BirthDAY: day being the operative word

Tonight we concluded Patrick's Birthday Month. Patrick and I had a little conversation a month or so ago about his birthday. He told me that he wanted 5 birthday parties (five is his new favorite number, four is SO last year!). I told him he was having two parties, one with the extended family and one with his friends. He insisted on five, I insisted on two and so on. Then I remembered that he would have a party in his class and a party on his actual birthday with just the family.... So four parties, he was closer to the actual number than I was.

This year the celebration dragged dragged on because Kevin is working weekends. It worked out that he had this weekend off so this was the final party. When you are 4 years old Pump It Up is the place to be. Both of my boys had sweat drenched heads. Patrick loved having so many of his friends in one place, everyone going absolutely crazy. And of course the presents that will be calling Patrick's name all night long.

Patrick told me that he appreciated the party and he had a great time. Time to start planning for Halloween.

That's What Little Girls Are Made Of

Another lovely piece of flair from Facebook.

I was thinking about that last post about Patrick's ability to listen and inability to hear. Some of you might have inferred that we are having another baby... we are NOT. Patrick however has been planning for the arrival of his baby sister for about 17 months.

Patrick named his new baby sister "Carsa" and knew that she was going to be a good baby. The implication of course was that his baby brother...not so good. Carsa wouldn't climb up the stairs or throw food. Carsa would be a perfect baby who didn't poop or cry.

The dream of Carsa has disappeared. Lately he has moved from talk of his baby sister to talk of his baby girl. Hence the conversation about the bottles. He was quite upset about the talk of throwing away bottles. He started a diatribe about all of the things he would need to buy for his baby girl: burp cloths (memories of an urpy Keith abound), bibs, bottles, spoons, diapers. He also has big plans for accommodating the new baby. Patrick is convinced that he needs a bunk bed. (Uncle Robby had a bunk bed when he was a little boy, I need a bunk bed) He has been dutifully studying the Pottery Barn Kids catalog and has his heart set on the Star Wars Room and the "Spiderman" Bunkbed. Keith is ready for a big boy bed (or so his brother says). "I'll give Keith my bed Mom." Generous this one. And Patrick's baby girl will take up residence in the beautiful crib that has been chewed, hammered, kicked, slammed and "baby-boyed" to the hilt.

My boys love babies. Keith can't quite express his affection with words but he has been taking care of this baby since he was less than 10-months old. The funny thing is this baby girl has a twin brother who is rarely invited out of the box in the playroom. Keith dotes on his little baby, feeding her Cheerios, patting her back..... Baby love indeed.

Have you tried a Q-Tip?

Kevin is convinced that Patrick needs to have his hearing checked and he is right. You know the difference between hearing and listening? Hearing is just about sound. Listening requires concentration to process meaning. Patrick seems to have listening down but he is struggling with hearing. As parents it is life changing to have your kids listen to your side conversations.

One of the classic Keith Clan stories is a tale of my sister and me listening to our mother and her sisters talk about our youngest aunt's pregnancy (needing to buy a pregnancy test etc.). We were probably 10 and 8 at the time. The story is funny because we understood what they were saying and we were listening down the laundry chute. Adults had a lot of adult conversations in our presence because they assumed we didn't understand.

Patrick was listening to our conversation about parents who give their toddlers soda. I was recounting a conversation I had with our friends who have a niece who is younger than Patrick with a grill. Not only does this little girl drink soda she still uses a bottle. I said something about throwing bottles away and that I had actually thrown all of our bottles out in the recycling. Patrick chimes in with, "Mom you can't throw the bottles away we need them for my baby sister!" Good listening, now for the hearing....

Yesterday we were watching Michael Chiarello on Fine Living. He was making some type of Bellini. The conversation went something like this:
"Mom, is that Juan?"
"No his name is Michael."
"No Juan, is that Juan?"
"No, Patrick, it is Michael, Michael Chiarello."
"No you know juan, the drink with alcohol?"
"You mean wine?"

Off we go to get his hearing checked. Until then we will have lots of stories about his faulty hearing. I have a feeling that this will be like the time I was convinced that he was color-blind.

The Day That Never Ends

My husband officially rocks. On Friday he spent the whole day with the boys before he went to work at 6:30 pm. Because he has FTO school next week, he had four hours to make up for the pay period. This meant that he was supposed to go back in tonight. Instead, he worked a 12-hour shift and then he worked an extra four hours so he could have more family time.

Kevin normally gets home around 7:30 am on Saturday morning and heads to bed. He didn't get home until 11:30 am this morning and he stayed up. He was so chipper and humored the boys with their mid-day activities. Patrick got clearance glue at Target ****We made a side trip to Target in the morning. Can someone please tell me how it is possible to spend $200, okay $300 at Target. What is it with that place?**** and he was busy "scrapbooking" and learning about "a little dab will do ya". Kevin ohhed and ahhed over the scrapbook pages Patrick created for him. Keith was having lunch (applesauce, mac n cheese, and sweet potato fries) and wanted to feed his dad. Kevin ate about three bites before I confirmed that yes Keith had mixed applesauce with the mac n cheese.

Patrick and I picked up sandwiches from Full Bull and a large Mt. Dew for Kev. This got him over the first hump. We had rescheduled Mommy and Boys Friday Night Movie Night so Kevin could join us. I wasn't sure if he would make it. Make it? My man had dinner, sitting next to both boys (translation I sat next to Kevin and no one else. Dinner sitting straight forward, what a concept), and then he vacuumed the entire downstairs and the staircase!

We popped popcorn, got the M&Ms out of the deep freeze, prepared all of the pillows and blankets, and settled in for "An American Tail." You know Fievel Mousekewitz.....Little Russian Mouse goes to America where there are no cats and the streets are paved with cheese. Patrick loves movie night. Keith likes popcorn and loves M&Ms. I wasn't parting with my chocolate so he was climbing up and swiping Kevin's. ***This is also a rare occasion that Keith is actually wearing PJs. He was so excited about his monkey PJs.****


If you are keeping track, my darling husband's day started on Friday at 7:00 am when Keith woke up and as of now (Saturday night) has yet to end. The boys and I are so excited to have Sunday with him tomorrow. Family time is the best.

Milestones to Write Home About

We have been so shocked at how different Patrick suddenly is now that he is four. Kevin says it is like a light bulb turned on at midnight on August 26th. All of the sudden he just seems like a real boy (not like before when he was just a wooden puppet). Most of it is something I can't explain or illustrate with pictures. However, my favorite Facebook Flair illustrates one of the changes.

This is totally Patrick these days. He is obsessed. The boy can sit down for hours on end coloring and drawing and writing. Yesterday we got our first Halloween costume catalog. After about 20 minutes of "I want to be this and this and that" I suggested that he mark the pages he was interested in with post-its. This turned into writing each character name on the post-it. We had a little homework time and he worked on writing "Transformers" on his post-it.

So this is real motivation for him to not only identify letters but also write. He is also creating some pretty fine masterpieces. He is dabbling in the house with the smoke coming out of the chimney right now.


And then there's Keith....
Tonight after dinner instead of dessert we indulged in an extra large serving of MOOD SWING. That isn't so much a milestone as it is a personality trait. Check out that outfit. He insisted on taking all of his real clothes off and donning accessories (hat and shoes, he also had a bracelet at one point. He is my son after all.)

But we do have good things to report about our dear little Keithers. He learned how to balance himself to stand on one foot. I know this probably doesn't make sense to people but convincing your toddler to hang onto your arm or the wall while you are putting on pants or a shoe is like convincing a dog to fly. They just don't get it and they will crash every time.

In other news he is regularly saying "Thank You" I know everyone thinks that walking is the most important milestone but I am so excited about the one foot thing and the manners. According to the doctor we should be really impressed with his ability to feed himself with a spoon. The doctor asked us no less than three times. The first time it wasn't really a question: "He's only 16 months, not feeding himself with a spoon" "Oh no, he feeds himself." "Really...."

"And you said he IS feeding himself?"Instead we are impressed that he figured out how to balance the spoon on his nose! I wish I had a picture! He did it twice.

And finally, take a good look at the psycho baby picture above. You can see Keith's huge molar that finally came in. Patrick was commenting on the size of his brother's teeth, noting that they aren't baby teeth. I corrected him, his teeth are in fact baby teeth. Keith just has HUGE teeth.

A not so clear choice

This week I embarked on my long awaited, much anticipated shopping excursion to San Francisco. I had a relatively successful experience on Market Street, I got just about everything on my list (and then some). I was laden down with shopping bags (my favorite workout) and ready to head to my hotel.

The next day I had a training on Strategic Planning (don't ask) and as anticipated they gave us almost an hour for lunch. For me, having 25 minutes to eat lunch standing up in the kitchen with Kevin on a weekday is a luxury... a whole hour, to eat? My hour went something like this: I spent the first 24 minutes messing around on the computer, emailing my staff and updating Facebook. 12 minutes locating the closest DSW (shoe warehouse) which was unbelievably close. 3 minutes to decide whether I should eat or shop. Shoes or food, Shoes or food. Mind you I hadn't had anything more than coffee that morning. And I was in one of my favorite eating cities.

21 minutes do you choose shoes or food? The insanity of the question was not lost on me.

The catch. As successful as my previous SF shopping day had been, I was still short a critical wardrobe item. I needed an oxford bootie (good name for a rock band) or at least a black bootie. Several days earlier I had literally kissed several faithful pairs of shoes goodbye. Actually a couple of them I just put away in boxes because I couldn't part with them. My New Orleans shoes in particular. Kevin and I bought them in New Orleans (before kids) and I have worn the heck out of them. Not to mention the roads they traveled nightly in New Orleans. The point is this, I had painstakingly made room for new shoes and two pairs of Bandolinos didn't quite do it for me. I needed booties and perhaps a new pair of flats. And I have one opening on my impratical but righteous shelf.

So I did what any self-respecting shopaholic would do... I booked it over to DSW on Powell Street. In the end, I didn't buy anything. Not because I didn't find anything I wanted but because I had run out of time to choose between the 4 pairs I found in 12 minutes flat.

I am honing my power shopping skills. My friend Jennifer and I once shopped for a cocktail dress, a blazer, mary janes and age appropriate clothes in Folsom at Off Saks in under 30 minutes. We're moms who travel a lot, we have no choice.

So shoeless and hungry I grabbed a sandwich and headed back. I was much more comfortable shoveling a roast beef on wheat into my mouth in less than 6 minutes. My digestive system wouldn't know what to do if I actually chewed and swallowed.

I'm still in the market for booties (among other things) but I have fed the beast for now.

Brotherly love and such.

These pictures illustrate just how different the boys are. Patrick is decked out in long-sleeve pjs with a hat under a down comforter, in triple digit Fresno weather. Keith sleeps in a diaper.

My darling boys. The fair haired devil and the verbose politician.....

Tonight we were finishing up shower time and Patrick starts shrieking. "Oh man! Keith peed on my leg. Keith, that isn't fair! We were all cleaned up!"

There is nothing in this world like having a brother. You always have someone to pee on your leg.