+ 2

Remembered a couple more classics...

Sawyer got underwear for Christmas. Exciting I know. At first he refused to acknowledge that they were underwear. He kept insisting they were socks. Then one day a couple weeks later he was suddenly excited to wear his underwear. Unfortunately, he wasn't excited to use the potty. He went through 3 pairs of Sesame Street underwear in under 15 minutes. Then he told me "Sometimes Elmo is mad at me...because I poop on his face." As Bryce pointed out, that would make anyone angry. We've taken a break from underwear for the moment.

Sawyer also seems to be the creator and instigator of a new game the boys like to play. Out of the blue Sawyer will say "Hey Will, let's cry" and then they both pretend to sob until they get bored and go do something else. It is always Sawyer who suggests it.

Instant portraitization

Santa brought me a netbook for Christmas. It can boot either in Windows or Macintosh. I have never spent much time on a Mac so I haven't learned how to do much with it yet. But it does have a photo booth feature. And the netbook has a built in camera and flash. So now when I feel a need to take my own picture I don't even have to go find a camera. It also takes video. I'm all set to launch a skanky website. The boys think it is hilarious. I think they could amuse themselves for hours just taking pictures of themselves and seeing them show up on the screen.

Look who's - still- talking

Sawyer has gotten to be almost as much of a talker as Will is. Will does not stop talking. Ever. Even at night when I go in to check on him on my way to bed he talks. If you touch sleeping Will in any way it is like hitting "unmute" and he starts talking. Sawyer tries to hold his own. If Will is not around, Sawyer is pretty quiet. But if Will is there Sawyer talks as much as he does.

All the talking leads to some amusing lines, however.

Will: Daaaadddddd....I NEED a cell phone!
Dad: Why do you need a cell phone Will?
Will: So I can text Sophs! She is going to beg for one too!

Pre-meditated begging. The worst kind.

Will (after being put to bed): Moooooommmm...I want to throw up so I can watch Bolt in your bed!

Sawyer (saying his prayers): And thank you that I a baby.

Will: Sawyer, let's measure you and see how big you are!
Sawyer: No! No! I not big!
Will: Ok, let's measure you and see how small you are.
Sawyer: No! I not small.
Will: Ooookk, let's measure you and see if you are medium.
Sawyer: No! I not med-yum.
Will: Ok, let's measure you and see if you are a baby.
Sawyer: Thank you Will. I a baby.

(Sawyer has a Peter Pan complex. He gets very upset if you tell him he's a big boy. But then he also has a superiority complex when he's around real babies. He has this weird habit of walking up to babies and little toddlers and growling "I Sawyer!" Just so they know who's boss I guess.)

Will has learned about littering. Except he calls it glittering. He saw his dad set a cup next to a full garbage can the other day and yelled "Dad! That is glittering! You will get a ticket! You glitter all over the whole city!" Which makes me laugh just picturing it. If things seem more sparkly than usual you'll know who to blame.

On a prior occasion, Bryce told Will that he needed to take a nap and Will refused. So we told Will that he would be the parent and Bryce and I would take a nap while Will cleaned the house and paid the bills. Several weeks later, on MLK day, Mollie and I took the boys to McDonald's and then stopped at the mall. The kids were being miserable so I told Will that he was having quiet time when we got home. He objected and then said "Do I have to be the parent instead?" I said "Yes, you have to be the parent and I'll take a nap" and he promptly started sobbing. He cried for about 10 minutes until he calmed down enough that we could figure out what he was saying. He was crying "I don't want to give all my money for bills!"

Funny, that's what Bryce does when he has to pay the bills too.

I did a project with Will the other day and he announced "This is fun Mom! This is even more fun than making a mess!" Which just proves that he makes messes purely for entertainment value.

Sawyer calls pistachios "mustachios" and he calls clementines "loventines." I don't correct him because I think it is funny.

This one is old so I might have already mentioned it:
Mom: Sawyer, are you stinky?
Sawyer: No. I not stinky.
Mom: Is that the truth?
Sawyer: No. I lie.
(He was stinky.)

And speaking of McDonald's. I made the mistake of taking the boys to the East Bay McDonald's by the mall. The only other time I have taken them there we couldn't even sit in the play area because there were people camped out at all of the tables. It was annoying but I didn't think much of it. Then on MLK day we took the boys there again and, once again, we couldn't sit in the play area because people were camped out at all the tables. And by camped out I mean NONE of the people sitting at the tables were eating food. They were just sitting while their kids played in the play area. My favorite was the lady who had to take an entire booth for just herself. No bags, no food, not even coats or anything. Just herself sitting in the booth. Whatever. So we ate inside. When the boys had finished eating, but Mollie and I weren't done yet, the lady finally got up and we moved outside so the boys could play while we finished eating. Then another family came in and stood next to my shoulder for a good 15 minutes just waiting for us to leave so they could have our table. My favorite part? This family came into the play area directly from the parking lot with their bags of Subway sandwiches. I'm sorry, but if you want to use the playground your punishment is that at least some of you have to purchase and eat McDonald's food. I also loved the 13? year-old boys running through the play area and knocking the little kids over. I'm sorry again, but if you weigh 100+ lbs it is time to move on from the McDonald's play area. When we left all of the families that were there when we got there were still there. And they didn't have any food when we got there...and they didn't have any food when we left. Apparently you have to arrive at about 7 a.m. to stake out a table at the East Bay McDonald's play area. Is that weird or is it just me?

Ring in the New

We started off our New Year's Eve celebration by taking the boys sledding. It only took a few runs before the boys were too tired to walk back up the hill and Mom and Dad were waaayy too tired to pull them back up the hill. It was a good sledding day because it was warm and sunny and you weren't freezing.

After sledding we had a late lunch at Costa Vida and let the kids play in the small playground area. Then back home so that Sawyer (and Dad) could have a nap. Later that evening we took the boys to Mimi's and let them choose any dessert they wanted from the dessert tray. The desserts are $5 and they are huge! The kids were in heaven. Will chose the double chocolate brownie and Sawyer chose the apple crisp. Amazingly, they both ate almost their whole plate. So much for me wanting to share with Will! I had 2 bites of his brownie...and then he finished my hot chocolate too.

After dessert we drove down to the mall to watch the 9 p.m. fireworks. We found a place to park and watched the short and sweet fireworks show.

Then back home for a sparkling cider toast before bed. The boys celebrated East Coast New Year's and went to bed at 10 p.m. I stayed up finishing the last 2 months' worth of blog updates. At midnight I watched the time delayed ball drop in Times Square and then went to bed. Pretty exciting.

Happy New Year!