Look who is cruising all over the place!
This boy has been standing on his own for a month or two, but has been delving into the walking world lately.
I have never encouraged walking, but he is LOVING it!
Especially when the crowd goes wild every time he takes a jaunt.
And when there isn’t an uproar over him, he grunts until he then gets it!
Scout is my 100% boy.
Navy is my 98%er.
When Scout does a job, he almost always get the entire things done without too much prodding.
Navy does a really good job, and then weasels out of the final touches.
This day — she folded the clean rags.
She likes this job, and does it well.
When 20 minutes after I told her to put them where they belonged, I went to get a rag, and there were non to be had.
So after searching for a minute, this is what I found:
The rags in the laundry room with the door shut.
(Keep in mind, the laundry room is further away than the cupboard where they belonged.)
So when I dramatically gasped when I found them, Navy ran over for the walk of shame before I got her in more trouble.
(It was just earlier that morning that I told her we were in a hurry to get her to school, and I couldn’t find her shoes. She said, “Oh! I know where they are!” And then walked over to the family room couch, moved a cushion and pulled her shoes out from behind it. I asked her how she knew they were there. Then she said, “Oh, I put them there when I was cleaning out the car, so I would remember where they were.” Because I guess it would be tough to remember to look in the shoe cupboard!)
It is safe to say that my car is decently messy at most times. But we usually try to clean it out on Saturdays. I figure I would rather do that than be a Nazi every time my kids leave a paper or their shoes in the car. But when I turned around to see that Navy had smuggled in an entire bag of pretzels, and that between the three kids, remnants were everywhere — they got in big trouble.
So on their own, they cleaned out and put away every single thing there was in the car. I’ve had them do this before, but they were really thorough this time. Maybe because it took them about 2 hours to do it. Or maybe when Scout said, “Mom it is like a desert out here, and I really need a drink of water”, and I replied with, “I know, it really is hot out there, and as soon as that car is spotless, you can have all the water you want”.
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When they were finished, they were to ring the doorbell, and allow me to come inspect it.
Like I said — thorough.
And at the end — as my cherry on top, they told me that they were very best friends.
I guess two hours in the beating desert sun does the trick.
Wonder what three hours would do?
Scout came home with his backpack full of his schoolwork.
Too bad for him I saw his horrific cutting.
Guess what he was practicing all afternoon?
And guess who got a jump start on her cutting skills?
All three of my kids love — and I mean L-O-V-E Shredded Wheat.
The old school full brick without frosting kind of Shredded Wheat.
Clearly this comes straight from my mom, seeing as she has it about 364 mornings a year.
And although my kids love the cereal part of it, they really love the residual milk.
Why, you ask???
Because my mom sweetens it up a bit with a pinch of sugar.
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Lately, our little grunter Dash has been under the Shredded Wheat spell.
As soon as he sees his Nonnie pouring cereal, he heads over to her feet and grunts.
And grunts, and grunts and grunts.
The other day, she ran away from him and said, “Can’t I eat my cereal in peace!!!???”
But most days, she speeds through her wheat, and gets to her favorite — the milk.
And then turns it over to Mr. Grunt.
It’s like ambrosia to him.
This day, he got a little frantic and things got messy.
But in the end, there is one REALLY satisfied customer.
And one thirsty Nonnie.
Calin had a big day, and requested my assistance.
Obviously I obliged.
I was in charge of make up.
And hair.
And hen took it upon myself to show her how to pose.
She liked my first two areas of expertise.
And didn’t die over my last.
Even when there is a PB&J to choose from, he always goes for the frozen peas first.
My mom told me long ago that David used to love them, so itried them out with Scout. And these things have been a slam dunk with all three of mine.
Poor Scout has come down with the flu two times in the past few weeks. The first was a 24 hour stint, and the latest has been a few days strong. He was so out of it, but really wanted to be in on our normal day to day stuff. At one point, I asked him if he could do or have anything, what would it be?
His response was….”Mom, I just want to be on the counter to watch Nonnie cook.”
So that is just where I put him.
The picture makes him appear closer to the food than he actually was.
But as a second special measure, I made sure she was going to be sticking the food in the oven for about 5 hours the next day.
(This picture is after grunting for a drink — and after he got it, he grunted for a bit more.)
I love this kid.
BUT…
I can hardly wait for the day that he can express exactly what he is thinking.
He can say a few things, but prefers the grunt.
So ALL DAY LONG, I respond to “Uuhh….uuhh….uuhh.”
I am pretty good at figuring each grunt out.
Some are for water, some are to follow him, and others are for holding him.
I know there is an easy solution….teach him sign language.
Well, all I have to say to that…
is I can only learn one foreign language at a time.
And Chinese is trumping ASL.
So grunting it is.
Scout and Navy are each others best friends — or each others biggest target for teasing.
Clearly, I prefer the first scenario.
A lot of times, my kids prefer the latter.
Last night as I sat in the Family Night Room, I overheard the following conversation from the two “sleeping” kids.
(They share a room. And Scout usually tries to follow the rules of “no talking and straight to bed because it is a school night”, whereas Navy, by nature, tries to go against all rules.)
Navy was talking a mile a minute….
S: “Navy, would you please be quiet so that I could go to sleep.”
N: “I AM being quiet!”
S: “No you’re not, and the next word you say, I promise you I am going to go and tell Dad.”
N: A decently quiet cough.
S: No response.
N: A louder cough.
S: No response.
N: A loud cough.
S: “NAVY! THERE IS NO COUGHING EITHER!”
N: “Scout, I have to cough….I am SICK!” (Which she is not.)
S: “No you’re not. And the next cough, I am going to tell Dad.”
N: Silence.
S: Coughing louder and louder.
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They can both dish it.
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Navy is like the gnat that is always there, just buzzing in your ear. We laugh that she is ALWAYS on. There is not a moment of the day where I can relax on her, because the second I do, she will be plotting. She keeps us all laughing, and exhausts me to the fullest by about 10:00 pm.
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Scout, on the other hand, is clever. He picks and chooses the times he wants to pester. A lot of times, it is a rebuttal to Navy’s incessant teasing. He has quite a bit of patience with her, but when he is done — he goes in for the clever kill.
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I like both of their tactics.
Navy wins by the “wear down”.
Scout wins by the “direct hit”.
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