Actors

I called boys down for dinner. John enters the kitchen with a serious somber face. He says, "I have something to tell you."
Uh-oh.
"I broke up."
"You mean with Jillian?"
"Yes."
"Did you break up with her?" I asked. He seemed sad about it so I thought maybe she dumped him and he'd been crushed.
"She still wants to be my girlfriend."
"Well you can always just be friends, right?
"I just feel like I'm too young." He says, his eyes now welling with tears.
"Oh, Hunny, are you sad? It's ok."
"I just feel like I'm not ready...I think I may not be the right boy for her."
"Why do you say that?"
"I don't know." He shrugs and now is fighting his tears and won't eat his dinner.
"John you can stay friends, right? You told me you were "best buds" and she's the best girl you know."
"I just feel like I can't do it." He says.
"Well you don't have to do anything you don't want to do and this is why sometimes it's just best to be friends."
"She still wants to be my girlfriend."
"I'm sorry John, everything will be ok."

Cut to 5 minutes later...

John shouts, "Hahaaaa! Got ya!! Hahahahaaahhaaaaaaaaaaa!"
"What?!" I ask totally confused.
"Jillian is still my girlfriend. I just wanted to trick you! Did you think it was real?"
"Ummmm yeah!" Ugh! He totally had me fooled. He even teared up! And had his super-sad-depressed-as-hell-John-face on.
"Wow John. That was some good acting. Are you sure you weren't telling me the truth?"
"Hahahhhaaaaaaaa! I was thinking of when Peter Parker told Mary Jane he couldn't be with her anymore. That's what I thought of."
"Oh wow." I was dooped!
"Don't worry, mom, Jillian is still my girlfriend, everything is just fine."
(Ok good, because I was so worried;)

...Then Jake BURSTS into tears. "Mom!" he sobs. I mean SOBS. Screaming, crying, tears flying. "I'm sad you don't think I'm a good actor!"
"Jake, you are a good actor too. But John just really had me going and that's why I'm so impressed."
Then, Boom! Just like that he stops crying and starts laughing and says, "Got ya!"
Me and John are like, what is happening here?!
"I can totally fake cry!" he says with pride.
John says, "But you have tears on your face and eyes and you're all red in your face."
"I can totally make myself cry. Anytime I want. Haaahahaaaa!"
"Dang. Now I know you can really fake it, Jake." I tell him.
"Well, I actually do cry for real sometimes, like when people hurt my feelings."
"I know, Jake."
Then Jake asked, "So do you think I was a better actor or John or the same?"
"The same, Jake." :)

John- 6 Years Old and a Kindergardener!

Johnny started Kindergarden this year at Deer Creek Elementary in King City. It's a beautiful school and John is proud that the mascot is a Buck. Dad likes that too:) His teacher, Mrs. Espy is fabulous! She is super fun and cool and kind and when I talk to her I just can't stop talking I want to hang out with her. She is a huge Duck fan which is awesome. She's been teaching for 20 years and has taught K through 8th grade. She loves teaching Kindergarden; she loves the kids so much and it radiates from her.

John loves school and his teachers; he is learning a lot. He goes 5 days a week for 2 1/2 hours. He catches the bus at 11:35am which means he still sleeps-in everyday and gets to play for awhile before we get ready to go. We pick him up at the bus stop at 2:45pm so I get 3 hours and 10 minutes with just Jake and me.

After school, John is excited to see me and Jake; he hugs and kisses us both and holds my hand immediately. About 20 kids pile out of the bus at his stop and me and Jake are the only people waiting for a kid. When we walk back to the house John always tells me he has "cool stuff" to show me. It's usually a lot of art work. He loves to draw pictures of football players and skateboarders. When homework is sent home in a packet monthly (they don't return it to school) he wants to do the whole packet at once and usually will finish it before I even know he was working on it. He loves to count to 100 or 200 or more as fast as he can. He loves to try and read . He loves to write his name and names of things he loves like Vikings Football or Super Mario or Star Wars and Anankin.

John is growing so fast. He has his dad's long legs. The size 6 jeans he got for school clothes this fall are now high-waters (growth spurt!) so we are onto size 7s. But he still has the waist of a skinny 5 year old. No fat on his wirey body. He loves to wear Jerseys: Ducks and Minnesota Vikings. He is super into Ducks Football and the NFL. He'll say he is "John 'LaMichael' Allison" He will sit and watch football with Mike and is learning a lot about the game. His favorite Wii and DS games are Madden Football, Star Wars Lego and Harry Potter Lego. His favorite movies/shows are Harry Potter movies, Diary of a Wimpy Kid 1 & 2, A Christmas Story, Charlie Brown Cartoons, Looney Toons. He still loves to quote movies and immitate voices.

John is very wiggly and can hardly ever sit still. Even when I'm reading to him he is moving all around and fidgeting, but he is listening to the story because he'll comment on it. He loves to wrestle and dance and flip around and show me his gymnastics moves. He loves to play tag and catch. He is athletic and good at sports but he is also very clumsy. He always knocking things over and running into things and tripping over toys. "Whoops! I didn't see that there!!"

John turned 6 years old November 2, 2011. Had a Power Rangers theme surprise party at Papa's Pizza in Beaverton. Grammy and Grandpa, Wilson Family, Farkas Family, Waples Family and Leslie came. John was surprised to see everyone and get lots of gifts. The kids had fun and John was very thankful. On the ride home he said, "I sure had a great birthday party!"

This Christmas John asked Santa for "The new Lego Harry Potter Wii game, a Minnesota Vikings Jersey, and a Spiderman Lego Mini figure, and a Lego airpane." Santa was good to him. Jake gave him the Spiderman Mini Figure. Santa also gave John a Harry Potter Lego, a Pittsburg Steelers uniform, Skylanders Wii game, and Madden Football 3DS game. He got SpyGear walkie talkies and watch from Will, Halo guy from Aunt Leslie, Mario Galaxy Wii game and a book from Grammy and Grandpa, Harry Potter DS game and Star Wars Lego from Grandpa and Grandma Allison.

John is still a tender hearted little man. He'll sometimes cry because he misses his Dad or he's thinking about going away to college or me dying or something. He'll ask me if I will stay with him forever "even when I'm married?" So sweet. He loves Jake, John will look at baby pictures of Jake and tear up and say he misses "that baby Jake." He loves his kitties and treats them very special. He confides in them when he is angry with mom. He can also be a pill and I yell at him a lot for being naughty. Mostly John is silly and funny and happy and polite and respectful. He wants to please me and dad and loves the praise when he does well. He is a sweet boy who loves his family immensely.

John on his 6th birthday getting a happy meal

John's birthday party at Papa's Pizza

Carson, John, Will, Hudson, and Jake

John on Halloween at Linda's house-she bought him the Mario costume, he was so excited.

John 'LaMichael' Allison

John at Kindergarden with his buddies Sage and Jose and Jake

MY SWEET BOY THE LIGHT OF MY LIFE

It's Good To Be Jake Allison

It's been awhile since my last entry so a lot has changed. Jake is now 4 1/2 years old, as he calls it "the bigger 4." Jake still stays home with mom so he has the life. I mean THE LIFE. He wakes up around 9, 10 or 11...whenever he feels like rolling out of bed. He lounges in his jammies while breakfast is served to him on a tray. Then he plays video games, watches TV, has snacks handed to him, maybe plays in his room, and maybe a trip to the store where he gets a treat, hot tub, bath, more games, reading, back in the cozy jammies and cuddles up with mom when he feels like resting. It's good to be Jake...

He chooses his breakfast, usually eggs or pancakes or bagels, or cereal. He loves fruit too. He loves kiwis and blueberries. His favorite foods are bagels and cream cheese, Chinese orange chicken- he calls it "wet chicken"-chicken nuggets, vegetables like red peppers, carrots,pretty much all fruits and vegetables, orange juice, pizza, noodles, salami, lil smokies, and whatever is on my plate.

He loves to play Wii or his DS gameboy. He likes me to watch him play Wii. His favorite games are: Lego Star Wars, Sonic, Super Mario Bros. His favorite TV show is Wild Kratts. He also loves Batman. His favorite movie of the moment is "Diary of a Wimpy Kid Rodrick Rules."

For Christmas this year Jake asked Santa for a Nintendo 3DS and a Batman guy. He got both. He loves them to death. He also received a 3D Mario Land DS game, Star Wars DS game and big stuffed Mario (from Grandpa Allison and Grandma Carol), Sonic Black Knight Wii game, Skylanders Wii game, Broncos uniform, Minnesota Vikings Jersey, Pillow Pet & Mr. Freeze (fom Reese), Power Ranger Wii game and a book (from Grammy & Grandpa), Halo guy (from Aunt Leslie), Marvel Super Heroes magnetic dart board, Star Wars Lego and Hot Wheels (from Noyes family), a Robin Lego mini figure (from John), and lots of stocking stuffer toys and candy. We went to the Rooses' on Christmas Eve and several family members told me & Mike how impressed they were with our boys; how well-behaved they are. I got a card after Christmas from Aunt Pam and she wrote Uncle Tom was still talking about how impressed he was by John and Jake. That makes me proud of them. (It must be all the yelling and threatening I do at them everyday lol:)

Jake loves to go to the hot tub and jump in yelling "cannon ball!" And he holds his breath under water now. He likes to run sprints and show me how fast he runs. And he does run fast! He's got a lot of energy. He's always jumping around and doing gymnastics moves and he loves to dance. His favorite song is "Sexy and I Know It" by LMFAO. He demands it played in the car. Too funny.

John is still the center of Jake's world. When John is at school Jake asks a few times if it's time to go get him yet. "Now is it time??" When it is time, Jake stops whatever he is doing immediately and gets ready to pick John up from the bus stop. He hugs John BIG when John gets off the bus. Same thing when we drop him off at the bus stop in the morning. He hugs John and says "I love you" and waves and blows kisses til we can't see John through the bus window anymore. So sweet. Will they always love each other this much? I hope so. The boys get along pretty good. They fight and yell but they get over it fast and play constantly together. They like the same stuff.

The boys still love to wrestle each other. But they love to wrestle their dad even more. They team up on him and Jake says he rescues John from dad. He loves to climb all over dad and sit on his shoulders. He loves his daddy. Jake is over the infamous cold-shoulder stage but he still gets really mad at you for the littlest reasons. If you say something he wanted to say first or help him too much with something he yells and says, "I'm mad! Yew didn't wisten!" But he says it with a lot of rage. He'll stomp upstairs to a self-put time-out and then appear about 5 or 10 minutes later with the sweetest most infectious smile and say, "Mom, I'm sorry." And all is right in the world again and he is happy as can be.

Jake is still a tiny guy. I think he weighs 31 lbs or so. He's skinny with 6-pack abs, maybe 8-pack. He has a tiny body but he packs a mean punch. Watch out. We went to Big Al's a few weeks ago and dad bowled a terrible game. I was winning big and loving it so I made fun of Mike laughing and called him a "loser" (it's rare that I am better than Mike at something sport-ish so it was a glorious feeling) and it was as if a switch went off in Jake's brain. His smile vanished and his brows lowered and he came at me like a freight train. He punched me! And he said, "DON'T CALL MY DAD A LOSER!!" He was so upset. Then he got in big trouble because nobody punches mommy. But it was kinda funny because he was defending his dad and just lost his cool. Hmmm, sounds a little like stories from his dad's childhood...hence his nicknames: Mini-Mike a.k.a. Chachito.

Jake is very sweet and kind and happy and affectionate most of the time. He is the best hugger ever. He loves to hug. I can look at him when I'm stressed or tired or annoyed and he gives me the biggest eye-squinting smile and it makes me smile too. Jakey!

Sweet Johnny

Sweet Johnny
After a wrestle session with dad, John got a little injury from dad, accidentally. He cried and needed an ice pack. Jake came over to us while I'm comforting John. Jake starts crying saying how sad he is that his big brother got hurt. It was so sweet. Jakey tried to be strong telling me how he felt and then he burst into tears.
Later, after Jake fell asleep, John said he wanted to write Jake a thank you. He went to the art table, drew a picture and wrote their names then told me he wanted to give the thank you to Jake.
John goes to Jake's bedside, tells him how thankful he is that Jake was sad for him when he got hurt from wrestling. He talks to Jake for a few minutes while Jake is asleep and then says goodnite, kisses him, and turns on the fan, shuts the door, and says to me, "I put jakey to bed, he's ok."
What. A. Brother.
After that John said he wanted to cuddle me. We snuggle up on the couch and he looks up in my eyes, touches my face and says "Mom. You're the most rightest mom I could have ever picked." I totally cried. I told him how special he is and how proud I am. He said "mom you have to stop crying or I will cry too."
I sucked it up.
Ahh! I love my sweet Johnny!! I'm so blessed to raise him. I am prouder and prouder every day. What a sweet funny smart sensitive loving little man.

My Fancy Kid

Lately Johnny has been obsessed with dressing in a collar button up shirt, tie, and blazer. He looks so cute...except the tie is a hand-me-down from I don't know who--it's a clip on and isn't the cutest tie in the world. He wants to wear the same light blue shirt every day. And the blazer is a size 4T so the arms are a little short. He insists on wearing this every day with his plaid shorts.
Also, he must have his shirt buttoned to the very top. I think he looks like an inmate. Yesterday, while watching the movie "James and the Giant Peach," I noticed James Henry Trotter wears his shirt buttoned all the way up with a tie and jacket and shorts. I asked John if he wanted to look like James. He said, "well ya mom." Like as if to say "duhh mom!"
I just asked John what he wants from the Easter Bunny and he said, "A bow tie."

Subway + Tweens = not a good time

Subway
I took Jake to subway for lunch. A special treat while Johnny is at school. Big mistake.
First of all there were 25 people in line. 2nd- my 3 year old was the most well behaved kid in the place. There were a few dozen middle school choir kids eating and in line. They had some concert or something.
The boys were crazy hyper. The couldn't stand still and kept bumping into me. They were all like a foot taller than me and potty-talked like toddlers. All I kept hearing was everyone talking down to everyone. Especially the girls. I would be the worlds most frustrated middle school teacher. I swear I couldn't handle not screaming at them.
The boys actually tattled on a girl telling their teacher "marys sayin bad words!" so the passive push over teacher goes to talk to Mary and while she's gone the boys talk about girls u-know-whats and "dropping it like it's hot" while they messed with the thermostat.
Then the crowd clears a little and I thought we were going to eat in peace. No. Two angry bully girls sit behind us and proceed to talk nasty about every kid that walks by, all the girls they hate and think are ugly.
At one point Jake decided to tell them when they spoke a bad word. Lol! He said "whoops! Bad word!"
I hope those girls' voice cracks at their choir concert.
Just kidding :)

Sick Babies

I can tell Fall is really here because of all the trips to the doctor already.

October 09-10th, 2010...

It was Dad's 40th Birthday on Friday the 8th (HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKE!!!!); we celebrated as a family on Saturday. Our good friends gave us a gift card for Red Robin and we decided to go for it with the kids because it's been awhile since the last Allison Family restaurant dinner...

Rewind<<
Last week Jake got another horrible ear infection. He cries because his ear hurts and within the hour it's draining disgusting puss. By morning it looks like something out of an alien movie with ooze and stank coming out by the gallon. Sicko. He was prescribed Amoxicillin by the doctor.

>>Fast Forward 1 week (Oct 9th, Saturday night)>>
Red Robin dinner was great. Boys loved their balloons and color crayons and burgers and fries. John was so sweet practicing writing his name and Jake was happy to scribble.

After Dinner, friends came over to the house for drinks and that's when John started to complain of his ear--he told me it hurt earlier in the evening but he was ok for a little while--the pain came on strong and fast. I knew it would be a long night for all of us.

By 1am John was still crying and tossing and turning and yelling at me. "My ear! My ear! It hurts so bad! I can't believe you did this to me! Stop touching me! Stop talking to me! My ear!" John cried forever....then Jake started crying.

Jake could not stop itching and crying. By 3ish we were still not sleeping. Jake was itching and scratching. I gave him benedryl and tylenol. He seemed to get worse. Next hour I spread cortizone on him and that's when I noticed all the hives. Big, huge, red hard hives. Everywhere. So after another hour of all that cream and medicine not working, he peed in the bed. So we went to the couch for a little TV therapy...thank goodness for Charlie and Lola and Little Einsteins. After 3 shows, Jake fell asleep. I moved us back to the bed with lots of towels laid down on the pee-sheets. It seemed I just closed my eyes when John came in to wake me, as he had been sleeping with Mike in the boys' room. We went out to the living room to watch TV.

When Jake woke around 930am his hives and redness was horrible. He look diseased. My boys have had Fifths Disease, Hand Foot and Mouth Disease, allergic reactions rashes, and this was by far the worst rash I'd seen. It was everywhere: his ears were puffed up and swollen, his knuckles and ankles were swollen, he had red and purple splots on his face, body, and every crevass. He was so itchy and miserable. John was still crying over his painful ear infection.

So off to Urgent Care, for the second Sunday in a row...

Turns out, Jake is allergic to amoxicillin, just like John and me. So now he's on Zyrtec and Prednizone. John is taking medicine for his ear.

As we are leaving the pharmacy I said, "Happy Birthday, Dad!" Daddy got to spend his birthday money on medicine for the kids. He laughed and said that's probably how it'd always be and we might as well get used to it.

As we got home Jake said, "I wish I could be with my Grammy."

PA (pacifiers anonymous)

JAKE: Hello. I'm Jake. And I'm an addict.
(hello, Jake)
JAKE: I'm addicted to my pacifier. Last night was my first nights sleep without a pa-pa. It went ok. This morning I told my mama that imma big boy and not a baby. I think I made her happy. I'm taking this one hour at a time. It's not easy.

Funny Guy

Tonight's Dinner Conversation--
After seeing a commercial on TV about homeless children John and I have been discussing this issue for many moons...
Bringing up this conversation again John says to me, "Mom? The kids without moms and dads, their sad, right?"
"Right." I say. "Aren't you so lucky to have mommy and daddy to live with you and love you forever?"
"Yea. And you will always be here?" He asks.
"Yes, always, Son. Even when you are big and old like Taylor." I reply. Taylor is John's 2nd cousin (18 yrs old, just graduated HS,) who he refers to as big and strong and old and like a super-hero.
John says, "When I'm big like Taylor and I'm married?"
"Yes! When youre married, when you're older." I said.
"Mom, you promise you'll be there when I'm married? And Daddy too?"
John asked.
"Yes, Son, I promise I'll be there."
God willing, I will be there. John is so so so present. As if he just talked to God a few moments ago, he knows what's important. I love my tender little guy.

Did I Ever Tell You About The Time...

In the spring and summer of 2007, Mike took Johnny with him to the high school during football practice, to give me a much needed break from John. Jake was a little guy, just born in Spring 2007. (Who knew that taking care of a baby and a 18 month old would be a lot of work??) One day, after practice, John came home from the field covered from head to toe in mud. It wouldn't be the last time...

Did I Ever Tell You About The Time...

...that Johnny and Jake decided to spread Desitin Creamy all over their bodies and faces and clothes and bedroom?

Desitin Creamy is diaper rash ointment. Waterproof=hard to clean up. After a roll of paper towels used, and clothes and a rug thrown away they were normal dirty little men again.




It's amazing how quickly this happened. I think they were alone for 7 minutes.

Never in a Million Years...

...did I think I would know-or want to know-about Superheroes. Obviously the one and only reason I care about or am interested in all things Superhero, is because my beloved little men, John and Jake are so obsessed with Supers....

Channel 753-our new favorite Mannel (man-channel.) FX shows all movies that are all-boy, i.e., Star Wars, Spiderman, Hellboy, etc. Sunday was "Superhero Sunday" on FX. We've watched Dare Devil, Elecktra, and Fantastic Four: The Rise of Silver Surfer. Last night, while watching Fantastic 4: Silver Surfer for the 2nd time, The Husband asks (probably to John or Jake,)

"Is Silver Surfer a good guy or a bad guy?"

I quickly reply, "He's both. He's torn. He's a bad guy right now, but he wants to be good. He's just staying loyal to Galactus and his homeworld...and he has no power without his surfboard..." and on and on I went.

A few minutes later, Mike said, "Hey look guys, it's The It!"

I snapped, "THE THING!" (The Thing is a part of the Fantastic Four.)

Oh my. How I've changed. I had to laugh at myself.

My whole life, up until now, I've hated any sort of sci-fi fantasy world of movies and other mediums. It always reminds me of the middle-aged obsessed with comic books freaks that attend those comic book conventions where they dress up in costumes and speak weird sci-fi-mumbo jumbo. (Actually, that sounds kinda fun...shhh, I didn't say that!) The last thing I want is for my sons to end up like those weirdos at the conventions. Picture Steve Carell in "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," working at Best Buy, living alone in a small apartment with his collection of Superhero action figures--with John's obsession with collecting action figures coupled with his OCD, this picture of John turning into The 40-Year-Old Virgin is not so far off. Quite possible in fact. Good thing he has a super cool mom to make sure he turns out super cool too.




Now I find myself extremely excited for the new Iron Man 2 movie--in theaters Friday, May 7th. I can hardly stand waiting for it. I want to take Johnny to the theater, and I want him to wear his new Iron Man suit. Do you think people would disapprove of a mother taking her 4 year old son to a PG-13 action movie? Well, if you know me, you know that I don't give a rip if they judge me. Little do they know, we watch the first Iron Man movie practically weekly and we will soon own the Iron Man 2 DVD.

It's Iron Man

Wait, no, it's Johnny, I mean Tony Stark!

John's Dreams

This one's a doozy...

Poor John and his dreams and nightmares. It's been this way since I can remember. He talks in his sleep nearly every night. i.e. suddenly sitting up and shouting, "Where's Daniel?!" (Dan is our neighbor and John's good buddy.) Or, "Ester! Stop!" (Ester is our neighbor as well, but not so much a buddy but more like a bossy big sister.) Another one recently was, "Poo-poo diaper baby!" This is "potty-talk" while sleeping.

Last night, John had a really bad dream about bees and bugs. He woke up shouting that the "bees are getting me!" I tried reassuring him 100 times that he was just dreaming, there are no bugs, there are no bees, everything is fine, mommy is here, it's ok, lay down, go to sleep, bugs are outside, not in our house, and on and on and on and on for what seemed like forever. Then things got worse...

John started dodging invisible flying bugs and crying in terror. He hid under the covers and cried out that the bees were going to sting him. I kept trying to comfort him, to wake him, to reassure him that what he was seeing wasn't real. He begged me to hide with him and cried, "why are they doing this to me?" It broke my heart to see him so frightened. It seemed like he was wide awake and hallucinating. But I have to assume he was in a deep dream state. It was disturbing to watch him dodge flying bugs and cry and scream in terror.

I turned on the light and said, "See, Johnny, there are no bugs in here," and he said, "I can see them mom! Right there! " as he pointed at them. And then he begged me to move to the living room with him.

We sat in the chair in the living room and cuddled for about 15 minutes while he looked around the room. He seemed scared and paranoid. I asked him if we could go back to bed. He took my hand, and in a completely different tone of voice, a calm voice said, "OK mom, we can go back to bed now. The bugs are all gone."

Whew.

Then of course I didn't sleep well the rest of the night. It took me a couple hours to fall back to sleep. And when John woke at 7am, the very first words out of his mouth were, "Mom! The bugs are gone!" with a huge smile on his face. *yawn*

2 Hungry Men

My sons eat as much as I do. Maybe more. It's amazing. Jake will eat anything and everything. He'll eat his own meal and then if I eat something he sits down next to me and makes me share.

This is a list of meals/food John ate just the other day---
(And, if this is what my 4 year old that weighs 28 lbs eats on a normal day, then what am I in for during the teenage years of the bottomless-pit-garbage-disposal-boy-stomach???)

BREAKFAST:
French Toast with cinnamon and sugar and syrup
2 scrambled eggs
4 sausage links
Milk
Apple juice

LUNCH:
A whole ham and cheese sandwich
AND a whole PB and J sandwich
Chips
YoKids Yogurt

Apple Juice

Milk

SNACKS:
goldfish crackers
chips
skittles

Juice
DINNER:
Veggies-a big bowl full
Meatballs-big huge ones, 4
Pasta w/ sauce
Milk
DESSERT-begs for it!

John's Dreams

John:

"Mom. We cannot let Jake go. We love him, right? We let him stay in the house. Right? Because we love him and we don't want to lose him. Remember when Jake took off his shirt and went up to the moon? Remember? We don't want him to take off his clothes and go to the moon. But then, I am spiderman and I stool my web and save him and bring him down from the moon. Remember?"

Toddler Bullies

I just had my first experience of watching my son beat up by another kid and not able to do much about it. It was awful.
The scene:
We are at McDs playplace. There were lots of kids. Lots of boys. Rowdy to say the least. My boys were doing great. The usual, they pick a friend and follow them around. Running, climbing, go down the slides. John usually picks the only boy who is older than the rest to befriend.
After a long time of playing I could hear Johns low, moaning cry. (He doesn't scream like Jake does.) I think the moan-cry is partly because he's embarassed for other kids to see him cry. I heard his cry and when I finally found him he told me his friend had hurt him. I knew the boy (later I find out his name is Maxwell) hurt John because John is tough and usually only cries when necessary (unlike Jake.) I hugged John and told him to find a new friend to play with because I didn't know Maxwell's mommy. Then John said, "no." and gave me a look like 'why don't you do something?' So I turned to Maxwell and said, "did you hurt John?" as sweet as possible. I do not like disciplining kids who are not mine, especially strangers. What if his crazy white trash mom was watching me? And then she would plot to meet me in the parking lot and jump me. Anyway, Maxwell said he didn't hurt John. I knew it wasn't the truth but what could I do? So I just said to both boys, "let's be nice friends. no hitting. no hurting each other." again, as sweet as tone as possible. Ten minutes later....
There are about 5 boys bouncing in this little play-cove. They are all rough and tumble. It's hard to stop it because the boys love this stuff. I watched carefully. Jake got hurt twice, I pulled him out while he screamed. As if that wasn't sad enough, I see John get stomped on by Maxwell. Hard. Then body slammed. Then his hands jumped on. All on purpose. John was crying out in pain and screaming. I was banging on the window yelling--really yelling--at Maxwell to stop. John was bawling--silently at this point. That's when I know it hurts--no sound comes out of a terrified purple scream face. I'm telling John over and over to get out of there. Finally I start to climb in to pull him out. Two other kids were on there way out and therefore I couldn't get in. At this point Maxwell has stopped stomping on him. He was staring at John who was bawling in pain and screaming, tears flowing. So what does little devil boy do? He kicks John as hard as he can in his ribs, twice. I swear I felt it in my own ribs.
I screamed at him to stop. The whole playplace full of parents staring right at me. I get John out and my adreniline is pumping. His mom rushes over and says, "what's going on? who did what?" etc. I said that her son was kicking mine, not even doing his crime any justice. So she says to her son, "did you kick this boy?" Of course Maxwell says, "no!"
I couldn't help it. I had to tattle. I said, "yes he did. I saw him. Several times."
After a tear-filled packing up and putting coats on, right before we left Maxwell and his mom came over and she forced him to say a reluctant "sorry." I forced John to murmer a reluctant "I forgive you."
I'm not judging Maxwell's mom. I totally realize the situation could be reversed. But in the end, I was just so sad to watch my son stomped on and then kicked in the ribs by a boy that he wanted to follow and have fun with. Poor Johnny.

In The Bedroom

i have to complain....must...get...energy...to...complain...must...get....energy...to...blog...

RE: raising my men-
the sleep thing is our biggest issue. i always thought that if john and jake slept through the night, or were "good sleepers" we would have no problems. sleep is huge. sleep is everything. even if the boys don't nap-which they don't- i'd be ok with that because they sleep at night. not so...

Been co-sleeping with john for nearly 4 1/2 yrs, with jake for nearly 3 yrs.
john had colic/acid refulx for many months and i could only comfort him by him sleeping on my chest, then next to me all cuddled up. i let him nurse in then night til he was freakin 2 years old. omg. that sounds crazy. when i was pregnant with jake, i was co-sleeping and nursing john. then nursing both boys at the same time, and co-sleeping with both boys. lord have mercy.

it seems like in the blink of an eye johnny is 4 and here we are still co-sleeping. enough is enough. i am so tired. i can count on 1 hand how many times i have slept 6 hrs straight in 4 yrs. i always have a crink in my neck. i wake up several times a night to comfort someone. so they finally got twin beds (they were sleeping in a full bed together.) now it's time to do the work. it is so hard.

last night i was up the entire night. i mean, what is this? a night with newborn twins?? this is ridiculous. jake wakes up, needs a cuddle, falls asleep. then john has a bad dream, needs a cuddle, then jake, then john...and on and on. then of course at 630am they're up and at 'em and i feel like i was asleep for maybe 7 min at a time.

it's all my fault. i hate saying that. i should have tackled this issue 3 years ago. what's done is done. movin forward.

tonight is a new night. *yawn*

Funny Guy

John and I were watching "16 and Pregnant"--a high quality MTV reality show. haha.
...It's a scene where the pregnant mom is giving birth to her baby. The girl pushes the baby out and John bursts into tears. I said, "Johnny, what's wrong?"
"It makes me sad to see that baby cry." He sobs.
"Well she's just a brand new born baby and babies cry a lot. But she's ok." I replied.
John says, "Well I wish I could buy that baby. I want to bring her home. And I will protect her because I am Spiderman."

I'm blogging!

Well, here it goes. I have a lot to say, good and bad. To read my blog you definitely need to bear with me through thick and thin, very thin, like so thin it's see-through. k? k.
I stay home to raise my little men and sometimes I get so wrapped up in the daily routine, struggles, and fun stuff, that I become isolated with toddlers. I've sort of given up my "grown- up" life, meaning I don't really have the social life that used to fulfill me. I miss that life. Dearly. Yet at the very same time, I don't miss it. Confusing, I know. So, day to day I struggle to stay in the moment and truly cherish and enjoy this time with my little guys, all the while trying to keep it cool, stay patient, and get all my duties done. I consider myself extremely lucky to stay at home to raise them. It is not done without huge monetary and social sacrifice. Until you stay home 24/7 with your kids, you probably can't fully appreciate the go-to-work-grown-up-socializing-seeing other adults day to day-life. Some days-the grass is greener on the other side. But most of the time, I'd say my grass is rainbow green! I love being a mom to John and Jake. They are funny lil guys with a lot a lot a lot of energy. This my S.A.H.M. life!