Imitation is the best form of flattery

TheToddler doesn't talk alot.  Sure he's 2½ but he just isn't a kid that you can sit down and have a conversation with yet.  Drama Queen talked very early. By 2½ she knew all the words to all the songs on the radio and sang along.   Attitude King was pretty much unintelligible until kindergarten.  He tried but he was very "dutchy" (tongue tied & no dr ever caught it. ugh).

TheToddler is not "dutchy" he just doesn't talk much.  He can answer a few questions "Want MILK!" but for the most part his speech consists of imitation.  98% of what he says is repeating something he's heard us say.  He gets stuck on a phrase for a week or two and that's pretty much ALL we hear.

"Boke, need batt-a-ees" was very popular.  He was constantly bringing us things all day long claiming it was broke and needed batteries. From toys, to pillows to his paci.. Thank goodness he got over that one and moved on, it was cute but the kid just didn't get that paci's don't take batteries.. lol.

So we get these phrases and they go on for a week or two before he picks up a new phrase. When we actually hear new words/ phrases we quickly get excited! OMG, he actually said something w/o copying! YAY!

A few times my bubble has been burst because I realized that I said the exact same thing a few minutes ago and it most likely was imitation.  Example:

We had to ride the elevator- on the way up he pushed the button. I cheered " YAY! You did it! TheToddler pushed the button!! "
On the way back down, he pushed the button and throws his hands up (Kick Buttowski style) and says " Yay! Did it! Push button!"

If nothing else, the boy has a sense of humor.  In bed the other nite, I gave him a kiss and said my normal "Goodnite, TheToddler. I love you."   Now normally he responds with his own "Goo nigh Momma.  I dove eww"  which is just cute as heck.  Love that kid.   This night, however, he says " Goo nigh..... AttitudeKing" and then paused for reaction.  Naturally I giggled and so he giggled..

Now every single night we go thru that.

"Goodnite, TheToddler.  I love you!"

"Goo nigh......... AttitudeKing... I dove eww.... AttitudeKing"

Kids- love em while they're little because all too soon they'll be big and want nothing to do with you :)

Dont talk bad about your computer.. It may just run away !!

The kids are napping and I have less than an hour before I have to rush out the door again to pick up Southern Darlin' & take her to a psych appt..  What better to do with my one hour than to try to blog?!

Have I mentioned that my computer is in the shop? Stupid thing.. I love it and hate it all at once. The geek said something about maybe the motherboard or I dont know, I saw something shiny and couldn't concentrate on his prattle.  We did the smart thing and backed up all the pictures on a CD.. Yay! I take Wayyy too many pictures and it would have killed me to lose them... So I was all smug when we dropped it off- do what you will, I have what I really need off of it.  A few days later it hit me..  I have kept a journal for each of the 4 youngest.. From the date I got  "the call" til the day they were adopted (or still going for the youngest 2).. All the ups and downs, all the gossip that you hear, all the stuff their birthparents were or weren't doing on the plan.. Basically their life stories along with my thoughts & feelings until they were legally mine..   Can you figure out WHAT I didn't back up??  Ahhhhh!!   So now I'm sincerely hoping that whatever is wrong with that cursed computer is something that can be fixed without totally demolishing my stuff that's on there.. Probably unlikely, but I'll keep my fingers crossed.  and I will quit saying bad things about it just in case the computer can hear me in geekland.. I <3 you computer!! Get well soon!

In anticipation to my computer being in the shop, Daddy Chaos drug out the very old laptop for me to use ( I mean geesh, it has Windows XP .. who uses that anymore.. ha) & then put in Drama Queen's room when my computer is returned to me.  The only problem?? The very reason we quit using it.. The battery is completely 100% shot.. So if the power cord even jiggles a little, the laptop then immediately dies.. On the spot.. Do you KNOW how many times that happens in a day with kids running all over the place?? I basically have given up.  But the kiddos are sleeping and I thought I'd just try it for a few minutes..  ack..

*~*~*~*~*~

Drool Prince used to be my good sleeper.. I would put him in bed and he fell asleep instantly.. Head to pillow = snores.  He slept for 12-14 hrs a nite PLUS a 2-3 hr nap..  Apparently those days are over.. He doesn't fuss about going to bed, and quite honestly I think could still use all the sleep but he is having problems going to sleep.. He lays in bed and talks to himself.. or sings to himself..

The other nite, everyone else was sleeping and I was still up (which in itself seems odd but oh well).. I could clearly hear him talking in his room.. So I went in and reminded him to be quiet, quit talking & go to sleep.. Yes Mommy..
I stood outside his door to see if he really would comply..Sure enough a moment later he starts whispering again.. this time I waited to hear what he had to say.. I cracked the door enough to watch him laying there talking to the air ::

No, dont' pull it off.. It will hurt.  It might bleed.. We'll have Mommy cut it for us.

No.. No.. dont' do it.. Mommy will cut it if we ask her.

No, stop. dont pull it off. I dont want hurts.

Finally I go in and tell him to quit talking (I'm not talking Mommy) and go to sleep.. Sure enough the invisible person he was talking to had pulled off his nail- way back.. I'm thinking he should have fought harder to win that battle bc Mommy would have just clipped the nail & there would have been no pain. Crazy kid! Multiple personalities or an active imagination.. Either way, at least I know that the smart good boy is in there fighting to win the battle :)

A parenting 1st!

So I've been a parent for many many years.. Yet it took all these years for me to hit this particular parenting first.

Let me back up and give you a little background b/c I am totally laying blame with the teacher.

So Drool Prince & Spoiled Princess are in preschool this year. Drool Prince has some medical issues and while I was a bit leary of putting him in preschool , I knew he really would want to go so I swallowed my mommy paranoia and enrolled him.

I did however first type of a nice 2 page Emergency Plan for his pacemaker, asthma & allergy issues. It clearly describes why he has each issue, what do avoid for each issue & what plan they should follow if he has problems.

Drool Prince is allergic to milk & eggs. Milk- as in the white stuff that comes from a cow's teat. Just making sure everyone is on the same page here.

Teacher thanked me for the list & asked Drool Prince if he would help Teacher remember these things to keep him safe?! I immediately told her that he would not! He is always doing things that he thinks look fun that he cannot do b/c of the pacemaker ( swing on his tummy- big no no- I got to look like the crazy mama there) or wants to eat things that he cannot have.

One day last week (yes this background is getting long- deal with it.. lol), Drool Prince came out of class w/ a messy chocolatey face. I asked him what they ate and he happily declares "Chocolate Pudding!! I can have it at school, Teacher let me!"
I spent the next 10mins trying to explain to him that he really couldn't have it and his teacher forgot but he couldn't not have it again.. He argued that he can have it AT SCHOOL..

blah!!

So the next school day, I approached the teacher about the pudding and reminded her that Drool Prince could not have milk or egg products. She immediately retorted that it was a 'commercial' pudding which is fine.. Ok let me quote directly from Hunt's website : "Made with real nonfat milk".. Uhmm no sorry pudding is a no no.

The woman then had the gall to say "We're having string cheese for snack today.. Can he have that?"

OMG I almost pulled my hair out immediately! What is cheese made out of? I think most of us who have made it past kindergarten can say with confidence that cheese is made out of.. Yes.. you said it.. MILK!?

So that was last weeks' 2 days of preschool.. Today I picked Drool Prince up & Teacher has him get his cookie from the table to bring home.. Apparently they made choc. chip cookies , decorated them with icing & were told they had to take them home to eat them. I mentioned that Drool Prince couldn't eat them b/c of the eggs in them... to which Teacher then tried to pull the "commercial product" spiel again.. I'm sorry but they still have EGGS in them. She still insisted that Drool Prince take it home..

So we stand there for 10mins waiting on Spoiled Princess to get out of class & he's whining and crying b/c I will NOT let him eat this cookie. Finally I told him to take his finger and carefully eat the icing. This makes him very happy until said icing is all gone & Mommy throws the cookie away.

People.. ALL HELL broke loose right then. The wails peeled wallpaper right off the walls.

"I dont LIKE you mommy!"

"That's ok . You dont have to like me right now"

And then it comes.. That parenting first that took 4 other kids to get to.. In full preschooler volume :

"I HATE YOU!!!"

It only took 14yrs to get to this point. I guess I'm pretty lucky.. Kinda sad that it was the 3yr old and not the almost 14yr old that screamed it at me. You kinda expect that to come from the mouth of an angry teen or maybe that's just me?

He did apologize later -on his own. And reminded me that he really loved me & was just mad about the cookie. He claims to understand that the cookie had stuff in it that could make him sick.. Sometimes I really think it's an old man stuck in a little boy's body with that kid.

Froggies & Dragons

Go away for a few days and I get two more followers! Woohoo me.. Lucky #13 :) Welcome new ones I promise not to pass out any koolaid :)

So the other morning , I was in the car w/ Daddy Chaos & the youngest 3. It was still rather early in the morning (read: before I really like to be up, dressed and out of the house) and fog was lingering..

As we're driving along I made the comment to Daddy Chaos that I was surprised we didn't have a school delay b/c it was awful foggy once you got outside of town.

Drool Prince pops in with " Froggy? Where are the froggies? I want to see a Froggy!"

Me: No, not Froggy.. FOGGY.

Drool Prince : I said FROGGY mommy! I want to see one!

I sighed , Daddy Chaos chuckled (which is way more manly sounding than a giggle) and we gave up and listened to Drool Prince & Spoiled Princess discuss the froggies..

A few minutes later we pass this stretch of highway that smells. Pigs. P. U.

Every single time we go past this particular stretch of road someone in the car always says:
PU what is that smell!? Naturally this time was no exception.

Spoiled Princess: P.U.!! What is that smell!! Drool Prince was that you?

Drool Prince: It was not me! It was the froggies!!

A few more miles down the road and we see a truck pulling a piece of farm equipment but not very well and it appears to be dragging the ground.

Daddy Chaos: Wow look at that idiot. He's draggin it!

Drool Prince: A DRAGON?? Where?

Daddy Chaos: I didn't say Dragon. I said Draggin.. You know.. Dragging it.. ohh nevermind.

Drool Prince: I want to see the dragon! Where is it?

Me: Out in the fog!

Drool Prince: Dragon's like Froggies?

It was decided that Dragon's must only come out if there is fog *ahem* frogs to conceal them. Drool Prince & Spoiled Princess spent the rest of the morning spotting misc. dragon parts.

"Ohh I see a tail!! Did you see the tail? It was pink!!"

"I saw a head AND tail."

"no you didn't"

"Yes I did!"

You get the picture.. Our morning was filled with froggies & dragons :)

Potty Talk..

Drool Prince is potty training.. again.. He was almost completely trained last summer (a bit early, I know) but then we got Baby Bug and he regressed. Now that he's about to turn 3- we've been working on it again.

With Spoiled Princess, we used the fancy smancy reward chart. It worked wonderfully, but Drool Prince likes a more..substantial reward.

I've finally figured out his weakness. Who knows if our success has been in the rewards, his decision to start going or momma's threat that only Big Boys who go in the Potty turn 3.. yeah, not sure he believes me on that one either.. Either way, he's started going in the potty again.

Hearing those sweet words " Momma, I hafta go PEEE" is music to my ears. He's even figured out how to lean forward so it doesn't spray everywhere! Yay! Score for Drool Prince.

To keep him excited about going, we always clap and say Yay! Good Job Drool Prince whenever he goes potty. He gets 1 treat for pee & 2 for poops. His treat choices are the little candy converstation hearts, marshmallows or gummy bears. Sorry, no M&M's here b/c of allergies :(

Earlier today, I was in the bathroom.. uhmm, going to the bathroom. Having just finished up , I hear Drool Prince come running down the hall- "I hafta go PEE, Momma!!" So I quickly pull up my pants and flush. Not quick enough. He runs in and peers into the potty..

"Ohh Momma, you go poop? GOOD JOB!! You can have 2 candies now!"

gee, thanks hun.

~~~~~~~

Over the weekend, we were shopping (more about that in another post) . I had Baby Bug in the sling & had already went to the bathroom when Drool Prince announced he had to GO! So I did what most momma's would do in this situation, I declared that Daddy had to take him. I cannot stoop down to help a toddler BOY go pee ,while having the baby strapped to me in the sling.. Sorry, Daddy was going to Have to do it. I don't know about you, but 'round here Daddy doesn't do much in the potty training dept. He can change a mean diaper but when it comes to the potty training, he's usually a bit MIA.

So Daddy Chaos had to man up and took Drool Prince potty. I got the story after he came back out. Apparently Daddy had to pee too, so after DP was done, he told him to stand 'over there' while I go too. Naturally, DP -being a very inquisitive almost 3yo- had to turn around to look at what Daddy was doing.

"DADDY!!! You go pee in you PANTS?!" DP gasps in horror.

Daddy Chaos calmly explained that no he was Not peeing in his pants, geesh!, and when Drool Prince was a big boy, he could pee standing up. He just needs to grow a bit b/c he's too short. Of course we all know where this is going , don't we?

Drool Prince had to Seee how Daddy could pee standing up. So he comes around the front to take a peek.

"You pee'in, Daddy?"

"Yes , Drool Prince.. No go stand back over there."

"ohhh, you pee on me?"

"No, I'm not going to pee on you, but please go stand over there. I'll be done in a minute"

**note, apparently Daddy Chaos has bladder control that I haven't had in 13yrs. cuz I'd have totally been done by now, there is no stopping once it's started**

Drool Prince goes to stand facing away and just when you think it's all over, Daddy hears his little awed voice.

"You have a BIG pee-pee daddy!! I have a little one"

Daddy Chaos has been told that he can go to work and brag to all his work buddies that he totally impressed the 3yo with his size.. Lmao..

Dinosaurs running amuck..

Coming upstairs the other morning, Drool Prince's tummy started growling. He stopped on the stair and looked at me all wide-eyed.

DP: Momma, you hear that? DINOSAURS!!

Momma: Dinosaurs?? Where are they?

DP: In my tummache.. They hungry. ROAR!!!!!

Hmm, always wondered why our tummies growled! It's those dang dinosaurs..

How much is that baby in the window?

Spoiled Princess: Awww, the baby is soo cute isn't he Momma?
Momma: Yes, he sure is! He's a cutie patutie baby pie.
Spoiled Princess: Why did you buy him?
Momma: I didn't buy him! :laughs:
Spoiled Princess: Where did you get him from?
Momma: from the hospital where he was born, remember?
Spoiled Princess: ohh well, he's very cute..
*dances around saying to Baby Bug- You very cute baby.. aww you a cute baby.. *

Ultrasounds aren't just for the expecting!

Drool Prince had a pacemaker check at the children's hospital yesterday. Everything looks good. It's still kicking on but not tons which is always good :) The dr did send us home with a holter monitor for 24hrs just to verify that the pacer isn't misfiring at all. Let me tell you the fun & joy it was to have this monitor hooked up to the boy that does not sit still (and also loves to pick at anything on him, including scabs).. I basically wrapped him up in duck tape & sat on him for 24hrs.. ok not really but close enough. Thankfully 24hrs is over, monitor is in the package awaiting UPS' delivery man to come pick it up (too bad we dont' have a smokin hot UPS man.. what ever happened to the days of smokin hot UPS men??).

****
On the drive to the children's hospital (normally a 2hr drive turned into almost 3hr thanks to traffic, trains, idiot drivers..), we had a bit of a mouth malfunction.. In a bigger city, with 4lanes of traffic going downtown, you would think that either a) there would be no parking on streets or b) ppl parking on the streets would perhaps look before just flopping their doors open willy nilly.. I'm sure you can guess what happened to cause the mouth malfunction right?

Driving along happily with busy traffic in both lanes going roughly 45mph when this idiot parked along the street (with absolutely no real room between parked car & traffic cars) tosses open her door and throws a leg out.. Good way to lose your leg , lady! The car in front of us slams on the breaks & attempts to swerve into the other lane.. We, of course, then had to hit our breaks and get in the other lane..

The conversation that followed :
Momma: Stupid Ass!
Drool Prince: Stupid ass.. stupid ass..
Momma: DP! Don't say that! Momma shouldn't have said it either, not nice word.
Spoiled Princess: I no say stupid ass, Mommy.. I no say it..
Drool Prince: stooopid.... stoopid... ahhhsssss..

:sigh: the things I teach my kids ..

******

So we went to the dr the other day for Attitude King. I love our family dr. He's the type to tell you what he thinks is wrong but always follows up with "let's do the tests to be sure" or tells you that he's sure its not something "but let's rule it out.".. Some might not care for this approach but personally I'd always rather have the tests done & have it be nothing than have a dr like Dr Stupid who ignores things even when you beg for an xray and it ends up becoming a much larger issue!(see DP's Easter hospital stay..). Good lordy I got off track there..

Anywho.... We go to Dr H (ha, not House.. but OMG do I love that show. I know.. I know back to the story..) and Attitude King explains his symptoms while I try to explain why it took me almost 2months to bring a 10yo in for chest pains so I dont look like a slacker mom. In the end, Dr H decided that he was not willing to give us a diagnosis or even a hint at one (which is pretty unusual for him) but wanted to run some tests & then he'd get back to us..

So next monday AK is set up to give half of his blood, all his urine, 3xrays & an ultrasound.. The boy could not be more excited. I kid you not, he has told every single person about ALLL the tests he is getting done & even tried to get me to go over it again this morning before school so he could tell all his friends.. Sheeesh! Boys! The only bad thing on his spectrum is the fact that the tests don't commence until 3pm & he is not allowed to eat past 9am.. He's decided that he should stay home b/c surely he'll forget at school and slip up.. lol.

I almost had the boy convinced that u/s hurt but I just couldn't keep the giggle from breaking thru.. I got the suffered " Moooooooooooooommmmmmm.."

Spicy Water...

Spoiled Princess has a tendency to claim that everything is HOT. She asks before every meal if said offending item is hot and we have taken to responding with one of three answers :

*No, it's not hot at all- go ahead and eat.

*Yes, it's "burn you" hot. Blow it, be careful!

*No, it's not "burn you" hot but it it spicy hot. Take a little bite.

--note we eat Mexican alot since its' the little ones favorite food (go figure) so we hear the spicy part alot.. Apparently Drool Prince has his own take on what 'spicy' means. Two examples :

-Eating peaches. One taken right from the tree so room temp & one from the fridge. He kept declaring that the fridge one was spicy- although at the time we thought he said 'juicy' because honestly that made more sense.. lol.

-washing his hands with cold water. I mentioned to him perhaps he should turn on the warm water too b/c that was was cold.. brrr.. "It not hot Mommy, it spicy?" he replied. Nope, not spicy DP. it's COLD.. Brrr cold.. We argued Spicy vs cold for a full minute before I gave up. Sure it's spicy water.

The boy is going straight to hell..

I don't think any amount of Hail Marys is going to get him out of this.. I know we've talked about Drool Prince's love for the word Poop.. Poopie.. ect.. At the store the other day, we saw a nun in full robe (uniform?Dress? what is the appropriate word here?). Naturally being a 2yo with a pretty good vocabulary he asks alot of questions-

What is that?
-It's a lady.
She wear a dress?
-Yup, she has a dress on..

Said nun noticed his interest and came over to say hi to him..
To which he responded in full Drool Prince style :

Hi Poopie Head!

Lordy have mercy! Can you imagine? LOL! Thank goodness we aren't Catholic ! :)

To complete the day, while coloring he had some animals to color.. When asked if he was coloring the puppy cute he responded :

No, I make him poop..

Sure enough, he was scribbling right at his butt area.. I give up..

I'm not the only one going stir crazy!

Drool Prince: Mommy, I go Kathy's?
Momma: Nope dear not today (he laughs if you call him dear.. I'm pretty sure he thinks I'm meaning deer & can't figure out why I think he's a 4legged animal?).
Drool Prince: I go pop-pop's?
Momma: Nope not there either..
Drool Prince: Pop-pop come HERE?
Momma : No Pop Pop's not coming here either..
Spoiled Princess *not one to be left out*: Mommy, Mommy! We go to Gandpa's? (she always leaves the r out and somehow the M mysteriously becomes a N..)
Momma : No, Grandpa isn't home today.
Drool Prince :Karen coming?? (1st step's therapist)
Momma : No, not til Thursday..
Drool Prince : uhmm.... uhmmm... I go BISIT?
Momma :*laughing* no, not even a visit today..

He then sighed and walked off.. I guess that was the extent of his bye bye ideas..

Naked baseball anyone?

SP: "Why are they playing baseball naked?"

Daddy Chaos: "It's called wrestling honey.. And they arent' naked."

Say what?

The funny/cute one :

In the car-

Spoiled Princess sits in the 3rd row, so sometimes if the radio is on or the other 4 kids are making noise it's hard to understand her.. On the way home from a day at the pool today, I hear this :

SP: Mommy, I put my hair up in a hot dog.
Me: (turning down the radio and shushing everyone)- WHAT?
SP: I going to put my hair in a hot dog.

I shook my head confused and looked in the rearview mirror at her. She is holding her hair up on top of her head.. It hit me & Drama Queen at the same time..

A BUN? we both asked?

Yup, that's exactly what she meant. She wanted her hair put up into a bun.. not necessarily a hotdog bun but still.. lol! We giggled the whole way home about that one.

********
The Ooops :

Daddy Chaos & Spoiled Princess were playing with her blankets. Daddy would steal one insisting that he needed a blanket, then Spoiled Princess would shriek & steal it back insisting that she must have TWO blankies.. Apparently getting tired of this game she announced :

Stop Being Bitchy!!

Daddy Chaos stopped and immediately asks: What did you just say??

Obviously Spoiled Princess understood the tone of voice and immediately clams up and insists that he be nice to her..

Daddy Chaos: That's not what you said.. What did you say?
Spoiled Princess: Stop being nice to me?

lol!! Then I - little innocent me!- get the lecture that I need to watch my mouth b/c apparently the youngesters are picking it up.. Sheesh, I don't say those type of words.. I DONT..

Overheard on the baby monitor...

Doooper man!!

Dooper man! Dooper man ! Dooper man!

Doooper MOMMY!

(growling & evil voice that you can never understand what he's saying )

Dooper man. I dooper man!

Lumpy? Where Lumpy go?

Dooper puppy!

Oh NO! My puppy!!


- sigh, I guess he's awake huh?! lol! At least he's superman instead of a princess today right?! Picture to follow tomorrow- after all, we've gotta milk it for wordless weds right?!