Buy One Get Two Free!: Welcome 2017

January really ran the gammit weather wise. Some days we were at the park in sweatshirts, and other days all bundled up in head to toe snow gear building snowmen. There's no complaining here though since January can have you frozen inside the whole month. The kids were really excited about the snow this year. Last year was a complete meltdown both times they went out to play, so I was not very optimistic heading into this winter. But I was pleasantly surprised as they watched the snow fall and were helpful and cooperative putting on hats, scarves, gloves, etc...considering the first half of winter they were bears about wearing cold weather gear. We bought them snow shovels for Christmas and they were thrilled to get right to work making paths on the deck. The first snowfall, Danny shoveled a path to the play house, but couldn't get the door open, so opened the window and dove inside. It was pretty comical.

Sammy loves to eat the snow. So much so that his face gets all red and rashy from the cold snow on it the whole time he is outside. He also likes sledding and building a snowman. Once inside, Sam likes to find a spot to sneak a nap in. He misses giving up naps, and still tries to get an hour in a few times a week. He's keeping himself busy with teasing his brother and sister. For 3 years he's been the passive child, and he's decided it's his time. For example, one day he was playing with these dinosaur figurines and 'Roaring' back and forth with them like dinosaurs do. Danny heard it and yelled 'No! No Roar!' and from that moment on, Sam now ROARS at Danny. He does it at the dinner table, when Danny is still sleeping first thing in the morning, when Danny is playing with any toy he wants, etc. So now teasing is added to time out behaviors like pushing, hitting, throwing toys, being fresh. We do a lot of time outs. Sam also likes to tease Elsie, but it's usually by taking her tablet, or going to the potty first, or playing with her toy. Really the list is endless. The good news is Sammy still has a crazy sweet side. At least a half dozen times a day, he finds his 'snuggy' (security blanket) and comes over to me and says 'mommy I want to nuggle you' and climbs into my lap and puts his thumb in his mouth and buries his little head up against me and rubs his feet on my legs. Pure. Genuine. Love.

Danny is really into lining things up. Spends his days putting toys in order and reciting them (this is my excavator, my big loader, my small loader, my big dump truck, my other big dump truck...) and sometimes as he is reciting he realizes he is missing one, and runs to find it and add it in and starts from the top. His favorite things to line up are the construction vehicles, the bicycles, and his figurines. Danny has also added more songs to his repertoire. He will come running over with his kindle saying 'find spiderman!'. There are a bunch of cartoon videos playing nursery rhymes with spiderman and other characters in them. He thinks they are the coolest and happily sings along to them. Here is one of his favorites:

Elsie. Oh Elsie. She thinks she is the boss. So much so that our new phrase we've added to our steadfast 'worry about yourself' is 'you are not the boss'. She is always policing the boys (when she should be policing herself) and I say 'you are not the boss' and she quips back with 'oh you are' and I say 'that's right'. And she has taken teasing to a whole new level. She will sit and wait for one of them to glance at the tv and swoop in and steal their toy. Or she's big on kicking them when they walk by the couch she is sitting on. She wrestles Danny to the ground over toys. At breakfast one morning, she wanted Danny's toast. She sat in her chair pointing at his toast for 20 minutes. He teased her by slowly taking bites, but eventually left 2 bites of it for her and she scoffed it up as soon as he was a foot from the table. Oh Elsie. She is persistent for sure. Almost everything is about holding a firm line with her. She is smart and pushes to the absolute limit every opportunity she can. I constantly remind her how much I love her and overpraise when she is doing something nice or helpful because I feel like 80% of the day I'm being stern with her. I want her to be a leader without being pushy and fresh to do it. Wish me luck. She does like when I say 'Who's my girl' because she is the only girl, so sometimes that is a distractor when she is on the edge of getting in trouble. And then there are moments she is my shining star, sharing a toy she knows Danny really wants, bringing the boys their milk, cleaning up more than them so they can be done faster. It's in those moments I remind her that is the girl she wants to be all the time.