I Watch Them, I Swear

Lately CamCam and "Mr. Trouble" have been playing the cutest little "game" ever. They have been walking around with their stuffed Mickey Mouse, and they call him their baby. It makes me smile to watch them taking care of this "baby." They bring him with them to watch TV and sit him on the couch. They take turns holding Baby Mickey when he "cries" and try to soothe him. They give him naps, they bring him to the table at lunchtime and pretend he's eating too.

Everywhere they go, Baby Mickey goes.

Considering they're only 4 and 2, they do a pretty good job of taking care of him. Not that I'm going to leave them alone with "The Baby" or anything, I'm just saying I'm pretty impressed at their early parenting skills.

But yesterday Baby Mickey was brought up to me looking like this:






Which is really a perfect mini-version of what "Mr. Trouble" and CamCam looked like. Cheeks, hands, feet, legs- yup they did it all.




They look very proud of themselves, don't they? "Mr. Trouble" is trying SO hard not to smile.

I'm not sure if they used permanent marker or what, but after a bath and numerous face scrubbings, this marker isn't budging. Here we are a full 24 hours later, and my boys are still sporting their fantastic markings.

Which is why "Mr. Trouble" and CamCam are in charge of a stuffed animal and not him:

How Old Do You Need To Be To Drink Coffee?

Coffee.

It has become the bane of my existence.

Which is weird, since it used to be my savior.

A couple weeks ago we went away for the weekend and stayed in a hotel. We went for my sister's wedding, and all our family was there. I was in the wedding, and so my kids were watched a lot by daddy and family members.

About half-way through the weekend, I walked into my hotel room with a cup of coffee in one of those disposable cups. I put it down on the table, and when I looked back over, CamCam had it in his hands and was about to take a sip. I took it from him, and told him no, that was mama's. He screamed and said "my off-ee, my off-ee!" I was amused he knew what it was. And wondered why he suddenly had interest in it. He rolled around on the ground, screaming and thrashing about, wailing: "offfff-eeeeeeee! offffff-eeeeeee!"

It was then that I noticed another cup on the table. It was also a disposable coffee cup, I opened it up and it had water inside. I asked CamCam if this was his, and he said yes.

Now I don't want to point any fingers, but the previous night someone, (CamCam's grandparents)
was watching CamCam, (grandparents on dad's side)
and I deduce that someone (probably Nunno)
thought it would be smart to give CamCam a drink in the disposable coffee cup. This was very wise, as in a hotel-type situation a coffee cup with a lid is the best substitute for a spill-proof sippy-cup.

I would also venture a guess that someone (probably Papa)
thought it would be funny to tease CamCam and tell him he was drinking coffee. I can hear the game in my head now.

P: CamCam, are you drinking coffee?
C: Nooooo, hahahahahhaha
P: Yes you are, give me back my coffee!
C: (squealing with delight) Nooooo, my off-eee! hahahahahahaha

Cute and fun for them. Not so fun for me, 2 weeks later, every morning having had the same struggle with CamCam.

Me: CamCam, get away from my coffee!
C: No! No! No!
M: No, you can't have coffee, give that back.
C: (jumping up and down in anger) Noooooo! MY OFFF-EEEE!!!! MY OFFF-EEEE!!!!

Grandparents!

If I didn't know any better, I'd swear they never had children.

A Preview of Greatness to Come

It's amazing how quickly our children grow up. While it can feel like the stage you're at with them will last forever, suddenly one day it seems like years have passed in an instant. Even CamCam will grow up out of his "terrible twos." He'll probably always be active, but he will grow into a little boy.



But for anyone who's worried that all these fun stories will be ending anytime soon, do not worry. There is another little "tornado" waiting in the wings, preparing for the day when he can take over and follow in his brother's footsteps.




Today "The Baby" turned one, and I think I'm going to have my hands full with this one too.

Allow me to indulge myself for a moment...

Sorry in advance, this isn't my "typical" post. But we recently had a rather momentous moment in toddlerhood, and I want to document it.

The first haircut.

I've been through this with my boys twice before. The first time, with "Leader of the Fab Five", I went equipped with video camera, picture camera, and munchkins from Dunkin Donuts. The munchkins didn't last nearly long enough, and "Leader of the Fab Five" cared less about the munchkins and more about the sharp instrument dangerously close to his ear. The final moments of his haircut were spent with me holding his head still and him screaming. Not exactly what I'd envisioned.

With "Mr. Trouble" I went equipped with lollipops. However, he fell asleep on the way to his first haircut, and miraculously slept through the entire thing. I didn't get any pictures since I was the one holding him, but at least it went down without any screaming.

Considering the activity level of CamCam, and his zero tolerance to anything he doesn't want to do, I have been dreading taking him for his first haircut. The time had come though- my sister's wedding was coming up and I didn't want CamCam in all the pictures with his girly locks.

Then my cousin told me about this "kids only" salon called Snip-its. I figured it was worth a shot. I walked into the place with my three little boys, planning to get "Mr. Trouble" a haircut, since he was going to be the ring-bearer, and planning to see how it went with CamCam. Maybe we'd get one, maybe we'd leave with the start of one.

I was blown away when I walked in. This place was definitely created with kids in mind. I let "Mr. Trouble" go first, figuring CamCam could watch and see that it wasn't a big deal, but instead CamCam walked all over the place playing with their toys.

Then it was his turn. He jumped right up into the kid-sized seat. He allowed the hairdresser to put the apron around him. He watched a cartoon on the t.v. placed in front of him.

He held still.

I couldn't believe it! When he lost interest in the cartoon, the hairdresser handed him a jar of bubbles to play with. When he lost interest in the bubbles, she handed him animal crackers one at a time. When he decided that he wanted to comb his own hair instead of having her do it, she handed him an extra comb and encouraged him to brush the front of his hair. She let him play with her spray bottle and didn't care when he sprayed it. And she wisely took it away when he started to suck on it to get the water out.

He stayed in place and was still for the entire haircut. No screaming. No fits.

And what about the fact that he was having so much fun in the chair, he probably wouldn't want to get down when it was over? No problem, they had that covered too. He was handed a special ticket to wear around his wrist when he entered, and when the haircut was over he got a lollipop, and then the hairdresser told him to go over to the machine at the front of the store to put his ticket in and he would get a prize.

This is the best place ever.

Bubbles and cartoons, it doesn't get much better then this.

They grow up in an instant when they get their first haircut.

I wanted a shot of him and his brother together, but they both thought I wanted the stickers.

Miscommunication

In amongst all the craziness having a toddler brings into your home, there are those moments that make it all worthwhile.

Having those tiny little arms thrown around your neck.

"I wuv you" being whispered in your ear at night.

Slobbery kisses.

All the touching moments mixed within the crazy ones. The other day CamCam was sitting at the kitchen table, "The Baby" was in his highchair next to him, and when I came over to them CamCam said: "Uh like-it baby". It was enough to make my mommy heart melt. I told CamCam that was so nice, and walked away smiling thinking about how sweet it was that CamCam liked his baby brother so much.

Then the baby started coughing.

Then choking.

I ran over and realized that in his mixed up wording CamCam wasn't saying "I like the baby," he was saying "The baby likes it." Meaning, the eight pieces of popcorn CamCam had shoved into "The Baby's" mouth.

Sometimes is hard for even a mommy to understand what her two year old is trying to tell her.

Earplugs anyone?

CamCam is going through a screaming phase. I guess he didn't get the lesson in the "Boy Who Cried Wolf" story, because he screams at every little thing. He screams if someone takes his toy. He screams if someone even gets near to his toy. He screams if he doesn't get what he wants. He screams if something doesn't go his way. At first I ran to check on him, usually a child screaming at the top of their lungs means something bad is happening to them. But now I know it's probably nothing and so I go about my business.

However, to all you people that just so happened to be grocery shopping Monday afternoon at the same store as me and are not used to CamCam screaming at the top of his lungs, I apologize.

When I pulled into the parking spot at the grocery store, I sat for a minute in the van and tried to figure out the best way to get in there with my three, all while "Mr. Trouble" is saying "Let's go mom! Let's go mom! Come on, let's get outta here!"

It is freezing, and I forgot to put my moby wrap on before I left the house and I really didn't want to stand out in zero degree weather trying to wrap that thing around me. However, if I put the baby in the cart, where would CamCam go? Yes, these are the things I spend my day thinking about.

I decided I would let CamCam ride in with the food, I figured I'd be able to get about halfway through the store before food would overtake the cart and he would have to walk.

I made it to the deli.

Which is at the end of aisle one.

There technically still was room for CamCam, but he had decided he wanted to lay down and was smooshing all my produce with his big snow boots. I think he was kicking it on purpose. It's probably my fault, I did tell him to stop kicking the food after all.

Anyways, here we are aisle two and I have 2 roaming munchkins. CamCam actually did pretty well staying with me. As well as a two year old can be expected to do. He was kept busy by throwing items in the cart. Some items I wanted, some I didn't know I wanted but apparently CamCam is smarter then me. So we made it to about the halfway point before CamCam decided it would be funny to run off. Here I am in the meat department with my two year old running down the back of the store, running faster and faster as my protests grow louder and louder. However, I also have "The Baby" strapped into the cart and I know if he decided to reach over he could tip out of the cart so I couldn't leave him. CamCam was laughing so hard at me, I'm surprised he was still able to keep his balance, I thought for sure he would fall.

I had 2 options available to me:
1- Ask for help from one of the numerous strangers staring at me and the scenario unfolding, or
2- Send my four year old after CamCam.

I chose the second option. "Mr. Trouble" ran as fast as his legs could carry him, and caught up to CamCam. He reached out and grabbed CamCam's hood. This was like a roadblock, and CamCam fell on his butt to the ground. "Mr. Trouble" then decided the best way to get CamCam back to me was to start dragging.

And so that's why CamCam was screaming at the top of his lungs somewhere between the meat department and the eggs. I think half the store got to witness this scenario developing, but to the other half, now you know that a child wasn't having their arms pulled off or something equally horrendous.

He was just being dragged by his hood back to his mom by his four year old brother.

How A Two Year Old Helps

I've had lots of talks with the kids lately about being more helpful around the house. Ironically, the one who seems to be listening to me the best is CamCam. However, his is the kind of help I do not necessarily need.


He LOVES to help unload the dishwasher. Sometimes he'll pick up a dish, like a big plate. It's very heavy for him, so he stands at the dishwasher and says: "Here you go ma, here you go ma" over and over and meanwhile the plate is ever so slowly tipping forward and slipping from his hand. Sometimes he walks the dishes over to me. We've had a few accidents and a few broken dishes. At least he's trying to help.


He likes to help with the laundry. When I'm loading a machine, he likes to help load it as well. He also likes to reach inside and turn the machine around and around. When I'm putting clothes away, he's very helpful because he will pick up piles of clothing and bring them to me to put away. Generally, whatever he's brought I have to refold because he drops piece after piece along the way. Knowing this makes me put laundry away at lightening speed, so in a way, he does help. He also likes to be around for the folding. Anytime he sees me sitting on the floor folding laundry, he comes over and sits on my lap. It is very difficult to try and fold clothes around another person, but somehow I manage.


He helps with this blog. Obviously he helps by being as mischievous as possible and giving mom lots and lots of things to write about. But he also helps by sitting on my lap while I'm typing and every time I stop to think a bit, he says: "GO! GO!" Very encouraging.


He helps with "The Baby." For example, if the baby gets past the barricades I've put up to try and keep him away from the stairs, and starts to go up the stairs, CamCam runs up to him and attempts to pick him up and away from the stairs.

By his legs.


Or, CamCam helps the baby learn how to crawl up the stairs by pushing aside the chairs I'm using as barricades and going up one step at a time saying, "Come on baby, come on," all while I am running over to them yelling "no, stop, don't let "The Baby" go up the stairs!"


Or, CamCam helps with diaper changes. No, he doesn't go and get a diaper for me. I try to ask him to but he just looks at me like I have 2 heads. Sometimes he'll go off and bring me a book or something instead. And he won't get me the wipes. One day I was changing "The Baby" and realized after I pulled off the diaper that I needed wipes, and they were on the counter behind me. I reached and stretched, but they were just out of my reach. CamCam was right next to them, and I asked him to get them for me. It went like this:

"CamCam, get mommy the wipes." He walks past the wipes and into the kitchen.

"No CamCam, the wipes, right here," I say, pointing at the box of wipes, which my finger is practically touching. CamCam comes over, looks around confused, and grabs me an envelope off the counter.

"No, the wipes, these," I repeat, pointing and stretching a bit so that I actually move the container a bit. CamCam turns around in a circle trying to figure out what on earth I want him to get for me.


The way he helps is, when I'm changing the baby, he grabs a wipe out of the container and tries to wipe the baby for me. Which doesn't really seem like that big of a deal, except that the first time he did it I wasn't ready.

So he wiped his brother's poopy butt.

And then shoved the wipe back into the container.


Definitely not the kind of help I'm looking for.