What Was That?

At four, Connor has really gotten into pretend play. Sometimes it's limited in scope (as in he repeats himself often or resorts to mumbling at times when he's not sure what to say), but it's still there. It's very cute to watch, and at times, very funny, too.

Today he was home during developmental therapy with Miss April. We were all in the floor playing. Miss April was helping Xander with the wooden puzzles and Sawyer was lining up his linking rings. Connor picked up the new toy cell phone (that Grandma and Grandpa actually gave to brothers a few days ago) and was pretending to talk on it.

"Hello? Hello?" he asks himself. Then there's assorted giggling and laughing and incoherent words that are either too fast or too low to be understood.

Miss April asks him who he's talking to.

"It's Daddy," he says.

She wants to know what Daddy's doing.

"He's workin'!" Connor replies. "He's fixin' a broken house and doin' laundry!"

Um, excuse us? The first two parts are all very accurate. Daddy is usually at work, and he does build (and fix broken) houses. But that last part, well, that's a bit unusual. Not to say that Daddy doesn't do the occasional load of laundry - because he does - but it was just kind of out of left field.

"He's doing what?" April and I both ask together.

"Buildin' a house and doin' laundry!" he says again, a bit exasperated and looking at us as though we're the ones not making any sense.

It takes Mommy a minute, but I finally figure it out. This morning, Daddy did, indeed, have a washer and dryer in the back of his truck as he went off to work. He was helping a business partner move them into a rental unit near our subdivision.

So, there you have it. Daddy was building a house, and while he was at it, he was going to do some laundry, too. And, clearly, Mommy and Miss April need pay more attention because Connor's getting tired of repeating himself.

Best Toy Ever!

How do you amuse three children who have more toys than they can possibly play with in a single day? You simply give them a few helium filled balloons and let their imaginations take over. Love that Xander decided to lay down on the couch right underneath his own giant, life-size portrait on the wall (that's a handsome young man up there, he says).

Daddy's good friend George brought some balloons over this weekend with Connor's birthday present, and all of the boys have loved them. Two are tied onto the Lightning McQueen ride-along trucks (just that much more annoying to trip over now), and the other just roams the living room until someone asks to have it pulled down so they can play with it. We have lost one or two in the vaulted ceiling, but the heating system usually pushes it to a corner that you can reach from the steps after a day or so. Not sure how much longer these are going to last, but so far, one of the best inexpensive (I'm assuming) toys ever!

Three-Man Wrecking Crew

This is what three children will do to your living room (there is even more, on the couch and in stacks behind me as I take this photo). We also had fun visitors today in our friends John and James (and their mom Rebekah), but sadly, they did none of this. My boys manage it all on their own.

For the longest time, I thought a lot of Sawyer's OCD issues were inherited (or learned) from his mother. I like order in my life too, as most people who know me well will tell you. Slowly, with one big puppy and three wild little boys, I've learned to let it go a little bit. I still pick up after the kids while they're sleeping, because I can't stand to see the mess. Let's be honest, I can't relax until it's cleaned back up. That's just me. And as we've learned, that's also just Sawyer (perhaps for different reasons, but that's just him, too). He's Mommy's helper when it's time to clean up, as long as he's ready to clean up.I also refuse to allow toys in the kitchen (we'll ignore the new magnetic letters on the freezer, as they make Sawyer really, really happy). I cannot cook while walking over toys. I just can't do it.

So those are my issues. And it will only get worse. We've just ended the one birthday that leads to Christmas and then two more birthdays (all within four short months). Toys from one end of the living room to the other. Just looking at it drives me insane. Walking over it all day long is like walking on broken glass (literally, because I'm usually barefoot). But I manage, at least until they're sleeping. It's all put away now, thank goodness. But still. How do three little boys manage to need so many toys in so many different places?

And do you want to know the scary part? That there is twice as many toys in the pantry (out of their reach), that we rotate around every few weeks. Because THAT much stuff, really would drive me insane.

Big, Brave Boy

Another birthday means another visit to the pediatrician's office. What a fun way to start the week, taking three boys to the doctor's office across town so that one of them could get his annual well visit and shots!

Connor received one of the best compliments ever today, and one that was extremely well deserved. Though shy and quiet through most of the visit, and requiring a bit of prodding from Mommy early on to step on the scales and be measured - 43 inches, 43 lbs., which seems quite impossible by the way. Then he had fun peeing into a cup (I was impressed at this point, because we'd never done this with him, but it gets better). There was the general exam, and the finger prick, and the other chart type stuff. And then came the dreaded shots. Four all at once, one given in each arm simultaneously in two rapid successions. It was over in less than five seconds.

I warned him it would hurt a little, but that he would feel better soon. He didn't flinch or cry at all. He sat willingly in my arms, with no need for the wrangling that is usually required with his little brothers. He actually was more unhappy with the band-aids than anything, wanting them to come right off. I convinced him to wait until we got home. Last but not least was the flu mist that was sprayed up his nose, twice - one for each side. That sounds the least pleasant to me, but he did great.

And therein lies the compliment. His pediatrician and his nurse were so impressed with how he handled the whole day (while his two brothers alternately screamed and tried to escape the exam room). They said he was better than anyone they'd ever seen at his age, and even better than most who were much older. He was complete calm in the chaos and didn't seem to mind anything.

He, of course, really loved the suckers at the end, and the treasure box of toys (a new addition since we last visited). He brought home two police trucks as his prize (kind of like Hot Wheels, though plastic). Two of everything, since he did such an amazing job and it seemed like everything we were doing to him today was a double-dose.

My big, brave boy. He's growing up oh-so-fast these days . . .

Snapshot Sunday

Playing games with Grandma. She wanted very much to take a picture of him in the swing that he loved on vacation last week. He wanted very much to not smile or cooperate. I think she wins.