Shhhh... you need to be quiet....

A will be 5 next month. She is a small child for reasons unknown to me, weighing in at 32lbs. Her 2yo brother stands almost as tall as she does.

What she lacks in size, she makes up for in sound. Although her voice is quite squeaky, it's loud, and she can crank it up to earsplitting volume.

On Friday, I needed to get out of the house after being trapped all week due to ice. So, I packed up all six kids and we went to the library. The girls were, of course, discussing how you behave in a library.

A piped up and informed us all, "You have to whisper and be quiet in the library because you don't want to DESTROY all the other people!".

H (7 next month) rolled her eyes and said, "Not DESTROY, A... DISTURB! YOU are disturbing!"... which (of course) set A off into shrieks of protest.

Funny thing is, when she gets loud, she is also DESTROYING. Destroying ear drums!


Another funny my friend shared - her children are 5 1/2 and 2 1/2. Her older daughter bit her son on the finger. Upon questioning WHY she would bite her brother, she piped up and said, "Because he wanted to feel PAIN, Mom!"

my 2 yo is smarter than I am

Little toad that he is!!

S is all about snacks these days. He'd rather snack than eat a meal, which isn't something I have a whole lot of patience for (I HATE the grazers, hate hate hate them!!). So we've gone back to basics - meals at mealtimes, snacks in reasonable amounts at snack time.

This morning, he asked for several helpings of cereal. He gets diarrhea when he drinks milk, so I just give him dry cereal. And typical of a toddler, sometimes he will eat like he's starving... so I gave him several helpings.

While all this is occuring, I am getting the girls fed & ready for school, making lunches, trying to explain to another 2yo why I don't want him driving the little cars all over my wooden cabinets, and juggling a 7mo whiny baby. So I'm not paying TOO much attention to S unless he's demanding it.

Right after lunch (pizza), he asks for a snack. I tell him no, and remind him we JUST had lunch AND we'll have snack when the girls get home. He smiles ever so sweetly and says "OK, Mommy" as he buggers off to do whatever it is he does.

Shortly thereafter, I notice him munching on a handful of cereal. So I watch.

The little DEMON had taken his cereal from this morning and dumped it into the "trunk" of his tricycle.... creating his OWN freaking snack stash for later!!

I HATE it when they outsmart me!

defining moment in mothering

Warning - serious ick factor ahead.

I have reached yet another turning point in my life. One where I realize that becoming a mom meant incredible changes in my life. Changes that go beyond what I call normal. Changes that amaze even me.

I vividly remember dh's cousing recanting a story when Hannah was tiny. He was laughing about changing diapers and how you get past worry about it, and get proficient enough to change a baby with one hand while eating a sandwich in the other.

I was reminded of that Sunday.

We'd decided to go to the mall and had gone through McDonald's drivethru for lunch in the car. A has slept all morning but was not running a fever and said she felt fine, so we chalked it up to just needing to catch up on her rest. She was happily sitting in the back seat, munching on her french fries, when I heard her make a funny noise.

I turned around to see her make the "I'm gonna puke" face just as she half threw-up in her mouth. My own hamburger in one hand, I grabbed the empty bag and reached backwards to shove it under her mouth, lest she puke all over the car.

She shoved it away and I held it back, telling her to go ahead and throw up but do it in the bag.... which she did.

I took a bite of my hamburger as she finished, cuz I was hungry!!

It wasn't until shortly thereafter that the absurdity of it all hit me. :) But I guess that's what being a mom is about - being able to see past the things that would have normally sent you running.. in there interest of self preservation, of course! :)