Tuesday, April 29, 2008

BIG Deal

I made a really big deal with Twin A the other day. We didn't spit and shake or anything, but it's binding nonetheless. He has had issues with constipation since he was an infant, so potty training has been harder for him. I think the issue now isn't so much constipation as it is "stool refusal". I've been sitting him down every day and just having him sit there until he goes. That went really well for a while and then he fell back into wetting and pooping in his underwear. Nothing I did seemed to work to get him to stop. Well, the other day while getting the mail I was distributing the mail (i.e. junk mail and catalogs) to the boys. One of the catalogs Twin A got has this huge go-kart that's about $350.00. He REALLY liked it and went on and on about it most of the night. A light bulb suddenly went off in my head...instead of punishing and begging him to sit on the potty, why don't I try offering him a potential reward? I've done the reward thing before, just never on such a grand scale! I told him if he could keep from peeing or pooping in his underwear between now and his birthday (end of July), I'd buy him that go-kart. So far, so good! I almost wish I hadn't made the deal now. If I get that for Twin A, I might just have to tell Twin B that we've instituted a new policy regarding birthday presents. We'll celebrate a birthday for each boy every other year, and yours is next year LOL!

Any great advice out there for potty training and/or gift-giving for 2?

Monday, April 21, 2008

Men in Hats

The other day on the way home there was a crew of men wearing hard hats. It looked like they were digging down to a gas line or something. I'm not really sure. Twin B asked what all the Bobs were doing. I said "Bobs"? He said "Yeah, Bob the Builder". I guess anyone in a hard hat is now Bob the Builder! I just thought it was a really cute moment.

Imaginary Friends and Family

Twin B informed my dad and I that he didn't really live here...he lived with Jack, Cowboy Labor, Bad Cowboy Labor and Johnny John because they're his family. Jack has been around a good while now, but all I really know about him is that he lives in the garden. Cowboy Labor and Bad Cowboy Labor are very new. Last week, Twin B told me that his horse had gone to visit Cowboy Labor because he'd been sick. He was feeling much better now, but he was still just a tiny bit sick. I don't know anything about Bad Cowboy Labor...he must be Cowboy Labor's evil twin LOL! I don't know anything about Johnny John either. At least he doesn't consider Lasha his family. Lasha hung around a little too long for me. I kept kicking him out of the house and he kept coming back! Lasha was really bad. He was always shooting and killing people and doing just generally bad things. I'm glad Twin B doesn't associate with him anymore. The last eviction must have taken!

On a side note, for those of you interested in what the boys may have gotten into this weekend. It was actually pretty tame. Only one thing happened. I was still asleep at some ungodly early hour of the morning when I hear a crash and the unmistakable sound of glass breaking. I got a hanging votive candle holder at a silent auction a few weeks ago for my mom for Mother's Day. Well, Twin B broke one of the holders. Sorry, mom, no present this year!!!

Friday, April 18, 2008

Rain and Royalty

A couple of cute things happened after school and work today. We went to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things. When we got to the kids' department, the boys saw some kid-sized umbrellas. Twin B said he wanted a bru-ella. I just love his word pronunciation! So, Twin B got a Sponge Bob bru-ella while Twin A got a Spider Man bru-ella.

Later, after we'd been home awhile, Twin B gave me one of those beaded Mardi Gras type necklaces. He said it was for me and he wanted me to put it on. Well, it would only go as far as my forehead, so he said it could be my crown. How precious! Then Twin A asked me if I was a queen, so I told him that yes, indeed, I was a queen...I was Queen Mommy!

Girly Stuff for Boys?

Yesterday when I woke up I could hear the boys making some kind of noise in their room. I asked what they were doing and Twin B answered that he was putting on his makeup and he'd be right there. WHAT?!? He came in my room with the prettiest lipstick ALL OVER his face. Luckily I have found that Johnson & Johnson baby wipes are wonderful makeup removers. Twin A must have decided he didn't need any at least on him. I'm not sure who the culprit was, but one of them "colored" all over the toilet and vanity in the downstairs 1/2 bath. I got to clean all that up last night when I got home. Twin B also had lipstick all over his prized Batman pajamas. I told him I'd wash them, but if the lipstick didn't come out we'd have to throw them away. Fast forward to this morning. Nothing went awry while I was in the shower. Then I was getting ready and I see Twin B in the mirror hunkered down in between the foot of my bed and a chair. I go out to see what he's doing and he's got DARK RED finger nail polish. He's liberally painted his arms and legs. Twin A saunters in to show me his handiwork as well. I spent a good deal of time with the nail polish remover. Ya know, it just doesn't remove as well from the non-fingernail area! My mom's solution? Get everything up where they can't reach it. I swear they have hidden stilts or something. There are things in their closet that I can't even reach, but they manage to get them down. We had an episode with cleaning supplies last week in which they bleached some brand new shorts. After that I put the cleaning supplies up so high I can barely reach them and made them throw away their brand new bleach spotted shorts. One of my co-workers eagerly awaits each morning's story. She's already told me she can't wait until Monday to hear about what all they get into over the 2 days of the weekend. Maybe if I buy lock boxes to put everything in...

Monday, April 14, 2008

My Great Post

Something so cute happened on the way home from school and work today that I mentally reminded myself to blog about it. Then Twin B got in trouble and I completely forgot what the cute, sweet post was even about. I stopped by Wendy's on the way home and got kids meals for the boys. Their theme for toys right now is Sports Illustrated. The toys were these kind of little bean bag toys with sort of a wind sock tail. You can hold the tail and swing the ball around. Knowing how aggressive Twin B is, before I handed him the ball I said "Twin B, if you hit Twin A with this EVEN once, it's going in the trash". Twin B: "Okay". I said again "Twin B, if you hit Twin A EVEN once with this ball, it's going in the trash. Do you understand me"? Twin B: "Yes, Mommy". Me: "Tell me". Twin B: "If I hit Twin A, this goes to the trash". So, I gave him the ball and gave Twin A his. Well, in no time they were swinging them around and I see Twin B hit Twin A with the ball. I told him to go throw it in the trash. He immediately goes into full blown crazy crying tantrum mode. I finally got him near the trash and reminded him of our deal. I said "What did I tell you would happen if you hit Twin A EVEN once"? Twin B: "It goes in the trash. I won't hit him again". I told him he wouldn't hit him again because the ball would be in the trash. He cried so much and so hard he made himself throw up and he wet his pants. I felt like the worst mom ever. I'm trying to take a proactive approach like I did tonight by telling him the consequences of his actions beforehand instead of trying to deal with the aftermath. I know I did the right thing but I sure felt rotten. Luckily 3 year olds (at least mine) don't hold grudges too long. It wasn't long before he said he wanted to hold me, which in his language means he wants ME to hold HIM. At least all was forgiven before long. I'm just at my wits' end about how aggressive and bully-ish he is and I want to nip it in the bud before he turns into a big kid bully instead of a 3 year old bully. Any great advice out there from more seasoned moms?

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

This was the view from outside my office building this morning. Who knew there were waterfalls in Arkansas?!?

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Bad Weather

Last week we had some really bad weather across the state. Here in Little Rock I think there were at least 6 tornadoes that touched down. Between flooding and tornado damage, about half of the 75 counties in Arkansas have been declared disaster areas.

Yesterday when I picked up the boys it was raining and it started to thunder. Twin A wanted to know if the volcanoes were coming! I told him we didn't have volcanoes here. Twin B quickly corrected him and asked if the tornadoes were coming. I told him I thought they left last week. They were still a little apprehensive about the thunder. When I was a little girl when it thundered people used to say it was God bowling, so I told the boys maybe God was bowling and that's what they were hearing. Twin B mulled this over for a minute and then he said "No, I don't think God's a bowling guy"!

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

April Fools

Well, I managed to make it through April Fools Day without being fooled! How about you? My kids are really too young to know what April Fools Day is. There are a few tv shows they watch at night before going to bed, but yesterday the station their shows are on was doing a "scrambled" day. They mixed up their programming. My kids couldn't understand why. I tried to explain why their show wasn't coming on - that it was April Fools Day and the station was mixing things up. They'd just say "okay, when's our show coming on"? Luckily, I have Comcast and the show they wanted to see is on On Demand so I just found one and played it for them.