Then and Now....

We should have known then what you'd be like two years later...still angry! :) You are going through this phase where it's your way or the highway! You growl at everyone when you don't get your way, or as if to say, "ha...I'll show you!" You are still a pretty good eater, you love pizza, waffles, french fries, salad, broccoli, grapes, strawberries, toast, cereal, bologna. Your dad says you will not eat any fruit for him no matter what or when he tries. You are obsessed with books! You want us to read the same book over and over all day long and if we don't, you get very mad and either hit us in the face with the book or throw an absolute fit on the floor. Your fits of rage lately were somewhat funny at first b/c they are so dramatic in nature, and then they became obnoxious and we had to do something about them. So we've started timeout...you are not a fan! You do know what it is and that you don't like it though so goal accomplished there. It usually works just to threaten it. You are determined to strong arm your way through the house. You just go up to your siblings and knock them right down and growl, take whatever you're after, and run with it! You have no fear and you don't like to be told no. Your temper is almost comical because it comes out of nowhere and quickly escalates into a tantrum like you've never seen. You throw, kick, hit, growl...whatever is necessary. You are getting so smart and are starting to memorize parts to songs and books. You understand more and more everyday. You pretty much know and understand where everything in the house is at this point. You may not know how to say it but you can get to it when asked, if you want to that is. Everything is on your terms. You love to carry around the stool that Finley and Brody use to wash their hands, it gives you access to whatever you want to get to from mommy's nightstand (glasses, remotes, alarm clock, phone, nail file) to countertops (pencils, phones, keys, sunglasses, crayons). You've even used it recently to get into the pantry, with your sister's assistance opening the door of course, to get out an entire bag of chips and proceed to have a snack party on the kitchen floor! You've figured out how to open the refrigerator door and can help yourself to cups at all times. You know you're not supposed to have your binky and your blanket, otherwise known as your b and your nonni, other than at naptime, but you sure do go in and get it at your convenience. You like to be held a lot lately. You love to sing and be sung to, read and be read to. I pretty much just think you just want any attention you can get. Somedays I think you think that you're an only child :) There are three things you love in this world...your binky, your sister's doll (Dirty Darla), and your cousin Lennon (aka Butta). The relationship you share with Butta is hilarious. You guys are in the same school at class and it is so cute. You love it when you see him and likewise. I think you guys are happy to see a familiar face in the am. He's no more disciplined than you are though so I'm sure you two are two peas in a pod at school...I feel sorry for the teachers :) As soon as Butta leaves, you say, "Butta Bye Bye?" You are so sad when he leaves you. I do love that you love eachother, it's like he's your twin and you need one. I hope you guys are always that close.

Just a few of my Finley favorites...

There is so much to say about you lately. First off, you haven't been yourself in a while now. I've been worried about you since this past summer when you had swollen lymph nodes. Then you were diagnosed with strep throat at the beginning of the month. Right after you were antibiotic free from that episode, I got a call saying I had to come get you from school b/c you had a fever. Back to the dr we went b/c I thought maybe your strep throat wasn't resolved. He swabbed you again for strep but it was negative, then he looked in your ear and found a nasty ear infection in your left ear, probably from the strep drainage. What was funny was that when you asked you if your ear hurt, b/c you never complained of any pain and it's pretty painful, you responded with, "No, but my boob and my eye hurt!" What 3 yr old says boob? The same one that uses big words in sentences and never ceases to amaze us with her revelations everyday...that's who! You are so smart and funny but when you're sick, you become lethargic and sad and I don't like it. I want well, funny Finley back. The one who is the life of the party. We miss that girl. You are starting to come around for sure. Today you told me at naptime that I should just put Quinney down first and then when she's asleep, you two can get up b/c you don't really need naps at 3 anymore...this from the girl who forfeited her nap yesterday only to fall asleep on the couch at dinnertime and sleep through it! It's clear you still need naps but don't want them. You are such a great sister to Quinn. I think it comes from mothering Darla all of these years but you are a great big sister. You showed me how you can completely change Quinn's diaper all on your own this morning. She just lays there and watches you in awe. I can tell she watches her big sister and looks up to her so much. One deal breaker between you two though is when she wants to take Darla...all bets are off then! You aren't much of an eater these days. You're only going up a size in clothes b/c of the length, if your pants aren't adjustable waist, we don't have a prayer of you fitting into them. You are so skinny! You love shoes and getting your hair done. You are a girly girl and want to wear necklaces and bracelets, get mani/pedi's, and play with babies. You don't appreciate your brother's roughhousing at all! You still boss him around pretty good and lucky for him, he listens. He looks to you for all the answers. The other night I overheard you telling him in the car that "our grandma Vicki lives in New Melle." I don't know how you know some of the stuff you know, it amazes me. Everyone loves you and your facial expressions too. We had parent night at preschool not too long ago and they just go on and on about how good you are. Being there to observe you guys that night was very interesting for us b/c you have always been the one to be more outgoing and social than Brody, but that night you hung back and let him do most of the talking and singing. It was the total opposite of how you two are at home. You are a bit of a tattle tale and are always claiming that you had nothing to do with said bad behavior and you are the one that actually told Brody not to do it in the first place! Needless to say we know that there are two sides to every story.

A Day Out with Thomas Train and Brody's rituals...

Papa Greg and Mawmaw Julie were nice enough to spring for tickets to go see Thomas Train and actually get to ride on it! Needless to say, this was a dream come true for a 3 yr old, Thomas train loving fanatic named Brody! We packed up the car and headed over to Granite City, IL for the morning and they had all kinds of Thomas activities going on: Thomas tattoos, bounce houses, little trains to ride, Sir Topham Hatt, Thomas pictures to color, tons of Thomas trains to play with on tracks everywhere...but the biggest attraction was an actual train with Thomas on the front! When it came time to board the train, Brody started crying b/c he was scared of it and didn't want to get on, but he came around once we were all in tucked in our seat. It was about a 20 min train ride and he liked it. Finley even loved the day and they each got "A Day Out with Thomas" tshirts as souvenirs. We ended the day with lunch in the ghetto at Crown Candy Kitchen. I wouldn't drive there alone or at night, but during the day it was nice and great food. Thanks Mawmaw and Papa for a great time as usual!

Brody does still love Thomas but he's into so many other things these days. He's become downright silly. He calls everyone names like meatballs, salad, etc. He loves to act like a dinosaur and growl and stomp around. He even plans on being a T-Rex for Halloween. He loves to wrestle, Finley doesn't share this love for wrestling and doesn't appreciate being tackled to the ground. He's finally become a typical boy! He's peeing standing up now which is hilarious. He's fairly obsessed with his penis. He's squirmy and can never sit still. He hates to sleep and go to bed! He has a ritual that has to be done everytime someone leaves him or he has to say goodbye...it's a hug, a kiss, knucks, a high five and he has to say, "I love you more than my luggage, goodbye, bye...." Everyone must do this or he gets so upset if you leave w/o it. His teachers at school get a big kick out of his ritual. The funniest thing he does, and it all comes from there being sock lint in the bathtub one time, is everytime he takes a bath, he bends over and spreads his butt cheeks apart for you to look in there and asks, "mom, do I have any pee, poop, or fuzz?" I laugh everytime but you have to partake in your rituals! I'll miss them when they're gone! You love to buckle yourself in to your carseat, but can only do the top buckle. You love to dress yourself and it's a major issue at some times b/c you don't always pick weather appropriate clothing. You are obsessed with the layered look right now. Several shirts are necessary even in hot weather. He's really good at artwork. I would never tell his sister this, but his art projects that come home from school are always a lot more involved than Finley's. You can tell he spends a lot more time on them than she does, maybe just b/c he's more interested. He always pays attention to what you are wearing also. He is always giving my compliments on the food I cook or the shirt I'm wearing. He notices everything! He loves his baby sister more than anything. He's so good to her and is such a great brother! He's always helping her find her blanket and find her binky for her. He's pretty good at sharing with her, depending on what it is. She watches everything he does and loves her "budee." He loves the movie ET and can do the impression of ET saying "ET, phone home" shockingly well. His teachers actually call him ET. He loves to cuddle and is whiney at times, but man is he cute and loving most of the time! If you follow his rituals and habits, he's good as gold!

Punkin Patch 2010

Whoever heard of picking pumpkins in 90 degree heat? It's been uncharacteristically warm this October and it's totally throwing Brody's wardrobe off! He's been wanting to wear thermal long sleeved shirts and hoodies since mid August, even in the heat of Destin, FL. So pay no mind to the fact that he's wearing his long sleeved shirt in the heat...at least it was holiday appropriate...that's all we can ask for these days! Pumpkin picking was decided at the last minute this year, Mommy had an unexpected day off and we thought we try to go. We met Mawmaw Julie, Papa Greg, Aunt NiNi, Lennon, AJ and the Burke Family at Theis Farms on a hot sunday morning. It was WAY CROWDED. I state for the record that my husband was right...and yes, that tasted awful admitting that and hearing it come from my mouth. He actually suggested that we do like we did last year and wait until a weekday and go when it's less crowded. I thought it would be fun to do things like normal and go on a weekend...I'll listen next year but only about this one thing :) Quinn had her usual scowl face on for pictures, that's her new attitude these days, and Finley only wanted to carry Darla around (we would later figure out that she was suffering from an ear infection so we'll excuse her this time). So we actually spent more time driving to and from the patch then we actually spent there picking out pumpkins. So after a couple of slides and a lot of whining about being hot, hungry and being tired of walking, we decided to head home. Better luck next year! I thought 10/10/10 would be a lucky day....guess not!