My Fault

Jack and I play a rhyming game in the car. He loves it. So tonight on the way home from the gym I was throwing out words and he was rhyming as fast as he could. Sometimes he makes up words, which I have to go along with because we read a lot of Dr. Seuss and he makes up words all the time.

Ryker plays too, except he just repeats the word I said, or part of it.

Tonight I was naming things as they came into my head - road, street, mall, car, van...

I should have been thinking one step ahead, anticipating the words that could rhyme and steering my innocent little babies away from potential verbal disasters.

I SHOULD have been thinking one step ahead, but I wasn't.

And so I yelled "Store!"

And Jackson responded "WHORE!"

Singing

I was putting Ryker in bed last night and we were singing. He wanted to sing Happy Birthday. I began and he whispered "wykur" so I'd know who we were singing to.

"...happy birthday dear Ryker, happy birthday to you."

"Joshun"

"...happy birthday dear Jackson, happy birthday to you."

"Dada"

"...happy birthday dear Dada, happy birthday to you."

"Pants"

"Ummm, pants?"

"Yesh."

"...happy birthday dear pa-ants, happy birthday to you."

Photos!

New photos up on Flickr! Check out my big boy's first soccer game and his fifth birthday party!

Here a Grandpa, There a Grandpa, Everywhere a Grandpa Grandpa

It seems the kids have developed a problem understanding familial relationships. That would be understandable if they had the sort of strange family tree I do, but they don't. It's really very simple.

Ryker is convinced that Grandmommy (my mom) is named Grandpa (or "Gampa," to be accurate), and Jack has taken to calling Uncle Ry Ry (my brother) "Grandpa" as well. The funny part is that my dad wasn't able to come this time, so there actually weren't ANY official grandpas here. But every 4 minutes or so, you'd hear one of the kids yell something to one of the fictitious Grandpas. And then you'd hear one of us going "No, that's GRANDMOMMY" or "No, that's UNCLE RY RY."

Not-Quite-Birthday Day

Although today wasn't Jack's official birthday, he was certainly treated well. He woke me up around 6am, fully decked out in his Superman costume. Being the lovely daughter I am, I sent him off to find my mom. He did and I went back to sleep. (Sorry Mommy!)

Then Chuck and I got up and both kids had been fed and were sitting together assembling the favor bags we would give away at our party. Jack loved it - although he had originally wanted to draw a picture for every single kid who was coming so they could take it home with them.

Jack went with Uncle Ry Ry to the Mall to pick out his presents (a tradition with Ry Ry and Grandpa and the boys). He arrived back in time for lunch, which he promptly refused, explaining to me that he wasn't hungry because he ate an ice cream THIS BIG. It was Cold Stone, so use your imagination.

He played and played and played, then rode along as Ry Ry went in search of fried clams. Don't ask. He had taken the costume off for a bit, but had it back on for this excursion. Guests began to arrive around 3 - I had to call Ry Ry and get him un-lost so the guest of honor would be here on time. They arrived, and Jack got a HUGE dose of family (including Gaga and Papa, who flew in from StL just in time for the party) and friends and cake and cupcakes. Then he opened a ridiculous amount of presents. Some of you, and you know who you are, are going to HATE my payback for your oh-so-noisy generosity. Just wait.

Then the guests left and we had the Second Annual Mentos and Diet Coke Experiment. We tried it on his last birthday, courtesy of Uncle Bob. It worked fairly well. Bob is quite the engineer though, and was unsatisfied with the results. He tweaked the set-up and came prepared this year with a new design. And it WORKED! And when there were no more bottles left, Ryker and Jack and Jordan had fun playing in the sugary stream now running down our street.

We had dinner, then I caved and gave Jack Tootsie Pop even though all he ate for dinner were the crusts off my pizza.

If you're keeping score at home:

• Food consumed after 7am: one ice cream cone, one cupcake, one slice of cake, one Tootsie Pop and zero protein or nutrients
  
• Gifts opened: a katrillion, needing three katrillion batteries
• Halloween Costumes sported: Superman outfit twice (and Spiderman last night)

Grown-Up Boy

Jack had his Well Child exam today. He was great. He sat and listened and answered questions and did everything he was told. He's 98th percentile in height and 97th in weight.

It was so surreal to see our big guy up there. We're used to having to hold the kids' hands as they lay on the exam table, hold them down when they get squirmy. Jack was his own man. We just sat there for an entire section of the exam, talking amongst ourselves while the doc and Jack went about their business.

And as if I wasn't already having trouble processing how much he's growing, I went into his room tonight to find him listening to the radio - which he had tuned by himself to KDWB. Those of you who don't live in the Twin Cities - it's a Pop/Hip Hop station. He's not quite 5 years old.

My Creative Baby

My term for Jack has always been "quizzical." Since the day he was born he's studied things carefully, wondered about things, worried about things, and worked at things. He has been taking all of that energy and putting it towards art projects recently. Every day he comes up with a new invention - a mail carrier box, a helmet that looks like Frankenstein (he calls it Iron Man, but I modified this post for our generation), construction-paper-grass for his walls, masks, a collage with a sun taped to it and a blue strip of paper coming out of it as a 3D representation of the sky. It's sort of mind-blowing to watch your little boy come up with stuff like this.

His newest one was yesterday. I came into his room when I got home and he stood there smiling at me, with bat ears made out of construction paper taped to his head. It was plain as day what he was trying to do.

"I wanted to look like Superman."

"Batman" I said.

"Yes, Batman." He beamed up at me.

"Well, you DO look like him."

He told me that he thought about it all day and came home and made the ears and was constructing a cape. He actually wore his whole outfit to the neighbor's house tonight.

My sweet, sweet, creative boy. I love him and his amazing brain.

Wiggles

Proof of Ryker's obsession with this very strange kids' band, and proof of our obsession with hearing him say "wiggles."