It's All Good in the Hood...

Well, my almost-three-year-old has an affinity for picking up on EVERYTHING he hears. Curt and I find ourselves laughing when we hear him say things like, "he shoots...he scores!" (while throwing out the trash) and "it's all good in the hood, dad!" Just for the record...both of those phrases came from Curt...not me! Although I will take responsibility for the exchange I had with Joel yesterday at nap time. We had talked earlier in the morning about telling the truth after Joel intentionally spilled his milk on table and then told me it was just an accident.
Joel: "Mom, WHY do I have to take a nap? I don't want to take a nap!!"

Mom: "Because you need rest and it's nap time. So, go back to bed."
Joel: "You tell me why I have to go to bed NOW and you tell me the TRUTH this time!"

How do you even respond to that?!?

Joel has also recently been introduced to the world of Wii Guitar Hero. Curt got the game the other week, and we also played it over at Todd & Lisa's when we were babysitting together. Joel is now constantly asking to go downstairs so he can "rock those guitars." While we were at Todd & Lisa's, Joel constantly had the guitar slung over his shoulder. He was seriously jamming...lips pursed and all! When one of our friends got up to take his turn, Joel said, "I'm gonna bust you UP!" (Again...he repeats everything he hears!) Here is Joel "bustin up" Uncle Curt...

And then there is Gracie...Gracie is a character all her own. We are just getting to the stage where she is having to hear the dreaded word "no," and she is NOT happy about it. She has a real affinity for standing up in her high chair when I walk away from her. So the other night, she would stand up...I would say NO! She would stand up...I would say NO! She would stand up....

You can see how this quickly became exhausting. She finally went to stand up and I stayed quiet. She stared at me like, "You DO see what I'm doing, right? So, what are you gonna do about it, Lady?" I decided to take her out of her chair, tell her no and put her in her crib for a minute to let her know that it's not okay to stand in your high chair.

She absolutely collapsed in a heap of sobs. It was unbelievable. Her head and arms went limp as her shoulders heaved with tears of disbelief. Of course, three seconds after I got her back out of the crib, she had a miraculous recovery!

In all seriousness, we love these kids! They make life more full...and certainly a lot more funny! Grace will be turning one next week (I can't believe it!) so we'll be sure to post some pictures of her big day. Joel is less concerned about her birthday and more focused on when HE turns three which is coming up on "twenty March!"

And I couldn't forget to mention that it's my dad's birthday today...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, POP POP! WE LOVE YOU!