Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Who's the boss of Devin?

Daddy and the boys are finishing up their dinner. I'm in here, taking a moment. I just heard this exchange:

Daddy: "No, Devin, that's not juice."
Devin: "Juice."
Trevor: "No, Devin, that's not juice!!"
Devin: "Juice."
Trevor: "DAD, PUT HIM IN A TIME-OUT!"
Daddy: "It's OK, Trevor, he can say juice."
Devin: "Juice."

My moment is over now.

Sunday, November 26, 2006

Thanksgiving


Devin had a yummy looking double stuffed potato, so I gave him a fork. He took his pig-in-a-blanket in his hand, shoved the fork in the tasty pastry dog, and ate it like this!


Here's how Devin enjoys Thanksgiving dinner with Aunt Momo. (At least, that's what I think he was calling her.)




And, here's how Devin enjoys S'mores around the traditional Thanksgiving Bonfire (Ok, so the bonfire isn't a Thanksgiving Tradition, but that sounds so nice.)




Here's we are making the traditional Thanksgiving Gingerbread House (see note above regarding Tradition and Thankgiving, please.)


Trevor enjoying tradtional Thanksgiving Gingerbread House candies.


Traditional Thanksgiving Toddler Head Massage


A closeup of our Traditional Thanksgiving Gingerbread House.

Trevor made a new rule. When we take five pictures of the house, we can eat it. We've taken 2 closeups like this so far. So, if you see this house, no photos please.

My other mimic

Yesterday, we took the El train to Chicago from Rosemont. On the way back to Rosemont, a homeless man came on to our train and asked for some money because he needed a sandwich. He must have left an impression on Trevor who today, about 20 hours after his experience with the homeless man, said to me, "I just need a little money for a sandwich."

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

HAIRCUTS Before and After, et al


Devin BEFORE


Devin AFTER


Trevor BEFORE


Trevor AFTER
(think he likes the haircut??)


While I'm at it, here's Trevor CLEANING! I know he's laying down on the job, but he.is.CLEANING!


Here's Devin doing what Devin does best.


And here's what Devin looks like when he discovers a camera is pointed at him.,

Broccoli Girl

Trevor just got his pajamas on and he came downstairs and told me that I am BROCCOLI girl. I think it's because the HULK on his pajamas looks like broccoli.

I agreed to be broccoli girl and went back to reading MSNBC. A few minutes later, he comes over to me and says, "OK, Broccoli Girl, I need your help. I need you to throw broccoli at the bad guys." I did that for awhile, and it was fun. Then, Trevor says, "Oh, let me see what time it is." Then, he looks at his wrist and says, "Yep, it's time to get to work." Then he says to Daddy, "Come on, Spiderman, we've got a job to do!"

Imagination at work...

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

It's not all about Trevor!

Devin has been doing some pretty cute things, too. First, he continues to mock us all very well. Last night, he was standing on his changing able, and I said, "Don't Fall" in a mommy sing-song voice, and then he said, "Don't Fall" in a Devin sing-song voice.

He also continues to say, "Wait Me!" when it's time to go downstairs. Recently, he spent a good bit of the afternoon saying, "My Turn!" And, his favorite drink is still either "Choc Milk" or "Juish" (which used to be ju...recently he's added an S-ish sound to the end of his favorite drink.)

Last night, he told Daddy he wanted more juish (he was also signing more), and Daddy asked if wanted Apple Juice. Devin told him "NO, NO WAY! JUISH" That was fun...

He's also very much into the Simpsons. When he wants to watch the Simpsons, he signs more and says "More O, MORE O!" I think this means More Homer. If we're not quick enough, he was also retreive the remote for us. And, he refuses to watch commercials. Commercials cause him to make little noises of protest and sometimes cry. Someone recently asked me what toys he likes to play with, and all I could really come up with was TV. He loves TV. I suppose I should be teaching him to ride a bike or play checkers soon...

We do love our little Devin.

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Games in the car

I got to drop off and pick up the boys at school today. Trevor likes to ask lots of questions in the car. One of his most confounding question formats begins with "Mom, why should you never..." and ends with something like "...scare people when you are trick or treating?" or "...go to Dino-land?"

"Why should you never go to Dino-land?"

How do you answer this type of question? How do you answer this question when it's the 55th such question in a series of similar questions? My answer went something like this...

"I don't know why you should never go to Dino-land. I don't even know where Dino-land is. I think it's possible that if Dino-land exists, it might be ok for me to visit. I just don't know how to answer your question, Trevor!"

He answered something like this.

"UUUGGGHHHHH!!"

Which was his way of saying, "Stop Talking!"

Then he went on to say, "The reason you should never go to Dino-land is because the Dinosaurs live under the ground like earthworms!" So, he knew all along.

In an attempt to regain my good humor, at this point in the conversation, I asked (with lots of enthusiasm) if Trevor was interested in playing the quiet game (I seriously tried to win this game when I was a kid...what a sucker!) Trevor told me that NO he did not want to play the quiet game. In fact, he did not want to do that because he was playing the "QUESTION GAME!"

Why didn't he tell me it was a game??

Anyway, I really was tired of answering Trevor's overly complex questions, so I told him that I was going to play the quiet game myself (I used to be so good at it.)

This was upsetting to Trevor. He told me that I was not following his rules. So, I asked, "what are your rules?"

He told me, "you can't play the quiet game when I'm playing the question game!"

I just laughed and laughed and tried to call Vikki to tell her how funny Trevor is. But, she was in class and wouldn't answer my call.

I didn't even know the Question Game even existed.

Now I know.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

My little manipulator...

So tonight, we went to Max & Erma's for dinner. This restaurant has a nice little sundae bar. Trevor has a nice long memory. Near the end of his meal, he reminded me how good the ice cream was last time we were there. He could either tell me he wanted ice cream, or he could plant a little seed, and make it seem like it's my idea. He chooses to plant a seed. I think that's fascinating.

Last week, he tried to convince me that The Little Mermaid castle that he sees advertised on Nickelodean could be a boy toy or a girl toy. His reasoning is that Eric, Flounder and Sebastian are all boys. It's like he's already way ahead of me. If he would have asked for the Little Mermaid castle, I would have told him it was a girl toy. He always avoids the girl aisles at Target and the Toy Store. He has set the precedent that he's not into girl toys at all. So, he didn't ask me if he could have the Little Mermaid castle. He just planted the seed that the Little Mermaid castle could be a boy toy or a girl toy. You can decide for yourself:




But, I'm not convinved this one of those toys that could go either way. It looks like a girl toy to me.

(It's currently $37 online at toysrus.com. It IS a girl's toy, a pricey girl's toy!!)

Monday, November 13, 2006

I am his favorite mommy in the whole wide world, but...

Trevor has been saying lately that I am his very favorite mommy in the whole world. In fact, it was the first thing he said to me Sunday Morning. The very most perfect start to any day. I told him that he was my very favorite Trevor in the whole wide world, and he told me that he was the only Trevor in the whole wide world. He named four of his friends, none of whom are named Trevor, as proof that he's the only Trevor in the whole wide world. Can't really argue with that...

He had also started (and has since stopped) telling me or Daddy to argue with the other in his defense. Last Monday, we were at the local mall and were about to go to one of the food courts. He did something that I told him not to do, so I didn't take him to the food court as he had planned. When I took him to the car, he said "I want dad! I want dad! I want Dad to argue with you!" Anyway, this thing where he asked me to argue with Daddy or Daddy to argue with me only lasted about a week. I have no idea where it came from, but I guess I'm glad it didn't last.

And, I decided to teach myself to knit. I bought really large needles because that's what the pattern on the skein indicated that I would need. The needles are plastic, and they do look like toys. Now, Devin prefers to take Mommy or Daddy elevator up and down the stairs. But, yesterday, he got my new knitting needles, took one in each hand, and slid down the basement stairs on his belly, giggling like a mad, mad baby all the way. He was very upset when I took away his weapons of mass self-destruction.

Devin can also mimic us better than ever, and we think he can get all the way to G in the Alphabet now. He loves Trevor, and does every single thing Trevor does. Trevor screeches, Devin screeches. (Oh, how I hate the sound of a child shrieking.) So many things...Trevor does it, and then Devin does it. One thing Trevor has stopped doing, though, is saying Die, Die, Die. I kept telling him it was ugly thing to say, and the message finally got through. Devin hasn't gotten the message, and he will still say it. Trevor screeches for him to stop because it's ugly. This makes Devin say Die, Die, Die even more. This usually happens in the car. It happened just yesterday. So, the moral here is that Devin will do whatever Trevor does and whatever Trevor tells him not to do.

Speaking of which, Trevor will tell Devin to stop engaging in any and all inappropriate activities. Apparently, playing with marshmallows is not appropriate as Devin was hitting two marshmallows together yesterday, and this just made Trevor crazy.

So, that's it for today. Marshmallows are on top of your blog casserole. Appropriate, given the season, I suppose...

Monday, November 06, 2006

Halloween Pictures


Trevor, the intense Green Power Ranger


Devin the Batman sizes up the white dog. Scary, villianous, white dog.


This is how Devin participates in the Halloween parade.


Mask On.


Mask On.


MASK OFF!!


YAY! MASK OFF!


YAY! MASK STILL OFF!!




I like the way Trevor knows just where the camera is...


More Halloween on parade.

Sunday, November 05, 2006

Can this happen?

We had an extremely busy day as a family. We were out of the ouse at 7:39, had breakfast at Cracker Barrel, and then went to Chicago to the the museum of science and industry.

After our busy day at the museum, we came home and straightened up the house while waiting for the babysitter to arrive. We had planned to go out to dinner with Daddy's sister and brother-in-law. We had not been out without the kids in 2 or 3 months, and we were both really looking forward to it. Trevor had other plans, though.

As soon as the babysitter arrived, Trevor started crying that he wanted to "come with." Over and over, he told us he wanted to "come with" as he cried pretty hard. He cried for about 10 minutes as Daddy and I made out final preparations for our night out without kids. Just as we were getting ready to leave, I hugged Trevor, and he felt warm. I asked Daddy to feel him, and we exchanged bewildered looks as he confirmed that Trevor felt warm.

I wasn't messing around, and I gave him two Tylenol Meltaways right away, even before we confirmed his temperature. These are reasonably tasty, and even if his fever weren't that bad, I figured giving him the Tylenol would calm him down.

Daddy brought me the thermometer, the temporal scanner, and it revealed a temperature in excess of 102. We took it a few more times, and we eventually got readings over 103.

OK.

It was possible he was warm from all the crying, so we took his temperature with the ear thermometer. 103.3.

Weird.

I found an oral thermometer. 103.

This kid really had a fever. But he was acting fine, beyond the crying, which really was normal since we were leaving. And, he had been acting fine all day long. And it was just time for us to leave.

So, we left.

I mean, the babysitter was there. And, we hadn't been out for months.

Actually, we left on the condition that we would call within 20 minutes, and if he was still feverish or acting sick, we would come home. When I called, his temperature was 99, and he was acting a little tired and asking for us, but he was fine.

We went to dinner, and it was very nice.

So, here's my question. Can a kid cause his temperature to rise to over 103 intentionally???

Friday, November 03, 2006

I wish...

...that this story would translate in such a way that you could feel the joy and contentment that I feel when this type of thing happens.

This morning, it was not quite 5 am, Devin woke up (and since he was in our bed, he also woke up me, Daddy, and Trevor who has taken to waking up with us) and the first thing he said was:
"Ma Ju, Ma Ju, Ma ma ju!" while making the sign for more.

It was cute and sweet, and he was thirsty.

(Devin Translation: "More juice, More juice, More More Juice.")