipe

 

 

 

This morning I was helping Caleb put his shoe on.  He leaned forward and pressed his face against my shoulder.  "Aw! Was that a kiss?" I asked him.  "No," he said "I needed to wipe my nose on something."

The Creepy Tooth Fairy

This story got such a chuckle from a friend of mine that I decided I had better share it with all of you.  Caleb lost a tooth the other day.  That night, after we had written a note to the tooth fairy begging her to not take his tooth, we had a conversation.  Caleb said, “Roman said that his mom is the tooth fairy.”  “Oh?” I said, “What do you think about that?”  “I don’t think she is, mom.  I mean… how could she get into our house and leave money under my pillow?  That just sounds creepy.”  That response got a big smile out of me.

 

 

Kangaroo Whistle

 

 

     As Chad and I were cleaning out his closet the other day, I was reminded of an experience we had when Anderson was little.

 

     It was around this time of year.  Anderson, then 3 years old, and I were shopping for Chad's Christmas present. I wanted to buy Chad a tie rack, but I knew that Anderson was not old enough to keep it a secret from his dad. So, I told Anderson that it was a kangaroo whistle. I showed him how you should blow on the end of it to create a really high sound that humans couldn't hear, but that kangaroos could. I told him that if any kangaroos were around that they would come to us. I then emphasized the importance of keeping this awesome gift a secret from dad. We wrapped it and put it under the tree.

      Sure enough, that night I overheard Anderson, in his cute little three-year old voice, telling Chad all about the kangaroo whistle we were giving him for Christmas. Chad could never figure out what the gift really was until Christmas morning.

      As Chad and I organized his closet, we both had a chuckle when I asked him if he needed another kangaroo whistle.

 

Anderson and Caleb- Christmas 2007

  

Haircuts: Required; Handcuffs: Optional

 

Anderson used some of his allowance to buy handcuffs.  I thought it was hilarious the other day when he used them to shackle himself to the chair while I was giving him a haircut.  I didn’t tell him those handcuffs could have been very useful for a few of his haircuts in years past.

 

Anderson has started a wrestling club.  I am surprised that Caleb isn’t interested in wrestling.  After the first practice, Caleb shrugged his shoulders and said, “You pay money to get hurt.  It all seems so pointless.”  That’s a wise 6 year old I’ve got.  Caleb’s just a lover, not a fighter.  =)  

Update: Caleb came home with a girl's phone number today.  Isn't he a little young for this?  I had to help him dial her phone number so he could talk to her.