In fact, one of her favorite things to do is pretend I am her baby.

If she is not telling me “I boss”  (or informing random people at church or in the store that she is the boss),

Then she is telling me “I’m Mom.  You Baby” while using hand gestures to reiterate who she is talking about and our roles.

So this means a couple different things.  First of all, she gets to pick whatever we are going to do at that point  - eat, rock, play, sleep.

My favorite is when she reads me a book or gives me a loving mama hug (with the back pat and all).

She also likes to put her face really close to mine and talk to me in a sweet soothing mama voice.

Her favorite is when she puts me to bed.

This usually involves me laying in her daybed with her “noni” (blankie).  She makes sure I am comfortable and then says “Nigh Nigh”

Lights out. Door shut.

30 seconds later she comes in and turns the light on and wakes me up.

Then I have to go nigh nigh again.  This could repeat about 25 times if I let it.

Or if I am lucky, she actually goes and does real “mama” stuff and let’s me nap.

She did that for me on Mother’s Day. I think I actually got about a ten minute nap in.

I will pretend to be the baby for that.

But, to my kids, these words make them want to do whatever they can to extend the waking hours. Live, play, run, have fun.

For the most part, getting the boys to sleep is pretty easy now, compared to some of the challenges in the past.  But, for CJ, it is just a VERY LONG ROUTINE.  I don’t mind it if I am not exhausted or have a list of things to do in my head.  But in reality, if her routine is this long, we should probably start it at 7 instead of 8-8:30. At the moment, she prefers her mom  to put her sleep, but this changes often, back to a Dada preference. The routine with me goes something like this:

(bath done, jammies already on, teeth already brushed)

1. She decides that now is the time to “play” when all day long the toys are not as interesting (I try to skip this, but go with the flow depending on time)
2. She will often substitute play for dancing (ring around the rosy, twirls, any dancing does the job) and/or “jumping”
3. Finally I convince her to pick out books and we read by 3-5 books (lately this has to be done in the daybed with her purple pillow “bobo” and her  blanket “noni” and a baby or 2).
4. When we are done, and I talk about going to sleep, she usually tries to convince me to let her sleep in the daybed (she is not quite ready for this yet) and pretends that she is already asleep.
5. After she pretends to be sleeping for a while, I scoope her up, we make our way to turn off the light.
6. Lately, we have been trying to make turning off the light into a game, by doing something silly, like having her dolly turn the light off, or CJ turns the light off with her foot, or she likes to push her rocking chair up to the light, stand on it, and turn it off herself.
7. Then she decides she wants a drink.  She is finally getting her words for this right, as she would always say “juice” our “souce” even though we lways call it a “drink” or “water”.
8. Sometimes, while we are getting our drink, she also decides she needs wash her hands (it’s all about the soap) or maybe  now she has to go potty.
9. We make our way back to her bedroom, I rock her for about 5-10 minutes, but she is getting so big she often starts turned to the side (thumb in mouth cuddled up to Noni) and then to the front.
10. I usually ask her, if she wants to sing a song or say a prayer.  Sometimes the answer is a fast “No!”, other times “Yessss” or just a “rock!”
11. Her favorite song lately is “BC’s” which is the ABC song. She usually sings it with me and knows some of the cues of the song really well (G,P,S,V, Z) but for the most part she just like clapping at the end.  When we get to a certain part in the song, she always points up to the wall, where the letters of her name are hanging. It is not unusual to sing the ABC’s 2-3 more times.
12. Finally, I put her in her crib, lay her Noni over her, and turn on her Violet to sing her bedtime songs for 5 minutes. Usually we lay down a baby or two by her.
13. We say our Goodnights and I love You’s, and sometimes she asks me to sing the ABC’s again. Or if she is apprehensive about bedtime, we talk about breakfast or what we are doing for fun the next day.

Remembering back to B at this age, it was all about getting him to stay in his bed by laying by him until fell asleep.  For M, who went thru a stage of being “afraid” we would have to tell him stories as we walked out of his room, and down the steps…. whatever works… Nigh Nigh!

In the video below, M is reading to CJ as a way to make her feel better, when she got a small owie on her hand. Look at how attentive she is. B even listens to M, for a short bit…

And here is M’s big basketball game during the half time show at the B-Squad game.  He shot the first basket  (see in the video between :55-1:05 – he has red top, with blue shorts with orange stripes).  He was so excited to goto basketball practice each Saturday, and play during this game…. Notice the “skip” in his step as he runs down the court, and his great defense.

B uses 13 to mean “really big” “really tall” or  just “really  cool”.

I am not sure how the word 13 started to mean more than just a number to B.  It started sometime last week and he has been using his new 13 phrases several times a day.

He uses 13 like this:

“That tower is 13 tall!”

“It is really huge!  It is very 13!”

“It is 13 big, Dad!”

“Whoa! That water slide is 13 huger!”

So apparently, 13 is humongous, towering, magnificent, colossal, awesome!

I asked B, “What do you think 13 means? Isn’t 13 a number?”

He replies matter of factly, “It means it is 13! 13 Huge!”

OK Then.  B is 13 Huge to me.

Dollies – She likes to change their clothes, sway them in her arms, and has even been known to give her dolls a (real) bath.  She gives lots of kisses and lovingly gestures and makes sounds to her baby.  She will be a great mom someday.

Kitchen – Last year she got this great kitchen set for Christmas. It is perfect for her age right now and I love the colors and quality. She uses the microwave part the most (everything gets heated up) as well as the faucet/sink.  Another toy that has been so fun this year are these cupcakes from Melissa & Doug that can be decorated with washable markers.  I love all the Melissa & Doug toys but these cupcakes and the wooden fruit you can cut have been especially fun for us.

Tea Parties – Last but not least, CJ has really gotten into tea parties.  She has the tea set  with the liquid viewable thru the side so it is fun for pretending to pour.  But usually she likes to do the real thing.  So we also have this super-cute Tupperware Mini Pitcher that we put water (tea) in and have a real tea party.  She pours me cup after cup and sometimes tries to give some to her babies with a spoon.  She has the most adorable apron with a matching apron for her favorite dollie of the day that she likes to wear while she is serving tea or working in the kitchen.  She looks like a natural.

Usually her kitchen, tea table, and baby changing station are also littered with all the boys toys (the dinosaurs also had a tea party with the dollies the other day). But she doesn’t seem to mind…

“When I was a baby….” (Insert funny story here about something that he did or did not do as a baby…. Usually this is something silly, or something he saw CJ or another baby do.)

For example, “When I was a baby, I ate my food like this.” or “When I was a baby I really liked Super Mario Wii.”

“When I was older…” (Insert something here that he wants to do when he gets older, or thinks he did in the past, except he was older.  This was also the inspiration behind this post about 20 things I would do if I was a kid again)

For example, “When I was older, I went to work with Dad.” or “When I was older, I liked to go bowling.”

“When I was a kid…” (Insert random funny story about something that he thinks is in the past, now that he is not a kid?  Sometimes this is the start of a request for something he wants to do now, or a strange combination of past & future.)

For example, “When I was a kid, I ate a lot of pizza.” or “When I was a kid, M was a baby and CJ was a mom.”

What will he come up with next? It is fun to see what his imagination dreams up.

Tonite on the drive home they had a similar conversation except M said he wanted to work for the city and paint all the houses in town so they would look nice. B followed up by saying that when he grew up, he wanted to be a snowman.

This is my first blog post published entirely from my iPhone!

Here is his Jingle Bell song: (notice the  bow at the end)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2MWJbEMRFo

And here is the “Reindeer Hokey Pokey”:
(notice the “hoofs”)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRyXHixOKDY

M also had an amazing Christmas program at St. M’s last week.  My favorite part was the “march” in.  All the kids marched in, and M put everything he had into a very deliberate, wide stride, and stiff arm march.  Then the K & 1 sang 2 songs (one being Away in a Manger) with actions which made it cute. There was lots of playfulness in the concert with the K boys also being “naughty sheep” for a part, running down the church aisle away from the shepherd.

I don’t know  a lot of lullabies (nor am I good singer), but this time of year (actually anytime of year), I like to sing Silent Night to CJ when I rock her before bed (sometimes she tries to sing it with me).  It was funny to see how attentive she was when the kids sang Silent Night at the Church Christmas Concert. She really liked the music.  Several times during the concert, she was also imitating the director and was moving her arms with the music.

Some moments feel so magical. There were times during both M’s and B’s concerts where I started to tear up (proud – and moved my music – even the “Reindeer Pokey” apparently). These little things are what life is all about.

for us it was full of new experiences, change, and cheer

M started kindergarten at St. M’s so proud,

and B was a new preschooler (there he is never as loud)

The boys started sharing a bedroom & we play more games since getting rid of cable

and CJ earned a newly decorated bedroom and a chair at the dining room table

CJ started walking, then dancing, talking, and singing…

And we’ve explored fishing, tae kwon do, bike rides, drawings, cooking, Wii & swimming

The fun never ends until the fighting, whining, or bedtime arrives.

(And then it starts again when the boys’ alarm starts to beep – at 6:45)

In the mean time mom and dad appreciate fine wine and a good night’s sleep

But we wanted more, so after 13 years at the same jobs we took big leaps

J now has independence to be with the kids more while working from home,

family clearly comes first

even though I am often (working) on Facebook, blogging or my iphone.

N is making career changes too, for he has been driving many miles for so long

Starting in mid-December working in Technology for our communities schools –

Staying local, can’t go wrong.

We welcomed new babies with open arms from our families so dear:

Brooklyn, Thomas, and Nolan (a nephew! and another niece or nephew near!)

Treasuring each day, and the people in it.

For that’s what this short life is all about.

So Merry Christmas to you and yours

and Cheers to an even better 2012!