Birthday

Well, yesterday was my 29th birthday! My girlfriend called me to wish me a happy birthday and asked what I did. So I recounted the evening: picked up the boys, made dinner, ran the dishwasher, picked up the family room with the boys, gave the boys a bath and then clipped all toe and fingernails. Pretty exciting stuff! She just laughed at me, she's still single and childless. Her day will come! But then she recounted some busy weeks at her law firm working all weekend for 13 hours a day, so even though I was busy with Mom stuff, I'd rather be doing Mom stuff than work stuff--even on my birthday!! Tim & I will try to go out to dinner without the kids this weekend. We'll call it a birthday and anniversary celebration.

Eli did make me a card on Monday and saved it until Tuesday to give to me. He put stickers on the edges on both the front and back so they lined up and stuck the card together. I was being so careful as I opened it so I wouldn't rip the stickers, but one did rip and I showed Eli and he says, "Well, I guess that wasn't a good idea since it didn't work good." I told him it was a great idea since it did hold the card shut, just like he wanted it to. Then he was proud of his card again. It was too cute. I have the card on my desk at work now.

Noah has been having a little trouble saying "bad" words. I have a hard time getting the right disipline for him and am always on the hunt for something different. Most things are just not effective for him. I read somewhere to use vinegar instead of soap to wash out a child's mouth after saying a bad word. So one day last week he said his word of choice, "poopy-butt" and I gave him a warning and told him what would happen if he did it again. Well, of course he said it again. So I marched him right to the kitchen sink, got the vinegar and a cup and told him to rinse and spit it out. Now, bless his little heart, he doesn't know how to do that, so he ended up drinking the vinegar! He had a horrible pinched look on his face and his whole body shuddered as he swallowed. I thought that was the end of that after I made him tell Tim about it later that evening and he said "I said a bad word. I got vinegar. It tastes yucky, (then more to himself) I know it!"

I should have known better. Next Eli said a bad word on purpose, just so he could see what the vinegar was like. Didn't like it so much.

Then, last night, Noah said it again so I gave him a warning (Tim thinks there are too many warnings; I think he's still just 2 and figuring things out). Then he said it again and Eli more than willingly went to get the vinegar, and Noah crying all the while, kept saying, No vinegar! No vinegar! So I only gave him a little knowing he would end up swallowing it again. He wouldn't take it so I told him he would get more if he didn't have first time obedience and he drank it down, he'll figure out how to spit before he swallows one of these days. Then I gave him a drink of water to wash it down, but I think this time it sunk in.

Simon has started the separation anxiety thing this weekend. And he's cutting another tooth, so I just wore him around in the sling last night. I gave him rice cereal again last night, so we'll see how that goes with the different diapers. I'm hoping it works.