S-T-U-B-B-O-R-N

Look at him, with that tongue sticking out, he just looks like he's up to no good. And it's not deceptive, because he is mischievous.

In the last few weeks, Xander has developed a fascination with letters and numbers. He loves to run his fingers over them while you either count them or tell him what they are. Today was an extra fun session, because in addition to following along with us (Miss April was here for developmental therapy), he was also mouthing the correct letters. Yes, that's right, he actually knew what the letters were and was making the sound to himself. And if that's not bad enough, he also spoke several of them out loud. Not to us, mind you, but in his oh-s0-typical way of muttering to himself under his breath. He said "Em," "Eee" and "Oh" all at the appropriate time. I have even heard "R" and "Y" from him, though not today.

I think it's time to start getting out crayons and paper and working with him on his letters. The first word I'm going to ask him to spell is "stubborn." I have a feeling he knows it well. Who knows, maybe he already knows how to write, too, and he just doesn't want to yet.

Routines & Rituals

Sometimes I forget how upsetting changes in routine can be, especially for one of our boys. It makes things like going out to dinner or even over to someone's house a challenge, because it's not typical. Sometimes it works out okay, other times not so much.

Tonight was Grammy's birthday, and we had planned for a while to pick up some food and take it over to their house for a simple dinner. Us planning and the kids actually understanding are two very different things. Connor knows and understands, even if he does get dates and times confused. He's more likely to drive you crazy with asking about "when" we're going to go than to not understand you. Explaining it to the twins is another story all together. Perhaps they know and understand what we're saying. Perhaps they don't. It's hard to tell since they're not talking. I'm pretty sure they understand the concept of "going to Grammy's house," but as far as being prepared for that event happening in the near future, well that's anyone's guess.

And judging by tonight's response, Sawyer was not in on tonight's game plan. He was tired, which was problem number one. He avoids nap time like the plague, even when he's exhausted after nights of sleeplessness. But put him in the car seat and start moving, and he will fall asleep, almost instantaneously. So, he of course fell asleep not long into our drive and was quite pissed to wake up at Grammy's house (he would have been pissed to be anywhere but his house, if you're wondering). Begin the clutching on to Mommy for dear life, the screaming and the tears. And nothing, not even french fries or chicken nuggets or suckers or apple juice or toys, would stop it. The only thing that stopped it was clutching on to Mommy and being rocked or taken into a quiet room (where Mommy had to stay in sight, because he was absolutely not being left there by himself - probably his biggest fear). This was, after all, a potential babysitter's house, and he knew it.

As Pappy joked, it's one of the reasons Mommy stays so skinny. I had my meal long after everyone else had finished, and even then was busy spoon-feeding the twins their applesauce between every bite I tried to take. Oh, and Sawyer stood beside me and whimpered the entire time, too, clutching on to one of my hands and trying to drag me away from the table (or to the back door to leave, which he does often in places he's decided he doesn't want to be).

Changes in routine, unexpected people and places (especially ones where he's been left before by Mommy), are not good things. He wasn't happy until several hours after we arrived, when he finally started playing with the toy blocks and wandering around. It took him that long to realize that Mommy wasn't leaving him there, that we were just there for a little visit. And even then, he was still first in line when we mentioned going home.

And you should have seen the smile on his face as he climbed into his own bed . . . back home, to the familiar and the comfortable. Tonight, he's actually sleeping instead of playing with light switches and dancing around his room , at least for now . . .

Christmas Traditions

Christmas has come to our house. Connor and Daddy got the tree last week, which meant that our huge box of decorations came out of the attic and took over our downstairs. The kids have been relatively good so far about leaving stuff alone, minus the ornament incident that Xander and Connor both had a hand in - Xander likely pulling the ornament off the tree and Connor, in his haste to tattle and return said ornament, breaking pieces off of it in his hands. Daddy glued it back together and it got hung high up on the tree the second time around.

And that brings us to one of our traditions. With three little guys, there aren't many things you can do yet. They wouldn't sit still for a Christmas church service or event. They aren't interested in seeing light displays or decorating (at least not yet). Connor is just now beginning to understand the concept of Santa and presents, but the little guys are still a long way off on even that. There are no cookies or letters for Santa. It's just some decorations and a little bit of talk about presents, at least so far. Oh, and Connor helped Mommy with the Christmas cards a few days ago - so don't be surprised if your stamp is on upside down, if it's hanging off the envelope or if it's closer to the address than the corner. He had fun and hopefully they'll all make it to the right places!

But I digress. The one thing we've started doing for the boys is something they probably won't appreciate until later - though they do like to look at them on the tree - it's their ornament collection. Every year we pick one up, usually from the Hallmark Keepsake Collection. Each of the boys has his very own box to keep the ornaments, and one day they will take with them to their own homes. Grammy did this for Josh, and we thought it would be a fun tradition for our boys. Our tree has a lot of the ornaments he made throughout school as well as ones that were purchased for him over the years. It makes it so much more interesting than just a bunch of store-bought decorations.

Here are this year's picks for the boys . . . perhaps one day they'll get to pick their own, but right now Mommy and Daddy just find something that speaks to their individual personalities or current fascinations.



Connor the little helper got his favorite tool man and tool set - Handy Manny.



Our television bug Sawyer got another set from one of his all-time favorite movies - Cars. There was no Chicken Little, believe me, I looked.



And Xander got the cutest one of all this year - a Crayola bear who's actually coloring. He's not much on crayons yet, but he loves finger paint and I can see him eventually enjoying coloring too. He's our little artist in training (gets that from his Mommy)!

Shadows

For those of you who have ever wondered what it's like to live a day in my shoes with three little boys running around the house and shadowing my every move, here is a glimpse. In this particular photo, Sawyer is clutching on for dear life from his favorite position, hiding between my legs as I try to walk (and snap photos, clearly).

And, you'll also note, that I have on house shoes! In an attempt to set a better example for the boys - two of whom still prefer to be barefoot like their mother in the dead of winter - and to stop being sick (two weeks of stomach virus and bronchitis is more than enough, thank you) - I have purchased the dreaded shoes. I'm not crazy about them, but I'm getting used to them. My feet are definitely warmer, so perhaps they're doing their job.

Now, time to find some that the boys might actually wear . . . because striped ballet slippers probably aren't going to do it for them! I'm sure they have some Thomas or Cars ones, right?

Sleepless Nights

Poor Xander is having a rough couple of days. Of all the boys, he seems to have the worst of the colds in the house at the moment - the sniffles and a little bit of a cough. If that isn't enough, he also shares a room with Sawyer, who's had a sleepless couple of nights - which means Xander's also had a couple of sleepless nights.

For the last two or three nights, Sawyer has spent the majority of the night awake. We're relatively lucky, in that he's a happy little guy and that night-time waking is not a major ordeal. We pretty well trained all of the boys that Mommy and Daddy don't do middle of the night unless there's special circumstances, like sickness or accidents. We, of course, did this before we had any idea just how quirky and cool Sawyer was and how he came with a completely different set of rules. But, as it turns out, his night-time adventures are not bad. He's just up, usually dancing around their room and doing a bit of happy screaming or laughing. Which, of course, can wake up his twin brother who shares a room and a bed with him - especially if he's not feeling all that well and probably not sleeping all that soundly.

Today, it finally caught up with Xander. Sawyer had him up and awake around 6 a.m this morning (if not before), and though they stayed in their room until close to 8 a.m., it couldn't have been that peaceful. So this afternoon at lunch time, Xander finally gave out. He was actually sitting at the table, strapped into his booster chair, with his plate of food in front of him. He just put his head down and fell asleep - right on top of his plate and his yogurt. I had to wipe it off of his forehead before I carried him upstairs and put him in bed for a much-needed and much-deserved nap.

Poor little guy. Sick and tired, in more ways that one, probably.

Sawyer, of course, is still happily bouncing around the living room between his toys and Connor's new movie of choice - Pixar's Wall-E. He's averaged maybe five or six hours of sleep the last three nights. How he manages on such little sleep, I'll never understand. Mommy requires a good 10 to 12 hours a night, and her other two children are just the same. Daddy would like it too, though with work he rarely gets to enjoy it except on a Saturday or Sunday here and there. When it comes to sleep, he's definitely odd man out around our house.

Here's hoping Sawyer decided to sleep again soon . . . for everyone's sake!