Category Archives: Kids
Prayer
This morning Isaac told me he couldn’t find his water bottle and asked if we could pray to have Heavenly Father help him. So we said a little prayer and almost as soon as we said ‘Amen,’ he found the water bottle. Later when he was putting on his sandals he said "Should we pray for my old sandals? Then I could have two pairs of sandals!"
I know the picture has nothing to do with the post, but I love pictures so I can’t post without one.
Helpful Siblings
This morning the kids decided that Nicole needed some toys. They started bringing toys in one by one and before I knew it she was surrounded in toys!
Naps
Charlotte gave up naps completely probably a month or two ago. She used to take a 
good nap in the afternoon, but I’d go to turn off some of the lights in her room two hours after I put her to bed and she’d still be awake looking at books. So when she no longer seemed to be able to fall asleep during the day I figured it was for the best because she started falling to sleep at night much more quickly. This picture is of one of the few occasions that she has decided she still needs a nap. I left her coloring while I ran to the bread store (Zach was in our room) and when I came home she was right where I left her sound asleep.
Chores Update
I was initially disappointed by how quickly Isaac and Charlotte’s zest for chores dissipated, but things are improving now. Understanding timing is important. I’ve learned that they have no desire to do chores if they’re already doing something that they enjoy. That seems like an obvious lesson, but I tried bribing them away from toys in order to do work and it didn’t work and just frustrated me. If I really want to motivate my children, I must create a scarcity that can only be filled through chores. I haven’t been willing to create much of a scarcity for play because they get into trouble if I don’t give them engaging play options. There are two types of things that I am able to create a scarcity in and I have used those two things as my motivators. One is treats/sweets and the other is one-on-one time with mom. As you can see from the picture, they are required to complete four chores for a treat of their choosing. The second part is trickier. Each time t
hey fill a small treat strip, they get to add a picture of themselves to the outing progress cha rt. After four pictures (16 chores) they get an outing with mom. The other children go to Grandma’s house while the child who earned the outing spends time with mom. Outings include things like a bicycle ride (which Isaac is currently working toward), swimming, a trip to the library, or a trip to the park. This system has been rewarding in multiple ways. It allows me to regulate treat intake better, the kids are enjoying doing chores, and I get to spend one on one time with each of them (Nicole gets her mom time at 2:00AM or 4:00AM ).
Isaac
I wrote about the girls, so I suppose I should write
something about my boy. He is such a clever and curious boy. He sometimes drives us nutty with his questions and regularly expresses what maybe inner desires by saying "what if the naughty guys. . ." We actually convinced him to replace the words "naughty guys" with "democrats" for a day. I found it much more amusing to hear him worry that the democrats would do bad things. He had concerns like "what if the democrats came in and ate my dinner and they wouldn’t let me eat it." or "what if the democrats wouldn’t let me ride my bicycle." Part of me worries about offending people, but then the other part of m e says "I don’t care if I’m politically correct or sensitive or whatever" and the second part wins because mostly I don’t really care.
Does he look like a wealthy (and therefore evil) oil tycoon in this picture? Maybe Obama could use it to further his class warfare argument!
Charlotte
Charlotte is my momma’s girl. She insists on hugs first thing in the morning, at 
bedtime and periodically throughout the day. Unfortunately, I’m not always available for hugging. She crawls on my lap as I’m feeding Nicole, insists I put Nicole in the swing or just cries at my feet. Sometimes she grabs my legs as I’m walking and holding Nicole and I feel bad when I have to free my legs and step over her as she slumps to the ground and cries. Zach thinks that I reinforce her crying when I give her hugs when she cries and clings, and I agree somewhat, but how can I deny her hugs? I have tried a few times insisting that she calm down and ask nicely for a hug, but there are times when I’m taking care of the baby and I really can’t hug her even if she ask nicely so I can’t immediately reinforce the behavior I want. I try to hug her periodically when I’m not trying to calm or feed Nicole, but I feel awful when all she wants is a hug from her mother and I can’t give her one.
Nicole
My little Nicole is unique. The first comment I always get is about how her is that her 
coloring is so much darker than my other two. One day I was sitting in my rocking chair holding Nicole and Isaac said "Mom, Nicole is brown!" I don’t really notice a difference most of the time because I’m so used to looking at her.
She’s the only one of the three who I didn’t have to kick out with drugs (I was induced for Isaac and Charlotte, but Nicole came several weeks early), she’s a fountain of spit-up (my other two spit-up a few times a week–Nicole spits up a few times an hour), and I think she cries more than the others (she has these inconsolable crying fits). On a typical day she took two half hour naps, ate every two hours, and could only tolerate not being held for five minute increments before she would start crying. She’s gotten a little better about allowing me to put her down the last few days, but she’s traded that for keeping me up more at night.
I was prepared to wait it all out and hope that before long she’d keep food down, cry less and sleep more, but other family members convinced me to seek some medical advise. I don’t know why I’m so reluctant sometimes, maybe I’m afraid to get my hopes up that things could actually be easier. As it is I’m tired all the time and I don’t have as much one-on-one time with my other kids as I’d like, and I never have enough time to accomplish much beyond keeping the house mostly clean. So I took her to my most trusted physician in Spanish Fork. He gave her a thorough exam and listened to my description of concerns and prescribed some Zantac for a possible acid reflux problem. He says it may take two weeks to show any results, but if she gets worse or it doesn’t help after that I should call him and set up another appointment.
Sorry this blog is so dull, hopefully I’ll write a celebration blog in a few weeks to exclaim my excitement at how much happier my littlest girl is.
Exersaucer?
So I got this toy when Isaac was a baby and honestly, neither he nor Charlotte liked it much and since it has such a big storage footprint, Zach says that if number three doesn’t like it we should just get rid of it. So she may be a little young, but I put Nicole in it the other day and you can see her response below:
The question is. .. . should we keep it?
Preschooler’s Dictionary
Here are some definitions from my little ones:
Hinges = elbows or knees Context: Just before dinner he told me that his tummy was full because elevators in his legs had carried salad up past his hinges to his tummy and filled him up. When I told him we were having tacos, he said the elevators took the salad back down.
Mystery Symbol = question mark Context: While typing, Isaac asks “Mom, where’s my mystery symbol?”
The toilet’s esophagus = the part of the toilet directly below the bowl that leads down into the ground Context: “mom, is this the toilet’s esophagus?”
Shampoo for hands = soap Context: I sent Isaac in to wash his hands. He came back out and said “I have no shampoo for hands–that is soap.”
Crying when I’m swimming show = Olympic swimming Context: Charlotte has been 
enjoying the Olympics. So far her favorite event is swimming which she called the “crying when I’m swimming show.” As soon as they started playing the national anthem she told me that the men would start crying.
Die = kill Context: The light was peaking in through the blinds and making little spots of light on the ground. Isaac started hitting the spots and saying “I’m going to die this light”
Time for Chores!
I’ve been frustrated at my lack of time lately and feeling like I’ll never have the time to do more than maintain the level that I have now. It was in pondering this dilemma that I determined to try having my preschoolers help. Today I had them try a variety of different chores so that I could determine which chores were best for each child and what I needed to teach each child to increase his or her repertoire of chores. Most of my surveying was with Isaac, as he’s the older and more willing of the two. We started off with the toilet. He did ok, but needed direction on where and how to wipe all of the surfaces, how to hold the spray cleaner, and how to squirt the toilet cleaner into the toilet, but for some reason he enjoyed the task. Later in the day he used the toilet and then reported that it needed to be cleaned again. I taught him how to clean a mirror (using the one in his room). At dinnertime I had him clear the table and rinse all of the dishes. He did these chores well and with little need for direction. Charlotte did the laundry and scooped the litter. She switched clothes from the washer to the dryer and unloaded the dryer when it was done. She did so well that I could actually walk away while she was working and she persisted through and finished. The litter didn’t have much to scoop, so that lesson will have to be resumed later.
It was a successful trial. I found a few chores that they could do independently that would actually help me. I think I may spend some more time training them before implementing a chore chart and rewards system, but so far so good.
Tigers
I’m not really sure why Isaac has chosen tigers as his main f
ear, but he has. Each night he has to check all the locks before he goes to bed to make sure tigers can’t get in (because tigers don’t have keys). He whispers so the tigers don’t hear him until the doors are locked then he talks in a normal voice. Here are some of the things he has said about tigers:
6.30.08 (written by Zach) The boy worried that there were tigers outside trying to get in to "die" him. They were using ladders to come in from the sidewalk to the window. I told him that there were no tigers in Utah, but that if there were, and they tried to get in, I would boom them with my boomer. He asked if that would knock them over and make them say "aaah!".
Luckily, Charlotte was the voice of reason. She told Isaac that
tigers live in the jungle, not on the sidewalk.
8.20.08 Isaac asked Heavenly Father that "the cars that drive by that are too noisy will be bitten by the tigers" in his prayer tonight.
8.31.08 Isaac said he wanted a family of dogs with a mommy, a daddy, an Isaac, a Charlotte, and a Nicole dog. I told him that most people get just one dog. I told him that some people get a family of dogs. He said we are some people so we will get a family. Then he corrected himself and said that we are some people and kids. He continued by saying that the dogs would say "woof" and scare the tigers away so the dogs could keep the cats safe. As he continued to talk and postulate chickens were added to the equasion and he said the chickens would keep the dogs safe from tigers. When I asked him if he wanted a pet tiger, he said yes, but it would have to be in a cage and he used his hands to describe an inner cage and an outer cage and the outer cage would have a door but the inner cage would have no door.
Seattle
I think the death of my grandmother motivated us to plan a trip to visit our only surviving grandparent (Zach’s paternal grandmother) in Seattle and I’m glad it did because we had a great trip.
Zach, Isaac, Charlotte, and Zach’s parents left for Seattle at 5:00 AM on Saturday (8-23-08) and arrived in Seattle at about 7:20 PM (Utah time). By all accounts the children did well and the trip up was uneventful. I flew with Nicole that evening leaving Utah at about 9:20 and also had an uneventful trip.
The Olympics through the eyes of Children
8.14.08 Charlotte has been enjoying the Olympics. So far her favorite event is swimming which she called the "crying when I’m swimming show." As soon as they started playing the national anthem she told me that the men wo
uld start crying. Today when she threw a tantrum during Zach’s lunch break he went in to help her through it. He finally got her to stop crying by singing the national anthem. When he finished the song she said she wanted to watch the "crying and swimming movie."
8.15.08 While watching the Olympics with us Isaac said "Now we feel good in our tummy because they win’d. If they didn’t win our tummies would not feel good?"
8.16.08 Isaac watched the track events for the first time. He ran with the athletes. When they’d say "Mark. . .Set. . .<<gunshot>>" he ran down the hall. He excitedly demonstrated how they jump hurdles to his father–it was quite an amusing display.
8.20.08 Today the kids played Olympics with aunt Krista. She taught Isaac how to start a race with your feet on an imaginary starting block, they practiced shot put throws, and then created their own sports. Isaac’s favorite was his own invention. It involved throwing a ball into a tree and you win if leaves fall down.
(The picture of Nicole has nothing to do with the comments except that it looks like she might be watching the Olympics with great hope for team USA)
Isaac and Charlotte Meet Some Animals
Omniture gave us some passes to Thanksgiving Point as part of the company party we had last week, so we took the toads up. Isaac was a little scared of the dinosaurs (I probably shouldn’t have told him they eat children), but Charlotte had no fear. Isaac kept reminding us that the dinosaurs were dead, so they were not hungry. I was pretty impressed at the displays; lots of good specimens. We were a little rushed going through; on the one hand, the kids got a little bored, and on the other, Isaac would get a little scared sometimes.
After the dinosaurs, we went over to Farm Country. This gave the kids a chance to see some goats, horses, llamas, cows, and chickens. No pigs, though? Some farm! A cow licked Charlotte, and they both got to ride ponies. Isaac cut a fine figure on his steed; maybe instead of building him a computer I should buy him some cows to herd. Speaking of cows, Charlotte managed to get licked by one.
Our last stop was the children’s garden, which was just ok. They did have a couple of little fountains that the kids played in. They’re the kind that sort of pop up from the ground randomly; Charlotte was looking at the hole for one, and got the whole thing right in the face. She’s a trooper, though; she shook it right off.
Anyway, pictures below:
Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.
The Musings of Mormon Toddlers
My sister-in-law (Heidi) sent me an article about funny things kids say as they grow up in "the church" and I figured I had a few to add to that list, so here are some relevant musings from our log: 
Not too long ago: I had explained to Isaac that President Hinckley had died and that now we have a new prophet named President Monson. He must have been pondering that one day when he came into the room and said "What time will we get a new Jesus?"
Zach has been encouraging Isaac to be more specific in his prayers. One night as Isaac was saying his prayers and he said "thank thee for all the blessings" Zach prodded him by asking "which blessings" to which Isaac responded "Thank thee for blessing number 8 and blessing number 9."
7.24.08 It’s Pioneer Day Today. We turned on the television to watch the parade and we saw a pre-recorded message from President Monson (the current prophet) so I asked Isaac if he knew who that was and responded confidently "Heavenly Father" I said no it’s president. . . and he responded correctly at that point by saying President Monson.
Toddler Ingenuity!
Isaac started making circles with his train tracks, when he ran out of circular tracks he started using other pieces and discovered that he could make some letters. First he decided that he wanted to write Costco with train tracks. After some finagling we were able to make the word Costco. As soon as we were finished he said "now let’s write Wal-Mart!"
Isaac and Nicole
Nicole’s Blessing
We got permission to bless Nicole on the 15th this month, which is also conveniently Father’s Day. We have extra family in town who wanted to be a part of the moment, so it’s nice the ward was able to accommodate us.
Church is at 11 AM, so get in touch if you need directions. I think we will probably arrange for snacks afterward.
Pictures of Nicole
This is the final post of a long day, and here are some pictures for you to look at. Everything went very well, especially considering Nicole was born almost a month earlier than we expected. She seems like a healthy, sturdy little kid. Kathleen is in good spirits too. Some photos:
Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.