Best question of the day

We are deep into the "why?" stage around here. A typical conversation goes something like this:
Kate (pointing at blinds): Mommy, what are these?
Me: Blinds
Kate: What are they for?
Me: To make the room darker when it's too light.
Kate: Why do they make them?
Me: So people can choose how light the room is.
Kate: But why do they make them look like this?
Me: Maybe because they look the nicest in this house.
Kate: But why do they have all these parts?
Me: To make them work right.
Kate: But why do the parts look like this?
At this point, because this is an actual conversation we had today, I basically gave up and gave the "just because" answer you try so hard not to give but eventually give because you've reached your limit of whys. And by "you" I mean "me." While the "why" syndrome is fatguing, I do have to admit kids come up with some great questions. Kate's best of the day was "what is a gesund?" I kept saying "huh?" because I had no idea what she meant. To clarify, she said, "you know, like in gesundheit. What's the gesund part?" As much as you try, there's no way to answer all their questions--at least not Kate's! Two other things she's very fond of saying that always make me chuckle are "in the meantime" and "this is a great opportunity for you." She inserts "in the meantime" into everything and she tells me "this is a great opportunity for you" when she wants to convince me to say "yes" to something I'd usually tell her "no" about. Quite a little saleslady!!

Hey, Jim Maroney-Wigley....

...Will's still trying to steal your moves!! I'm working on installing a disco ball so you guys can get down together someday. Jump Around still gets him every time! :)

Stubborn, much? Part 2

Ryan's been gone since Thursday and my mom (my only, completely fantastic, babysitter) is out of town, and mommy's starting to feel it. Lordy, I love these kids with every bit of my being but I'm finding my patience is dwindling! Kate is the main one wearing me out because she is SOOOO argumentative. I know I deserve this since I'm sure I did the same thing to my mom, but she has to disagree with everything I say, even if I know she really does agree. Her love of saying "I can do it myself!" is becoming less endearing by the hour. I totally appreciate her wanting to try everything by herself, but she is so stubborn about it that if I do something that she wanted to do herself, she'll UNDO what I've done and re-do it herself. This applies to anything and everything. If I move the soap closer to her so that she can wash her hands, she moves it back as far from her as possible and then moves it right back to where I set it. If I let Hickory in, she lets her back out, closes the door, locks it and then opens it right back up to let Hickory in. I find myself trying to do things so she doesn't see them, just so I can get them done! Aside from her fruit snack incident (mentioned a few posts back), her other best display of stubbornness seems to be coming at the swimming pool. She is taking swim lessons and is getting much more confident in the water. I've been taking her and Will quite a bit since she can wear a life jacket or a floaty thing, so I can hold Will and not worry about her drowning. She keeps wanting me to put pool toys far away from her, so that she can swim out to get them. I think this is great. The problem is that once she retrieves the object, she then has said object AND whatever she used to help get her out there (like a kick board). She mainly uses her legs, so when she has nothing to push off of she kind of just treads water and has trouble getting going again. This makes her incredibly mad, and I made the (apparently huge) mistake of offering her help to get going. The first (and only) time I did this and went over to help her, she started shrieking, "NO, DO NOT HELP ME!!!!! DO NOT TOUCH ME!!" I'm not kidding--she was screaming at the top of her lungs. People milling about the club probably thought some sort of abduction was taking place in the pool. I learned my lesson. Now, I don't try to help her and she completely exhausts herself going back and forth, back and forth, back and forth across the pool. I do like her tenacity, but I could do without the shrieking. Ryan and mom, please come home soon--mommy needs another target for Kate's berating!!

Second word?

One thing (of the infinite) things that has always confused me is what actually qualifies as a "word" when it comes from a baby. I mean, no one ever really says that "mama" and "dada" were their kid's first words, but that is usually what kids say first. Is it the first word they say after that? Or the first word that someone other than their parents can understand? I don't know. But, anyway. Will's first word aside from mama and dada was definitely "dog." He says it pretty clearly, so I'm going with it. His second "word" has popped up in the last couple weeks and it's "Kaaaa." So, here's where it gets dicey because it's not really a word, but it does have meaning to him, and that meaning is definitely "Kate." He loves to say it loudly to get her attention and she loves to tell me that Will likes saying her name more than anyone else's. Which is probably true. Whether it's truly his second word or not, it's exciting because it means we're one step closer to him talking! (Yes, I use the exclamation point intentionally. I'm excited to converse with him, even though I know it means hearing a lot of "NO!" and "MINE!!")

Six year, two fires

It's our sixth anniversary today and it's the second year running that we don't get to spend it together because Ryan has to work on a fire out at Warm Springs. Quite a bummer, but it's still amazing that it's our SIXTH year of marriage. We're closer to ten years of marriage than we are to being newlyweds, which seems kind of crazy to me. Time just flies so quickly. Ryan, you are the most amazing person and, somehow, you become more amazing by the day. Our lives have gotten a lot more busy in the last six years as we went from a new couple to a family of four, but at the center of it all has always been you and me. Whatever life hands to (or, sometimes, throws at) us, we go through it all together and always come out better on the other side. Thanks for being the best part of me, and for being a fantastic dad to Kate and Will. We all love you completely!

Umm, thanks, Kate...

So, we were pulling into a parking spot today when Kate started exclaiming, "Mommy, that looks exactly like YOU!!!" I looked around, trying to spy someone with red hair, maybe, or at least a mom, but saw no one. I asked her who she meant and she pointed at a man. Yes, man. A quite overweight man. With facial hair. Riding a recumbent bike. I must admit I was slightly dismayed as I quite like to believe that I am female and lacking in any significant facial hair. But, on she continued with her insistence that I looked EXACTLY like him. With further probing I learned that by "exactly alike" she meant that we were both wearing the same shade of blue shirt. Phew. I mean, no offense to this man, but my self-image was salvaged...for the moment (toddlers are full of flattery, after all).

Will's first injury (of many, I fear!)

Will is proving himself to be quite the handful of late. The stairs are his main target, and he's working hard to figure out how to unlock the gates himself. Actually, he knows how to do it but isn't quite dexterous enough and, since he isn't, he just shakes the gate in hopes it might fall apart (it just might). Ryan commented that all the babyproofing stuff he made (like the gates) was made for Kate. Will is entirely different animal--or, boy, I suppose since they seem to be a completely different breed when it comes to getting into, onto or around stuff. Despite his love of climbing, Will's first real injury came from Hickory's paw. And who could blame her, given that the the kids dress her as above all day long?? No, just kidding, it was an accidental paw-ing that got Will right under his eye. It looked a bit nasty at first, but is really almost gone now. I'm using Mederma so it won't scar, but I don't think it will anyway. Ironically, the Mederma is purple which makes Will look like he's been a much bigger brawl. We got lucky on this one...fingers crossed we keep it that way!