Eyedrops and a stubborn 2 year old

"Jack, it's time to put eyedrops in your eyes for your pink eye!"

Happy Birthday

Today is Grandma's birthday and also Uncle John's birthday.  We celebrated Grandma's birthday at Los Tios restaurant.  The waiters made Grandma wear a huge sombrero:

Of course, the boys loved the sombrero and wanted to wear it...

Robert

Jack

Unfortunately, we didn't get to celebrate with Uncle John. 

But that doesn't mean I can't post a silly photo of him in honor of his birthday!

Spring weather!

Today, we spent some time playing outside.  It was a much needed break from our pink eye quarantine.  Both boys came down with pink eye two days ago.  It is almost gone, but they are no longer contagious.  Trying to get the medicated eye drops in the boys is nearly impossible.  I'm surprised my neighbors haven't called CPS on me for all the yelling and screaming going on while I force eye drops in their eyes.

Anyway, back to the nice weather today....it's 77 degrees and sunny!  The boys looked so cute in their matching Capitals shirts that I had to take pictures:

 


Bubbles are always fun on warm days:

and so is playing hopscotch

and shooting rockets

Playdate

What do you do when you have a playdate of four very active boys and it's too cold to go outside? 

Stick them on the trampoline!

 (these are pictures from a few weeks ago)



our friend, Drew

Robert

our friend, Luke

Jack

Thanks for letting me down easy

This morning I was driving Robert to preschool when Cee-lo's song, Forget You, came on.  I started to sing along.  I continued singing the song after I turned off the car and was unbuckling the boys from their car seats.  Now, I admit that I'm a terrible singer and I sing off-key.  I'm so bad that I wouldn't want to have to listen to myself sing.  So here is how Robert tells me to stop:

"Mommy, I know you love that song, and I love that song, too, but you gotta stop singing it!"  And, he says this very gently to me, as though he is the parent and I am the child.

When Jack gets annoyed by my singing, it goes a little something like this:
"No, mama!  No sing! NO.  SING.  Noooooooo!"

Homework struggles

Last year, 3 year old Robert would come home from preschool and announce he had homework to do.
     ROBERT:  Mommy, I can't play with you right now.  I have homework to do.
     ME:  Really?  What kind of homework do you have?
     ROBERT:  Email.  I have to check my email.
     ME:  Oh, OK.  What is email?
     ROBERT: I don't know.  But I have to check it!

So, we had that conversation a lot last year, even though he never had homework.  I think he got the idea after being told from his older friends in the neighborhood that they couldn't play right after school because of homework.

Fast forward to last week.  Robert has been given his very first homework assignment.  Yay! I was excited and assumed Robert would be, too.  He has to sign his name on fifteen homemade Valentines Day cards.  So far I have gotten him to sign just three.  He is full of excuses:

"Mommy, my legs are tired"
"I'm sleepy"
"My hand is too tired"
"I need to play the Wii to get ready for my homework"
"Is it Sunday?  Because I can only sign these on Sundays"

I've tried bribing (and that's how I got the three signed), I've tried timeouts in his room.  We bought Spongebob stickers yesterday at Giant, so I'm hoping that will do the trick.  Something tells me that on the morning of Feb 14th, I'll be signing these cards with my left hand, trying to forge a  4 year old's signature.

I thought I wouldn't be having these homework fights until Robert was a teenager.

Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting

We took Jack to Robert's Little Ninjas class on Saturday.  This was Jack's second time.  The first time was a disaster.  Jack sat in my lap the entire time and refused to participate.  When the karate instructor would talk to Jack, he would turn his head away from the instructor (the ultimate diss from a 2 year old).  So, two weeks later, we tried again.  Jack did really well this time.  Here is a picture of the little ninjas lining up against the wall.  Robert is showing Jack his belt.  (Robert and Jack are on the left)

Saturday's class focused on listening skills.  The ninjas would dance while the music was on, then sit down when the music stops.  Robert and Jack held hands while dancing:

Robert is showing his dragon pose:

Jack had so much fun, that when he fell and busted his lip open (reopening an old injury from 2 days ago), he screamed at me to "go back, go back" when I took him to the bathroom to clean up the blood. 

I was impressed with Robert; he was definitely being a good big brother that day.  He showed Jack how to do blackbelt sitting, he helped him dance, and when Jack wouldn't line up against the wall with the other ninjas, he grabbed his hand and said "Come on, Jack!" while he dragged him across the floor.  I wish I had caught that on video.

Hide and Seek

These days, the boys love to play Hide and Seek.  And, I love playing the game because I sometimes "forget" to look for them, giving myself a much needed break for a few minutes!  Oh come on, admit it...you've done that with your kids, too.  :)

Robert has become very good at hiding.  He used to giggle and shout "I'm in here" whenever I was looking for him.  Now, he hides under blankets in the closet without making a sound.  Jack, on the other hand, hasn't quite grasped the concept.  When we play, I sit on the couch, close my eyes, and count to 10.  I open my eyes to see this:

Jack is standing right in front of me, hiding behind a blanket. 

His next favorite hiding spot is in my room:

This would actually be an ok spot to hide if it were on the other side of the bed, out of view.  But this is what I see as soon as I walk in my bedroom.

And, finally, his other hiding spot, my bedroom closet:

Apparently, if a 2 year old can't see me, it must mean I cannot see him.