Harmonica Playing is in her BLOOD!!
All Day Baby!!
I heard someone playing the harmonica and was so impressed that I yelled into the other room, "Who is that Daphney or Demitri?" To which I did not hear an answer... that was the beginning of an all day jam session for this little jelly bean! I have now found a way to keep Paisley busy!
Demitri loves to play dress up, and his dad is not fond of him always dressing up with Daphney in her Sunday best dresses and bows to go to whatever "Ball" they currently have planned. But, we couldn't really say much because we didn't own any boy dress up clothes. I know sexist parents, but I am okay with that. We finally got this outfit for Demitri and he loves pretending to save the day! "Mom, I have to go save people from their problems!"
More Imaginative Play: He also recently got tools for his birthday that have been great for increasing pretend play. He is always trying to be like dad now with his tools. The other day his Velcro on his coat snagged my outfit and seeing my disappointment he quickly exclaimed, "It is okay mom I can fix it; I just need to go get my tools!"
Here he is using his tools and some of dad's tool to learn the tricks of the trade. He clambered into that claustrophobic cupboard under the sink as one of the happiest boys in the world. As I left the room I heard him say, "Okay dad just show me where to cut!" Luckily I knew he only had the pliers and not scissors!
The kids got to open a present early that came in the mail from their great grandparents! We got two envelopes that day both with stickers. Maybe the envelope shared stickers with everybody's mail!
The kids love their new stuffed animals, and the precious beanie baby tags lasted only seconds. But, believe me tag-less and all they are worth a ton to them!
The kids got the perfect animals to match their personalities, and they now have each gained a bed partner.
Demitri was showing the goose the Christmas lights on the neighbors' houses.
This has been one our favorite games to play with the kids, because it can be played in so many skill levels and you get M&M's!
Demitri's Level: ABC's!
Demitri really struggles with knowing the names of the letters, because he loves naming them himself. For example the letter E he calls a stick with three pokies. His imagination is so funny, because he is always right about what the letters look like, but I would never have seen that when looking at the letter. He is teaching me how to see things out of his eyes. Maybe he is the key to writing a best seller ABC book that relates well to little boys!
I love this black out game, because he is not good at recognizing the proper name for a letter. So we set the board up alphabetically. He finds the match on the board and then we sing the ABC's that he has memorized to figure out what the letter should be. Then when he is able to name the letter, he is able to eat the M&M. When a letter on the board is missing its M&M, it is his job to make sure and say the letters name while we are singing. We play till he is tired of trying to remember the letters, and then we stop. No Pressure to finish the whole board!
Additional benefits of this game is I can talk colors with him. I initially thought he might be colored blind when he was younger, but he is the best color blender ever. I am excited to see what this boy paints in the future!
Daphney's Level: Sight Words!
Daphney loves playing this game! She sits on the other side of the table so that she can do her board while Demitri does his and I can help them both at the same time. However, I have to keep her from constantly wanting to help Demitri.
For Daphney she reads the word before finding the word on the board. While she is looking for it on the board I will talk ordinal numbers with her for example: look in the 3rd column or 5th row. So, she is learning that vocabulary at the same time.
*Helpful Hints: I love using the plastic paper sleeves, because as you can see in the movie slobber can get on them from the candies and be easily washed off, But also after we play we just insert the slips of paper back into the sleeve so they are safe till next time! Lastly, if he gets bored and daph is still doing things he can use a dry erase marker to trace the letters on the board.
Quality Pics: Paisley may not have as many pics as her siblings, but each photo she kills!
What would the park trip be without making the dog do everything with us?!
Demitri pushed Paisley down the slide on her belly, because she was hesitating. However, she loved it and kept doing it over and over! Brothers help us learn life is fun head first!
Daphney asked me the other day, "mom, do we go to home depot when we die? haha not sure what she thinks heaven is. #proud dad
We love Paisely! However, the other day Demitri was mad at Paisley because she was sitting in his chair at the table so he came over and yelled at her, "Get out of my chair, or I will blow you over!" He then proceeded to blow air with big puffy cheeks just like a big bad wolf.... Paisley just stared at him like he was crazy.
The kids are playing under the pool table. Both were using Twinkies to pretend they were talking to their friends. Demitri loves tight cozy places like this, and he now sleeps under his bed.
Happiness always involves a cat and succor!
Demitri bites his succors and wastes no time in demolishing them. Grandad gave him one as we were leaving and we hadn't even left the parking lot before he was done.
Things are different in a small town. For example:
1.) You can be the only ones in a movie theater! Paisley was able to run around willy nilly in the dark and we didn't have to worry about anything- except for her running into chairs. We saw Moana in 3D! And yes that is how Demitri wore his glasses most of the movie so it is fitting for the photograph.
2.) You can be the only ones that show up for story time! We showed up and told the lady excitedly that we were there for story time to which she responded, "Well we don't normally have it, but I would be happy to read your kids some books! I might have to stop if someone comes in since I am the only one here right now." Isn't that sweet; no service like a small town! We read Big Bear Small Mouse and the lady did a great job on the voices. (Great book for opposites!)
I was able to bring the kids to watch a few minutes of a basketball game. I was surprised how little they knew and I had to explain simple vocab like dribbling and fouls. It wasn't till Paisley had fallen down the bleachers a few times and I had to rescue my son from getting a better view on the court that I realized why we don't go to basketball games. Daphney could not figure out why we had to leave and people even came to see if she was being stolen as I was buckling them into their car seats. Thanks again small town for caring enough to check and understanding that I am still a good mom. In the picture Paisley really wanted to warm up with the boys team!
Raising kids is not what I expected it to be. It is hard. It is everyday. I hate the moments when I am so lost, and have no idea what I am doing. Kids are tough (on you and your house), but oh how they make me smile both in the sweet times and the sour. Love my sour patch kids!
Demitri told me how great my clothes looked while referring to the dirty pile on the floor by my bed. I laughed and said, "Thanks son, you are too sweet." He looked frustrated and proudly said, "NO! I am a little BAD!" haha okay son!
He is constantly telling me "Mom, watch me!" and then running into the wall or crashing into the nearest object. I am hoping it is a phase... but we decided to pad him up today to let him crash in style. My favorite part is the pillow and that he is too young yet to be too cool for it. He was so proud of himself when he finally stood up and he has already made great progress. However, if he thinks about smiling- he falls.
Okay here is a sweet and sour moment... Daphney and Demitri love to "decorate" (usually it is followed with a long cleaning session for me). With Christmas company coming they decorated the doors and apparently the tape roll got stuck down so yes they did resort to GLUE for some, and yes look closely those shoes have AMPLE amounts of GLUE!
It is DADA ART- Duchamp would have been proud!
Yesterday, I was explaining to Shane about how Daphney struggled some at play group because she was being clicky and not including all the kids. She would walk around in a line with all the girls and say only girls can hold hands. I explained to Shane how this made the boys feel bad and start crying... I added emphasis where needed since I could see Daphney was listening. Soon she cut in- "Yeah dad, mom got mad." I asked her, "So what did we learn from this Daphney?" to which she chanted, "We always have to hold boys hands!"
Oh NO wait maybe we can go back to not playing with the boys! lol
Then there are the sweet moments: Daphney was helping me fold laundry and out of the blue said, "Mom, I will miss you when you die, because I love you and you are the best mom in the world!" That is how I [they] survive the sour moments. :D
Demitri has been all about dinosaurs since we started planning his party. Shane went hunting on his birthday, and I told Demitri dad is going to get a deer today for your birthday! - He disgustedly replied, "I don't want a deer for my birthday, tell him to shoot a DINOSAUR!!"
Dino Shaped Chocolate Cake: When we were doing our registry to be married I really wanted this dinosaur sandwich cutter that cut the crust off (I can't really remember why it was so important), it never actually made it to the registry, but my sister thought I should have everything I wanted not just needed so she got it for me. So glad that I have a son to enjoy it with me. French toast is so much better in dino form!
One day I was trying to get some things done and Paisley just wanted to be held, so I thought I was a "GENIUS" who invented baby bath in the sink while I sweep.
Well.... I should have seen this coming!
And when I let two kids be in a tiny sink together I should have known there would be fighting over the wash clothes.
And I should have known every time I wash dishes now that Paisley would climb in- clothes and all....
But I didn't know all of that back when I thought I was a GENIUS!
Harmonica Playing is in her BLOOD!!
Demitri loves to play dress up, and his dad is not fond of him always dressing up with Daphney in her Sunday best dresses and bows to go to whatever "Ball" they currently have planned. But, we couldn't really say much because we didn't own any boy dress up clothes. I know sexist parents, but I am okay with that. We finally got this outfit for Demitri and he loves pretending to save the day! "Mom, I have to go save people from their problems!"
More Imaginative Play: He also recently got tools for his birthday that have been great for increasing pretend play. He is always trying to be like dad now with his tools. The other day his Velcro on his coat snagged my outfit and seeing my disappointment he quickly exclaimed, "It is okay mom I can fix it; I just need to go get my tools!"
Demitri really struggles with knowing the names of the letters, because he loves naming them himself. For example the letter E he calls a stick with three pokies. His imagination is so funny, because he is always right about what the letters look like, but I would never have seen that when looking at the letter. He is teaching me how to see things out of his eyes. Maybe he is the key to writing a best seller ABC book that relates well to little boys!
I was able to bring the kids to watch a few minutes of a basketball game. I was surprised how little they knew and I had to explain simple vocab like dribbling and fouls. It wasn't till Paisley had fallen down the bleachers a few times and I had to rescue my son from getting a better view on the court that I realized why we don't go to basketball games. Daphney could not figure out why we had to leave and people even came to see if she was being stolen as I was buckling them into their car seats. Thanks again small town for caring enough to check and understanding that I am still a good mom. In the picture Paisley really wanted to warm up with the boys team!
