"please help him to not be crabby all day"

... a plea made by stover girl in her prayers about a little boy who seems to be plagued by a 6th sense that someone will be taking his place of honor soon.  poor guy has been uncharacteristically upset lately- unwilling to go to nursery, using baby talk, throwing tantrums, hanging on mom's leg, and complaining 'my tummy hurting me'.  needless to say, we ALL needed the perfect activity to relieve us of his current craziness.  taking a hike proved the perfect distraction from his worries and stover girl merrily exclaimed 'i like climbing the mountain even more than going to the park'.

if you can't beat 'em, join 'em

stover dad has been drooling over the kids' scooters for some time now. 

stover boy + the 'gravel blaster' =

PURE DELIGHT!

within minutes, he was confident enough to challenge his sister.

("I'm gonna beat you")

minding ps and qs

yesterday while cooking dinner (usually the worst time for behavior), i overheard stover girl helping stover boy play her v-reader.  stover boy was listening intently and compliantly to her instruction while stover girl engaged in storybook language like 'oh- would you like help with that?' and 'you're doing such a great job'.  i took photos unnoticed but called out compliments from the kitchen while smiling during this magical exchange. 

within a few minutes, stover boy reverted to his usual grumpy, trouble-making, hungry behavior and stover girl as well reverted to her sassy, bossy end of the day behavior but now armed with what she felt was validation.  she became a broken record of 'i've been nice to you all day and so helpful- you need to be nice too.'  'i've been nice to you all day- now i'm mad at you.'  'i've been nice to you all day- can you be nice now too?'  'i've been nice to you all day and i'm so sick of it.' the chants were heard the rest of the evening (far outlasting the 15 minutes of manners)... so much for complimenting the effort!
  

iron deficiency

have you ever detoured to the tire section of walmart just to partake of the smell?  have you ever lingered a bit longer in your garage to take in the sweet smell of a car with new tires?  have you ever been upset that your husband took said sweet smelling car to work leaving you instead with the old-wheeled, normal smelling motorcycle?  have you ever felt like licking a tire but didn't because you were concerned you might actually like the taste?

(photo: courtesy of stover girl)

...don't even get me started on the sultry aroma of spray paint, the lure of mylar balloons, and the delicious scent of nail polish!

correction to bigger and bigger and big

just found these pictures of stover boy as a 6 month old- proof that headstands are not a new 'bigga boy' phenomenon- he's been dilligently working at this for quite some time!

"i getting bigger and bigger and big"

almost unnoticed, except that we're constantly reminded, stover boy has become 'a bigga boy'.  sure enough all the hallmarks are there:  verbalizes 'that hurt my feeilngs', cuts with scissors, goes to nursery sans blankie, opens his own fruit snacks, can pump on the swing, capable of dressing self (whether or not he actually does), follows directions to eat 3 more bites, picks up toys without being given specific courses of action (whether or not he actually does), is potty-trained, able to buckle and unbuckle his carseat, uses flouride toothpaste and...

performs headstands (which we found out he's been practicing from off the edge of his bed).

a case of the nerves

this week, stover girl got her booster shots in preperation for kindergarten.  she was a bit nervous but knew the perks involved in going to the doctor- the playground, a try at the stethoscope, and getting a special toy.  this week, stover girl also went with mom to submit enrollment paperwork.  she was a lot of nervous for this and didn't seem to buy into the perks of school attendance. (mom mentioned no more quiet time, taught her all about recess, and informed her she'd get to study music and art.)  she kept repeating 'i don't want to go to school' and 'why do i have to go to school?' and held an extra tight grip on mom's hand.
...don't worry little case of nerves- mom secretly feels the exact same way but will fake a great game of school in order to get this smile back on your face!