Naked time definition: A time when little boys are allow to run around the house without any cloths on. Usually accompanied by screaming. There are two acceptable naked “times”: after baths and during clothing changes (I find that it’s a lot easier to get them out of PJs and into cloths for the day when I yell “it’s naked time!”)

Several days this week, Brady has been found in his crib after nap time completely nude…nothin’ but a paci. At least we know he can undress himself now…that’s helpful. I heard him crying today and asked Logan to go up and let him know I was making a snack and would be there in a minute. Logan reported down (ie: yelled over the side of the stairs) that Brady had taken all his cloths off again. Here is the conversation I had with Brady when I went to get him:

me: Brady Matthew…did you take off all your cloths?

Brady: down der (points at the floor)

me: I see them down there…but why did you take off your cloths?

Brady: cuz I have nakie time!

At least he didn’t use the crib as a potty…this time…  Boys!

More stuff from today (again…you know you use your camera too often when the kids are requesting that you take their picture!): Here is Logan in his spy gear. We’re getting everything ready for his birthday party in a couple of weeks (a spy themed-birthday party that is). He’s getting in character…

Logan and Aiden decided to build a lego city today. First, they started building, “the place where we lived when I was a baby” <—Logan. The “condo” turned into a skyscraper rather quickly. They were so proud of their work that they asked me to document it. It’s a sad little city…only one building :)

After the above pic, Logan asked me to take a picture of, “just the building while we get out of the way,”…see his little head down on the floor? (P.S. The cushions are off the couch because I steamed cleaned them today…it’s actually not another case of spring fever or fort building)

Brady, ”culering”…still sans pants! I guess that’s “1/2 nakie time”.

Last night Brady woke up around 11:15 so I went in his room to settle him down. We had just climbed into bed less than an hour earlier and it’s par for the course around here to rise at least 3 times during the night…no big deal. On my way back to bed, I heard the dishwasher running downstairs. This struck me as odd since I didn’t start it..or at least I didn’t think that I had. I poked Brian and asked him if he started it. Shaking himself from a sleepy fog, he said, “hu? uh…no”. So one of several things must have happened:

1. Little fingers may have pressed just the right set of buttons to cause a delayed-start on the dish washer

2. Brian or I absentmindedly started it up before heading off to bed.

3. There is a ghost in our house who is fond of cleaning.

I for one am really hoping it’s number 3 and plan to leave out the Windex and multi-purpose cleaners tonight…

…don’t be sad! Someday your baby boy will get to play basketball too! Won’t (basketball and bracket-obsessed daddy, aka Uncle Tom) be so proud!? ;)

Aiden’s first day of basketball!

Most people already know this, but Aiden has been obsessed with “backet-balls” since he could talk. He would make us draw them all the time, and not only draw them, but draw bigger and bigger ones. My “piece de resistance” was a basketball I drew by tracing the outside of our baby wadding pool in chalk on the driveway. He wanted every basketball he ever saw and even traded in his pacifiers at 20 months for a stuffed basketball that was in his crib for a while. When Uncle Tom heard that Aiden slept with a basketball, I think he wanted to take him home and claim him as his own. For Christmas this year, Aiden asked for, “a pair of basketball pajamas that fit me” (this was shortly after his old basketball PJs were passed down to Brady). So, today he took his first basketball class. I want to make it perfectly clear that I in no way think Aiden is a basketball prodigy…I don’t even know if he will like the game once he learns to play, but it was fun to see him out there for the first time…and even more fun to take pictures so I can torture Auntie Denna. Someday my love…your baby will make daddy proud and be in his first game of basketball “red light, green light”. Oh the day……

Yesterday was a pretty mild day, weather wise, for our area. I went to get a haircut and returned home to a very quiet house and a husband situated at the kitchen counter working away on his laptop. When I asked him where the kids were, he said, “I’m not sure, but Batman is in the backyard”

Brady was napping, but Logan and Aiden played outside (without coats despite my many pleas) for at least an hour…and even more later in the afternoon after Brady woke up. At least the second time I managed to get them in gloves, hats and light jackets!

Brian swore that he overheard Aiden say, as he stepped out into the yard, “I can breath out here!” We weren’t sure if that was: as opposed to in the house or as in, “wow…this is not some strange planet with a noxious and toxic atmosphere that will kill me!”

Later that day, the boys decided to build a “fort” in their room. This was basically just a pile, in the middle of the room, consisting of all the blankets, pillows and comforters from their beds and ours. Brian went to check it out. When he returned to the kitchen where I was cleaning, he reported, in the voice of the comic book guy on The Simpsons, “worst…fort…ever”.  He wasn’t being mean…not really…they do need some lessons in fort building. The 5 of us did spend a good hour in there last night. The boys took turns jumping from Logan’s bed while we chanted their names. Brady would climb up and chant his own name, “Bady, bady, bady” and then jump. Hey…you gotta be your own cheerleader sometimes!

Today they decided to go for round 2 of “the fort”. As is often the case, today’s effort was grand in scale compared to piddly fort they built yesterday (I’m so tempted to quote from the movie Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs and call yesterday’s fort an “amuse-bouche” to today’s fort…but I think I would be the only one to get the reference there). Basically, bigger and better is the motto with these kids (also known as: the more effort it takes to clean up, the more successful the project!) They’re just lucky that they hall linen closet was next on my “organize the whole house” to-do list.

A mere photograph doesn’t do this “fort” justice. This is the contents of: the two twins beds in their room (2 pillows, 2 comforters, 2 blankets), our king sized bed (4 regular pillows, 2 king-sized throw pillows, a comforter and a down comforter), the hallway linen closet (12+ pillow cases, at least 6 fitted sheets, 8 flat sheets, 2 duvet covers, 4 blankets, 2 large comforters, a down pillow top, 7 throw pillows, 3 bed pillows, several crib sheets and one of those “protect your mattress” covers <—trust me on these counts, I folded and re-organized ALL of it tonight!) plus all the bedding from the guest room (4 pillows and a comforter). I jumped off of Logan’s bed into the “fort” several times…pretty cool actually.

Mr. Too-Too – the #1 supreme bad guy who needs to be fought at our house

Eye-Bye – some sort of monster that comes in and “breaks stuff” (according to Aiden)

Strong-Bong – a character that Aiden often plays…who is, as you might guess, very strong

Flump Ball – an app on my iphone that Aiden enjoys playing while we wait in line for Logan at school. I have no idea what it’s actually called as I think Flump Ball is a better name anyway

Baby & Daddy – one of Logan and Aiden’s favorite games. Logan is daddy and Aiden is baby. They play things like “baby and daddy go on vacation” or “baby and daddy have a sleep over”. When they play this game, Brady is the dog. In fact, he will hear the older boys talking about playing “baby & daddy” and will immediately run away yelling, “I the dog!!”

Yesterday’s Self-Appointed Names: Frisbee Boy (Logan), Strong Bong (Aiden…see above) and Bubba Baby (name given to Brady by Logan)

Things I’ve learned from the above list: we have some “boyish” boys in our house (is that the opposite of “girly-girl”?) Anyway, they like to play good guy/bad guy a lot. Also, I think we’ve all mastered rhyming..

And now we turn to costume news: Tuesday afternoon, Logan decided that he wanted to play scuba diver with his mask and snorkel. I thought this would be a good time to pull out the scuba-tank “craft” I had in the back of my head. Logan had, at one point, requested a scuba birthday party so I saved a good amount of 2-liter bottles and planned this as a party activity. By the way, we don’t usually drink 2-liter bottles of anything so I was making a special effort. He changed his mind on the party theme, but I haven’t actually recycled the bottles yet. Anyway, I pulled out my foil, duct tape, scissors and…voila!

I took this picture the next morning (Xmas jammies are still in the rotation)

Wednesday, while he was at school, I ran to Home Depot and got some clear plastic tubing that I used to make a more realistic “regulator”. He was thrilled to see the completed project waiting for him in the car when I picked him up (drawback: it’s sort of gross when he actually breaths into the tube for any extended amount of time…a problem I thought might happen, but one which is easily solved with a quick run under the sink every 20 minutes or so) Surprisingly, Aiden hasn’t been too keen on playing with his scuba tanks and Brady hasn’t demanding that I make him a set quite yet…but, I’m saving 2 bottles just in case. Also, Logan wanted to know why he has 2 tanks instead of 1. I told him he is the dive master and is taking an extra tank on the dive in case anyone else needs help. It’s sort of a good explanation, but the real reason is that 2 tanks just looks cooler…plus they can turn into a jet pack for space flight later if necessary.

After a boy’s weekend immediately followed by a a girl’s weekend, it was high time for a fun family adventure. This past Sunday, Daddy and the boys drove downtown to meet up with mommy after a night out on the town. We went Le Peep for breakfast (yum! nostalgic sigh…) We then drove to the Legoland Discovery Center north of the city. It was pretty stinkin’ cool!

Here is the entrance: giant giraffe made of legos…aweseome.

Inside, there were too many cool structures to name. R2D2 earned a pic though (p.s. all pictures were taken with my iphone since daddy packed the bag at home and the camera was not included).

The only unfortunate part of our trip was that Logan had his head eaten by a lion.

There was a model-building area where the kids could build cars and test them on three different tracks. One was a race track; the other two were obviously for crashing!

Brady thought the giant bin of duplos (bigger legos for smaller hands) was actually a bath tub.

After Legoland, we hit Ikea cause that’s always fun. The older boys tried out the playroom there while we took Brady shopping with us (thumbs down on the playroom). After Ikea, we headed towards home and Build-A-Bear. Last Valentine’s Day, the older boys made puppies at B-A-B so it was Brady’s turn. It was very difficult to get him to pick just 1 animal, but he settled on a black teddy bear.

Brady and Daddy standing in the “stuffing line”

Here, Daddy helps give the new Bear a bath. By the way, I asked the stuffer to make Brady’s bear “floppy”…which I also requested last year with the dogs (which also didn’t happen). If this is floppy, I would hate to see “standard”. I know they want the cloths to fit so you’ll buy more stuff, but I swear, no one at these stores understands the term “floppy”…isn’t that pretty standard stuffed-animal lingo here people?!

Picking a name for Brady’s new friend proved to be a challenge. The only black thing I could think of was licorice (daddy made a face). We went through Choco-bear, Puffy (Aiden’s suggestion), Peanut (to go along with Jelly Bear…like Peanut Butter and Jelly). In the end, Brady decided his name was “Paci Bear” (why am I not shocked?). Now, Brady has his 2 bears in bed with him. He snuggles them and says, “two bears!” When he carries them around the house, he holds one under each arm and does his little Brady run. It’s so stinkin’ cute!

By the way, we let Aiden and Logan each buy one thing for their build-a-bear dogs. Logan said, and rightly so, that it was Scruffy’s birthday. Scruff got a skateboard for his b-day. Aiden’s dog Scrumble got a basketball hoop. Wow…they think of every possible way to get your cash in that store!! ;) I do have to say though that Scruffy really HAS enjoyed his skateboard. Logan is quite the good daddy as well…he always makes sure his little dog wears the proper safety equipment (aka: the football helmet that goes with Scruffy’s Bear’s uniform)

A few weeks ago, I wrote about how Brady wasn’t enjoying his new class schedule very much. He cried for the entire first class of swimming and most of his first “Not Two Young To Learn” class. The following week, he cried for 1/2 of swim class and about 15 minutes of N2Y2L. We had to skip swimming last week due to sick and puking brothers, but N2Y2L elicited only 3 minutes of crying. At swim class this past Monday, Brady was a CHAMP! He held my hand as we walked his brothers to their respective classes and then led me around to our area. He was eager and happy to get in, uttered not even one whimper and did everything he was supposed to do: kick, splash, climb out, jump in, blow bubbles, float on his back, go under water and swim after a toy with me leading him around holding out only one finger per hand for him to grab. During our “toy chasing”, he said to me, “mama…I a swimur!” He got about 50 kisses during class…I was so proud!!!

And just in time for Valentine’s Day, here are some other adorable things Brady has said to me lately:

1. After waking up from his nap “mama…I miss ew!” (I missed you during my nap)

2. After I said, “I love you Bear,” he said, “me toooo”

3. Several, completely unsolicited “i uh ew mama” (I love you mama). This was accompanied by a knee hug delivered as he flew by the kitchen, noticed me, stopped, gave me love and continued on his way. What could be better?!

4. Just a funny story: I had to round up stuffed animals from downstairs at bedtime tonight. Brady was already in his crib so I stopped by his room with “everyone”. I handed him Jelly Bear and went to leave. He said, “no mama…at one toooo” and pointed at Aiden’s Bear. Aiden wouldn’t even notice so I handed Bitster Bear over. I went to leave. Again, Brady stopped me and said, “no mama…and dat one,” pointing to Clifford. I figured Logan would understand (he didn’t even notice he has so many animals in his bed these days anyway). Brady was so super happy with his three bears. He spread them around his head and snuggled right in. Makes me wonder how fortuitous our nickname for him was. He’s been “Bear” since he came home from the hospital!

Have you ever wondered what the term “spring fever” might actually look like?

I told the boys they could take the cushions off the couch plus I’m washing their anywhere chair covers so the “stuffing” from those was also available for general throwing around. (Nana: note how they all have their bears in tow)

Believe it or not, this is a game they like to play called “birthday party” where all the pillows and any toys within reach are the “presents”. These are presented to whomever is currently the “birthday boy”. After someone has a turn, everything must be mixed back up, redistributed and then re-“presented” to the new birthday boy. At least today, unlike other days, the couches in the other room were left untouched…only the throw pillows got dragged into the living room. …and that stupid ground-hog saw his shadow

For the first time in three years, we did not host the neighborhood Super Bowl Party yesterday evening. Due to scheduling conflicts (it was originally supposed to be a girl’s weekend in the city for Renay, but ended up being a guy’s weekend in Wisconsin for Brian), we just didn’t have time to squeeze it in. (By the way, Renay’s weekend was rescheduled not canceled so no hard feelings from me or anything.) As the day progressed, I felt like we really needed to do something, even if it was only the 5 of us. Brian jumped on board and started cooking up some awesome chili and other treats. I made him pick a side for the game (he picked the Saints…obviously still sore about the whole Colts beating the Bears in the Super Bowl a few years back). Logan was on Brian’s team so I found a nice yellow shirt for him to wear. Aiden and I were assigned to Colts so I dressed us in blue and white. We made a board to both teach the boys about football and to keep them focused on the game. It had velcro dots along the top that attached 4 big red circles which represented downs plus a line drawn horizontally across the middle with 10 marks. Each mark had a velcro dot on it and we made a little football that traveled along to the line to represent yards gained / yards to go. When it was the Colts drive, me and Aiden controlled the board and vice versa (by the way, Brady was just goofing around and we called him the ref) Whenever the opposing team got a first down, they got to make the other ‘players’ do something funny. This was all fine and dandy when Aiden and I were making Logan and Daddy hop around like bunnies, cluck like chickens and spin around in circles, but when it was OUR turn to do silly things, Aiden crossed his arms, did his “angry face” and claimed that it wasn’t FAIR! Logan was being a total sport, doing silly dances and chanting things like “stinky Saints, stinky Saints…oh wait…I’m on the Saint’s team!…right?…I mean, Stinky Colts! Stinky Colts!” To which Aiden would reply in an angry voice “Don’t call me stinky!” We finally just gave up on the whole team concept, but still took turns controlling the board.

After staying up late and having fudge pops, once he was all tucked in his bed ready to sleep, Logan said to me, “mommy…when I woke up this morning, I didn’t even know we were having a party today! It was the most awesome night ever!”  I told him that’s one of the cool things about life…you never know what fun the day will bring AND another great thing about life is that you can create your own fun. We said we could try to create some fun every day this week…better get cracking on some ideas I guess!

Logan and Aiden decorated a sign for our mantle.

Near the end of the night, I told Logan to go get some PJs. All of his were in the wash so he decided to wear this little ensemble: his new Yoda Star wars tee shirt plus track pants. He thought that that tee shirt might be a little too cold, so he put his bulkiest sweater underneath. I was dying laughing! This is a kid who kicks off covers and sweats through most light pajamas at night. I brought him a long-sleeved white tee shirt instead, but I couldn’t resist taking a picture (and he couldn’t resist a little modeling action!)

This morning, as is typical of most mornings, Logan was in my bed when he woke up around 7. We were chatting about who-knows-what when he started telling me about his brain and sleeping.

Logan: Mommy? Did you know that even when you are sleeping, your brain is awake?

Me: Yes, I did know that!

Logan: Ya, and your brain sends pictures to your eyes!

Me: You’re right…that’s called dreaming.

Logan: I didn’t have any pictures in my eyes last night (pause)…Did you know that when I have pictures in my eyes, my whole body feels like I’m really doing stuff?!

kids explaining things is cute!

 

And in other news, Daddy was gone yesterday on a “boy’s weekend” with some friends. We were house-bound due to a delivery and in desperate need of an activity. I moved the dining room table, taped paper to the floor, traced the boys and let them loose with paints.

Logan and Aiden had just finished watching an episode of Zulu Patrol (I think that’s what it’s called…it was the first time I had ever seen it). They were learning about how moons are created around the different planets. Logan was painting a picture of “The Big Whack” which is how Earth’s moon was created (who says TV can’t be educational?!) My favorite part of our art activities is listening to the “story” of their creations. Logan and Aiden also spent a lot of time “making up new colors” which is pretty cool, but apparently uses up a great deal of paint!

Total set up time: 10 minutes; Total activity time: 30 minutes; Total clean up time: 20 minutes…a break-even activity I guess

Yesterday was PJ day at school. Logan’s teacher sent home a note saying that the kids could not only wear PJs, but they could also bring a blanket, sleeping bag, a pillow, a stuffed animal…etc.

Logan was PUMPED for PJ day. He dressed in clean, fresh pajamas that he set out the night before. While we were in his room getting ready, I told him about the other items he was allowed to take. At first he wanted his bedspread, but quickly decided on his trucks & cars blanket instead since it’s smaller. He took his pillow with the case he tie-dyed during camping and then grabbed his teddy bear, Clifford.

Logan: I think I’ll take Clifford

Me: Really? Didn’t you just take him to school a couple weeks ago for “bears” week? What about Scruffy Puppy (usually his favorite)

Logan: Oh, ya…Clifford went to school already! (reaches for Scruffy…looks pensive for a moment…draws out his little dog from under the covers). I think I’ll take this guy…he’s never been anywhere! (Points one by one to the other animals): Scruffy has been to California, Oklahoma and camping! Checkers went all those places too! What about Griffin (a mouse)?

Me: Ya, he went to California with us when you were a baby

Logan: Ya! And this guy (shakes the little dog) only got to Oklahoma the DAY BEFORE we had to leave (he was in Logan’s stocking this year for Christmas) so he didn’t even get to go THERE…not really! (waves hands emphatically to really drive home the seriousness of the situation and his immediate desire to remedy “the case of the dog who never got to travel”)

What a good little daddy…fair is fair after all!

Logan, ready for school with his gear and “Jump” the puppy who has inherited an actual small-dog collar that Auntie Denna originally gave him for Checkers the cat (that’s a whole different story)

Do not ever, even for just a second, even just to ask a sales associate where to find a particular item, take your eyes off of a toddler in the makeup section…

That’s nail polish!

He does this if he gets a hold of my lip-gloss too. He takes out the applicator and paints his hair. Makes me wonder what he sees when he watches me do it.

And yes, I scrubbed his little head with nail polish remover right before bath time. And no, it didn’t all come out.

Random thought: Pottery Barn calls these “The Anywhere Chair”. I wonder if “anywhere” means “on top of another perfectly acceptable seating area” to anyone else. According to my boys, these chairs don’t go “anywhere” but right on top of the couch. Logan got new sunglasses today…in case you’re wondering.