5 Years Old?!?!

Aidan Thomas at age 5

I asked Aidan these questions, and here are his answers
Favorite Food: pepperoni pizza

Favorite Show: Wow! Wow! Wubbzy

Favorite Movie: Flushed Away

Favorite Stuffed Dude: Aidan Tiger

Favorite Game: Hullabaloo

Favorite thing to play at home: puzzles and do art projects

Favorite Book: 5 Little Monkeys Wash the Car

Favorite Color: Red

Favorite Center (at school) to play in: art

Favorite thing to play outside: winter: snow fights ; summer: swim

Favorite Sport to play: baseball

What do you want to be when you grow up: A Pirate or a Train Engineer

Potty Progress

I really had no plans to tackle the potty thing w/ the twins until spring or summer, but Elliott is doing really well. Over the past 4 days, he's done better each day. He's gone several times a day, and each time he's sat on it, he's produced. Today, he asked to sit on it twice and produced! And its only 9:30 am! Of course, I am using a mini MnM as a reward, which is kinda against my philosophy, but if it works, I guess that's ok.

Norah decided she didn't want to have a repeat performance after her first hurrah, but then after seeing Elliott get all these props, she's produced twice in the last 12 hours. So maybe the pressure is getting to her, as well.

Now if we could just tackle the poop. Ugh.

of jingles and tinkles....

The other day we were at Target and I was in the toilet paper aisle and naturally, the twins were chattering away, making noise. That's when I tuned in and picked up what Elliott was singing.... "da da da...Charmin! da da da...Charmin!" (ok, so its "cha cha cha". close enough!) I said, "were you singing about the toilet paper?" and he pointed to the Charmin on the shelf and said, "yeah" and then repeated himself. I don't know if I should be a proud mama or if I should be embarassed for clearly allowing him to watch too much TV.

And the big news...........


NORAH PEED ON THE POTTY!!!!!!!! She sat on it on her own free will and she produced! For the first time ever!! Please let this be the door that was opened. Please?

Eidetic Memory...or.....?

Aidan can, at times, amaze the crap out of me.
For instance, in December, with some adult help, he completed a 550 piece puzzle over the course of several days. If that wasn't impressive enough, he got out that same puzzle this weekend and over 48 hours, did the puzzle himself. With no help whatsoever.
Ok. That's 550 pieces. I am 33 and I have issues doing puzzles that large. To me, that is just amazing. But Aidan....once he does something like that once, its like he stores it in his brain and can whip it out again and again, quick as ever.

The other day he said to me, "mommy, how come Norah took that little baby kitty that I got from Old McDonalds when I went there with Grandma ****?" I said, "you mean that little grey one that she calls baby kitty?" and he said, "yeah. I got that when I went there before Norah was borned."
I just about had to pick my jaw up off the floor.
Aidan was only 20 months old when the twins were born. And he remembers details like that??!?! Damn.

So then why can't he learn his alphabet? He has had no issue memorizing it. But recognizing it out of context is another story. And why does he have the patience to do a 550 piece puzzle, but he doesn't pay attention at soccer? And his teacher wonders about if he's 'all there' at times?

I just signed off on the final piece of paper, so it shouldn't be long before we have an appointment for his evaluation w/ the school district to see if he may have some sort of learning issue.

Cats Dance? Really?

Without fail, every day the clock radio is playing tunes in my room. Today I asked Norah why she feels the need to turn it on all the time. She looked at me with this look that said, "well duh." and said, "cuz. the kitty. quinny need music. she need to dance!"

Oh. Silly me. Why didn't I think of that.

Two Times the Fun

She's a unique little girl.

She's sweet and spunky

She's cute and gentle and girly

She's a tomboy with a twist

I turned in applications for preschool for her and Elliott recently. I was worried about them being ready, but I am not too worried about Norah anymore. For the past 3 weeks, we've had library storytime and she's done fabulous. She listens, follows along with the songs that have dance and motion and fingerplays, and sits.

Now we have to work on this one :)

He's all boy, all the time.

Dental Hygiene: How NOT to do it

Yesterday, I was flossing my teeth and I caught Elliott staring at me intently. I tossed the floss in the trash when I was done and went in the kitchen to start lunch. I looked over in the bathroom because I heard some commotion and that's when I saw it.....Elliott had dug my used floss out of the trash and was attempting to floss his teeth. EW EW EW!!!!

Such Motivation!

Today Aidan said to me, "Mom, when I am a grown up, I don't think I want to work. I think I want to be like you and play all day. Work is not fun, is it? But if I change my mind, then I think I'll be a fireman. Or Thomas the Train." Ooookay then.
I didn't know that I played all day, either. Is that what this is called?

Now What?

Little girls need to come with hair instructions. I've always wanted my girl to have long hair, just like I did as a little girl (before my mom let me get that wretched shag cut and then permed it back in the 80's). However, I don't remember it being this hard to manage! I should have figured as much, given that I cut my hair off every time it gets long.
But here we are...she's finally got it long enough so that I can put it in pig tails, a pony, braids, or even a french braid. And she doesn't want it cut. She'll even sit for me, if the mood is right. But 80% of the time, it looks like a scraggly mess. So do I go against the wishes of a 3 year old (does she really care?) and get a nice, chin length bob? Or do I just go with the flow and hope that once winter is over, it looks better? But then we enter popscicle season. Oh joy.

Surprising us every day

Aidan dug out this 550 piece puzzle and wanted to do it. Surprisingly, he did most of it himself, with the help of daddy and his uncle Ry, sorting pieces for him. Actually, Uncle Ry did some of it when Aidan went to bed one night and Aid got pissed off and took it apart and commented that adults weren't supposed to do that!!

So after this masterpiece was completed, we figured it was time to step things up. We bought him his first 200 piece puzzle. Crap. That was Tuesday. He had that thing completed in no time and has done it about 8 times since then! Maybe we need 250 pcs? A More difficult design?



And then there are my little Twinadoes. They surprised the hell out of me. They had their first dentist appt. this week and they handled it beautifully!!!!

That's Me!!!

The other day, we were watching the holiday episode of Handy Manny for the 3,267th time this week and one of the characters was talking to Manny about Hanukkah and what a menorah was. Norah perked up and said, "a Norah? a Norah! That's me! That's me, mommy! A Norah!"

Imaginations are a wild thing

Well who knew?
Elliott wanted his black froggie, but I was tucking him in bed. I asked where it was, and he replied, "in the cave." I said, "where's the cave?" and he said, "down 'dere." Because I wouldn't allow him out of bed, I never did figure out where "down 'dere" was.

A few days later, I called "NAPTIME!" to Norah and Elliott. I went upstairs and Elliott was nowhere to be found. I asked Norah where her brother was and she said, "Ellie in da cave."

Ok. Now I was perplexed. So I called him and out he came from under the bed.

THE CAVE! Silly me! Duh!

who said TV is bad for kids?

Today at lunch, Aidan said, "mommy, did you know that christmas is about being together and helping others?" Chris and I looked at each other and I said to Aidan, "wow. Very good Aidan. It sure is. Where did you learn that?", thinking he'd say that he learned it in school. Nope.

"I learned it from the Wonder Pets, Mommy!"

Ode to Napolean Dynamite

Yesterday, I hauled my non-morning self to Kohl's early in the morning to get the twinadoes some winter boots so that they would stop looking so sullen and would be able to play in the snow, like they had been dying to for the past 24 hours.
Much to my dismay and attempts to convince them how cool the other boots were, they picked the princess boots and the spiderman boots, both with flashing lights. Tackiness in its finest! (if you know me, you know how much I hate character wear on my kids, unless its PJs)
But alas, it made them happy. So off we went with the boots.
And I don't think they've taken them off since.
Their cousin Sara babysat for them last night, and when we got home, we were informed that yes, they were in bed with their boots on. When I went to take Norah's off, she woke up and groggily said, "no! da princess boots. da princess boots on." I've got to think that it can't be comfy?

I thought I was being a good mom by not letting my kids watch crap like Spongebob, Calilou, and Rugrats (no offense to moms who do, I just think its sassy and too potty-like for us), but low and behold, Aidan managed to memorize some lines from Shrek II. Guess I really need to screen and watch what we say!!!

Aidan: "mommy, whose your one true love?"
Me: "wha? Where'd you learn that?"
A: "Shrek II. Shrek is Princess Fiona's true love."
Me: "oh. That would be daddy and you, peanie and belly."
A: "Mommy, do I have thick, curly locks?"
Me: "well, you have thick locks, but they're not curly."
A:" Do I have a cute button nose and tight, ample buttocks?"
Me: " WHAT? Tight WHAT?"
A: "buttocks. You know, like on your butt."
Me: "nice. Maybe you should take a break from watching Shrek II so much."

All About Me

I did it! I made my first hat!!!! And I have two people who I really need to thank - Lynn, for being patient with me last week at Stitch n Bitch, when I was all f*d up and she set me straight, and Sheila, for showing me the video on the mattress stitch. Now hopefully Ryan will wear it and the matching scarf :)

She's a character, that's for sure!

Tonight, I was tucking her into bed, and I said, "goodnight, Princess." and she said, "I not princess, I Peanie." and was giggling hysterically. So I said, "goodnight, Peanie." And she said, "no, I a kitty." and added her purr and meow noises. I tell ya, this girl is 100% obsessed with cats. She's going to be like Angela on The Office who has the cat 'Hang in There' poster hanging up, along with all other cute cat paraphanalia. She'll be that freaky cat lady. Oh dear Pete, I hope not!! The other day, she was walking around, strumming her guitar, singing, "meow meow meow! meow meow meow!" Next thing you know, she'lll be singing "Smelly Cat", a la Phoebe Bouffay.

Oh yeah....you can just call her "fragile" Frankie Murman (of Seinfeld). He's the character who, when upset, runs into the woods and digs a hole and sits in it. Like Frankie, Norah, when upset, runs under a table and hides and cries.

I've got some chock-o-lot in my pock-o-lot

Yesterday when we were at Michaels, I tried to sneak a candy bar into my purchases to help curb my chocolate craving. Unfortunately, Aidan saw me. I got off the hook by telling him he had halloween candy left at home and could have some after lunch.

So we're in the car, driving home, and he says, "hey! what's that smell?"
I said,"what smell? I don't smell anything."
He said, "I do. It smells like chocolate."
Meanwhile I am stuffing little pieces of Take 5 into my piehole.
Still in denial, I say, "Nope. I don't smell it."
Aidan said "Yes, I do. I smell delicious chocolate. "

All About Aidan

All boy.



Seriously?
Is this something in their genes?
I mean, WTF?!

If anyone is reading this and even *thinks* for a moment that my boy is going to be gay because he is feeding a doll, I will kick your ass. He is merely practicing his parenting skills early on. He will be a great daddy someday. Boys can play with dolls.









Friday morning we had our conference w/ Aidan's teacher. We got his report card on Thursday and were pretty pleased with it...it was what I thought it would be, for the most part. No surprises. So we went over that, then we went through an assessment she gives all the kids in Oct and in Mar. We got to see a cutting sample that she has them do in Oct/Mar and then also his "me" book....he draws a picture of himself and writes his name every month. He even narrarates it.
Overall, he's doing great...socially, he's thriving. He doesn't have favorite friends and can play with boys or girls and seems well liked by all the kids. He chooses his 'center' during center time by his interests instead of by the kids who are playing there, which is awesome. He's recognizing his numbers. Basically, doing everything he should be. The only issues we have is that he can't seem to answer more abstract questions. Like if she dumps a box of blocks out and says, "how many blocks are there, Aidan?" he'll just look at them and look up and smile. Since preschool, we've had some issues w/ Aidan following directions. Its like you have to restate what you're asking, sometimes showing him what you want him to do. After seeing this show up on the eval in several different areas, we all decided that he should be evaluated by the speech therapist for a possible processing issue. He certainly doesn't have issues expressing, but it would be on the receptive end. Oh well...better to nip in the bud....we can figure this out and how to deal with it. Frankly, I think he's just like his mama....half off in la-la-land 50% of the time.

And now I leave you with the words of a wise man...

Giddiyup!

November is Prematurity Awareness Month

">

November is Prematurity Awareness Month.

Please....
Give Hope...
Watch Miracles Happen.

Every year, nearly 500,000 infants are born prematurely. That's roughly comparable to the population of Cleveland.

Preterm delivery can happen to any pregnant woman. And its happening more and more often. And in nearly half the cases, no one knows why.

The March of Dimes is taking on this devastating problem, to find out what causes it and how it can be stopped.
( from www.marchofdimes.com)


All three of mine were wanting out earlier than they were supposed to. Thanks to drugs and some wonderful doctors, Aidan stayed in. The twins managed to hang in there for 4.5 more weeks due to the same amazing doctors, awful meds, and a really uncomfortable hospital bed. They arrived on October 26th, at 30.5 weeks gestation, weighing 3lb 4ozs each.


Call your US Representative today and urge immediate action on the PREEMIE ACT.

BANDING TOGETHER! Purchase a virtual band in honor or in memory of a child who was born prematurely. Your donation will go toward life-saving research.