Crazy Jack

I think we have officially entered the "terrible twos".  Jack has been having full blown tantrums, throwing himself on the floor, crying when he doesn't get his way.  

He is a HANDFUL!  We love him to pieces, but man oh man, he keeps us busy.  

Last weekend, he was eating a tube of lipstick saying it was his snack. 

If he finds something that belongs in the basement, he will just catapult it over the gate down the steps.  He doesn't care about scratching the wall, breaking the toy... he just throws it and says "down". 

At the store, he purposely spilled all of his Goldfish on the floor.  I was telling a worker about the spill so they could clean it up and Jack was patting himself saying, "mine" (like, "Yeah, that was me.  I spilled the Goldfish.)  "Mine" is his word for himself.  If I ask Kate to do something for me, he jumps up and screams "mine" so he can do it.  If I point to a picture of him and say, "Who is that?", he says "mine." 

He is FINALLY starting to be o.k. with the potty.  He has started asking to go on it.  He calls it "baaa" (ball) because we put a little football seat on the toilet.  Maybe I just bought my last pack of diapers??? We'll see.  

Even though his favorite word is "NO" and he still has a fairly small vocabulary, he has finally started saying "yes".  Finally!!

He is still crazy abut his little lovey.  He snuggles it up to his face and pops his thumb in his mouth.  

He has started to have a weird obsession with anything warm.  If I'm folding laundry, he comes in and pulls something out of the dryer, puts it up by his face and sucks his thumb.  Ok, not too weird...  let me get a little weirder for you. 

One day, he was laying by the vent when the heater was on.  On another occasion, he had his cheek on the dishwasher door while it was running because it was warm.  Still not weird enough?? Try this one.  Jack was sitting on the floor by my laptop battery.  I looked over and he was holding it up against his cheek and sucking his thumb.  Then, I realized (and kinda freaked out because it was so weird), that he was doing that because the battery was hot.  Crazy!! I  see a "My Crazy Obsession" episode in his future.  

Eating ice cream

Jack is so funny, though.  He makes us laugh all the time.  He is just downright goofy.  I wish I had time to just follow him around all day with a video camera because I almost can't even describe how busy, goofy, destructive, did I say busy?, and stinking hilarious he is!! 

He gets soooo tired of Kate always pulling him around, doing things for him, and picking him up (even though she means well).  So, it was strange yesterday when he let her pretend that he was a baby.  She would tell him to cry and he would do this fake cry.  Then, he would say "hold" and she would pick him up and carry him around.  At least they were getting along!

At the park yesterday, Jack constantly called me.  "Mama, Mama, Mama."  Then, when I would answer, he would say, "hi".  Ha! 

At the store, he says "hi" to everyone.  And not just once.  He said hi to an elderly lady about 95 times last week.  

This kid is so crazy.  He is also sweet as can be.  He loves to kiss little babies (bee-bees), loves his mama fiercely, and blows the sweetest kisses at night from his crib.  He has a smile on his face about 90% of the time.  He has short little legs that look so cute in cargo shorts.  He's got mean sword fighting skills.  He's got a great arm and can throw a ball across the room. He sings with his eyes closed.  He prays with his face scrunched up, his eyes half open, and throws his hands up when he's done and cheers.  He holds his chest and makes the cutest face when he is scared.  He loves to stand up and pee in the tub.  He loves to press the panic button on my keys.  He loves to wear Kate's shoes.  He LOVES Barney.  

And, every night around 8:30, he passes out in his crib and I breathe a sigh of relief that we made it through another day. ha!

Girls Trip to Nashville

A couple weekends ago, Mom, Kate and I took a little trip to Nashville. 

I got really sick the day after we got there and stayed sick the whole time.  Yuck yuck yuck!! Fever, cold, sore throat, cough... the whole nine yards.  Kinda put a damper on the trip for me. 

Mom and Vicky did get a TON done around their house, though, and we logged about ten hours of Hoarders watching on Netflix. 

This is the ONLY fairly decent picture I snapped the whole time.

Kate loves her some Baby Ruckus!!

Something New

We are trying a new strategy around here and it's actually working!

This is very similar to a behavior plan I would use in the classroom... I don't know why I never thought of using something like this at home.

I was browsing incentive, behavior, and chore charts on pinterest and came across this idea.

I explained it to Kate before I even made it and she was so excited. She is VERY motivated by stuff like this.

We've been using it for a little over two weeks and she LOVES it!! Jack is even getting into it.

The idea is this: Kate and Jack each have a clothespin with their name on it. Each day, they start on "Good Job". All day long, they have the opportunity to "clip up" or (yikes!) "clip down".

At first, I was worried that Kate would start doing jobs or being extra sweet just so she could "clip up". But, so far, it hasn't worked like that. She will voluntarily offer to help or use really good manners, and she is always surprised when I compliment her and tell her she can move her clip. She gets so excited. (I have yet to hang the chart on the laundry room door, but she can still reach it to move her clothespin on her own. I love that they have ownership of the plan.)

And of course on the other hand, not listening, being disrespectful, not cooperating, arguing with each other, all cause them to clip down.

Just the other night, both kids helped Mark make our bed and pick up some dirty clothes. I heard him say, "Great job! Both of you guys can clip up." Jack was the first one that came running into the kitchen and waited by the chart. Maybe he's understanding.

The best part of the day is getting rewarded for good behavior. Each kid has a little cup and at the end of the night they get little pom poms based on where they are on the chart. One for "Good job". Two for "Super". Three for "Awesome".

There have been a few times where none were earned and I think it actually made an impact on Kate.

When the cup is full, they get to pick out of a little treasure box I keep hidden in my closet. Kate had just filled hers when this picture was taken, so she started over. I think we will need to switch to marbles, or use bigger jars soon. I just wanted little ones at first to get some momentum and get them excited about it.

Now, we'll see how long this lasts. But, so far it has really caused a decrease in the amount of arguments around here.  I haven't had to raise my voice, and Kate really seems to be cooperating a lot more. It's so easy to just say, "Go move your clip down" instead of getting angry.  It's a quick little warning that has corrected a lot of misbehavior. 

 Jack doesn't quite grasp the whole concept. He just likes moving his clip and putting pom poms in the cup. Ha!

I love when a plan works out! :)

This Can't Be Good...

Cowboy Up

I think to be a real cowboy, you at least gotta put some pants on.  Oh, and not wear your sister's boots.

Cheap Thrills

I scored these for 88 cents on clearance at Target. I honestly don't think they are worth more than that, but they sure made my girl so happy for about 10 minutes. 

She over exaggeratedly pointed to things, clicked them on the table, and became a hand model in a matter of minutes. 

Soon, they bugged her and she ripped them all off.  See, good thing they were only 88 cents, huh??

Cloud Dough

Oh, Pinterest... you've done it again.  I came across this recipe for cloud dough while I was browsing Pinterest one day. 

I finally made it the other night at Mimi and Papa's. It's 8 cups of flour and 1 cup of baby oil.  You just mix it together with your hands until it starts to become moldable.  Basically, it's kinda like wet sand.  You can run your fingers through it like flour, but you can mold it. 

Jack was a big fan.  Kate doesn't like to get dirty, so she didn't really enjoy it all over her hands.  Even though it was practically just flour.  Oh well. 

I think Jack sat up at the table for over 30 minutes playing with it.  Thirty minutes on one activity is pretty amazing for Jack Man. 

 

Best part was, we covered it, brought it home, and had cloud dough fun the next day!

A Fun Day

Last Monday, I had a Groupon that I had to use by the end of February for bowling.  Jack had never been before.  He loved it!

  We had bumpers and that big metal ball track thing for toddlers. The bumpers helped the grown ups' scores, too. :)

Jack was so cute. He would wait for his ball at the ball return. He'd grab it and just walk right up to the lane, hoist it up on the metal thingy, give it a push, and then stand back with his hands behind his back.

Kate wanted to take the shoes home. Ha!

After bowling, we had to take advantage of the GORGEOUS weather (is this seriously winter????) and headed to the park.

We ended the day with dinner at Uncle Scott's. Ahhh, I love days like this with my sweet kiddos.

Our Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day this year was so fun! Now that I'm home with the kids, we were able to celebrate all day.  

We started the day with heart shaped cinnamon rolls with red icing and strawberries cut into hearts with chocolate.

I hid notes under the kids' plates.

After breakfast, we went out and played in the snow. We had to take advantage of the ONE "big" snow we've had this winter.

Kate thought it was the best day ever because I did a snow angel. Ha!

We put some snow in plastic cups and came in the house to make snow shakes.

Everyone agreed that they were yummy.

For lunch, the kids ate heart shaped sandwiches.

We colored pink heart shaped doilies and made Valentine's crafts.

Mark surprised us and came home early, with roses for Kate and me and everything to make Pioneer Woman's homemade pizza for dinner.

That night after baths, we had a scavenger hunt around the house to find some Valentine's goodies. Kate LOVED it! Jack would listen to a clue and then just take off running.

(Can't you tell Mark was home by then? Notice the change in the quality of pictures. Ha!)

Their first clue was in a Valentine's card.

Ignore me in this picture. It's terribly unflattering, but the look on my girl's face is pretty priceless.

He's so goofy!

They went all through the house collecting clues and finding some goodies along the way.

At the end, they were led to the bathtub and they found heart shaped balloons... Jack LOVES balloons!

Ha! That picture kills me. Kate did not want to pose for a picture at all. And, Jack looks so silly standing there holding that balloon.

Kate kept telling me how I had so many "surprises" on Valentine's Day. She told me what a great day it was. And, it was. I loved being home with my babies to celebrate this day.