The Infamous Yellow Tub x2

If I thought the yellow tub was getting too small when I was bathing just Ollie in it, then I had another think coming! Dexy is very long and likes to kick, so when I bath him in our little, blue, baby tub he kicks water every where. So, I thought, "let's just put him in with Ollie." Like I said, another think coming. They were very comfy in there. It has, however, made the bathing process faster which is nice. Tonight I just did Oliver first and then took him out and bathed Dex, but that can be difficult seeing how Ollie likes to try to climb back in. Oh, well. It will work for now, especially because it is easier than filling two tubs. I guess it's just time to find and save for something bigger.

Banana and Letter Sandwiches

This morning for breakfast, Ollie decided to make himself some banana and letter sandwiches. He loves letters so much that he carries a little handful around with him almost all the time. He even eats with them. And this morning it was so funny to watch as he carefully placed each letter on top of a slice of banana!
P.S. Sorry that I've been so wordy lately - I tried to keep this one short and sweet.

End of Summer Fun!

We had our last bit of summer fun before Brian had to go back to school. We went to the Bowles house on Saturday and played in the sprinkler on the tramp with Hollianne and Angela. It was of course cloudy and somewhat cold right when we went out to play, but Oliver still had fun. Ollie loves playing in water so much that he just kept playing until he was shivering so bad that we took him in and got in the big, jacuzzi tub together to warm up. That turned out to be fun, too. It was a great way to get ready to welcome in autumn!

Just One of Those Mom Days

Yesterday started out silly, looked like it might be a good day, but turned out to be one of those mom days instead. Brooklyn came at 7:30 and was sad for her mom to leave as soon as she got here. Alisha said that she had a rough night. I just took her upstairs and outside to let her say goodbye to her mom and she got happy quickly, so I thought she was going to be ok. Then we went back down and I laid her down so she could catch up on sleep. No complaints. Good, I thought to myself. However, Ollie decided to wake up 10 minutes later at 8 o'clock, an hour earlier than usual. He was cranky and with in minutes, the whole basement was awake. I got Oliver breakfast, changed and dressed. I changed Dex's diaper and asked Brian to dress him. He put the shorts on first and then instead of fixing it, he just snapped the onesie over the shorts so that Dexy looked like a bimbo, 80's aerobics instructor. I made him fix it. Then the fighting started. Brooklyn pinching Oliver, Oliver pulling Brooklyn's hair, toy stealing, pushing, whining. They both ended up in their poor choice spots - Brooklyn twice and Ollie 3 or 4 times. I decided that they needed to go outside. Since I had cleaned the little pool I got on the ball, put both kids in
swim diapers and trunks, sprayed them down with sunscreen, grabbed some balls and cups and took them out to the pool. They had a great time! They were splashing, dumping water, throwing the toys out, whatever they wanted and it didn't matter because we were outside. There was no fighting and I was so proud of myself for getting them outside. We went back in after about an hour, ate lunch and I put them down for naps. Good, I thought to myself. Not good. Ollie went down fine. Brooklyn tantrumned in her playpen for several minutes before she finally gave in. I nursed Dex one side and he fell asleep, but when I tried to lay him down, he woke up. Nursed the other side and just laid down next to him. He stayed asleep. Good, right? Wrong! Brooklyn woke up and started fussing after only 30 minutes of sleeping. I got her out, rocked her in the rocking chair and she fell back asleep. I just sat there with her for a while and everything seemed fine until Dex realized that I wasn't there anymore and he started fussing. Brooklyn was asleep so I went to put her back in her bed to get Dex. As soon as I laid her down she let out an ear shattering scream that abruptedly ended everyone's naps. I was suddenly surrounded by
crying! At this point I had had it! There had been so much fighting, whining, spitting, and crying that to have the naps cut short was the last straw. I gathered each crying child from their bed, plopped them all down on my bed and turned on Backyardigans. I just let them watch TV for the last hour and half until Brooklyn's parents came to get her. Hopefully today will be better. Ollie has already pulling a case of tools off the bed onto the floor and almost on his foot and Dex has already exploded out a diaper; all the way up his back and on my bed where he was laying. Oh, and Mom - I think it's me who needs something. I just don't know what. Hopefully I'll figure it out soon.

The Park and More

On Wednesday, the boys and I went for a walk in our double stoller. We walked around the neighborhood and ended up at the Midvale Park. The Midvale playground is, however, pretty lame if you're under the age of about 6. Ollie had more fun sitting under the playground dumping handfuls of sand or running around in the grass than he did on the actual playground. Dex ended up falling asleep on our way there and just slept in the stroller while we played. When we got back to our place of residence, Dexy was still sleeping, so I decided to clean out the kiddie pool I had picked up from a neighbor who was going to throw it away. I just let it sit there dirty all summer and fianlly got around to cleaning it. Turns out, that I quickly figured out why I had put it off for so long. As soon as I got the hose turned on I had a little helper. Ollie ended up all the way in the pool. He probably was hot from playing outside and I just let him play and then stripped him down when we were done.

This Week's Happenings

On Monday, we were suppose to go to the lake to go boating with Brian's family, but the weather forcast said that there were going to be thunderstorms that day. So, we went to Olive Garden with his mom and sisters instead. When Oliver had finished his fill of breadsticks, he started feeding what was left to his Dad. "Here Dad. Let me just shove this piece of breadstick all the way down your throat for you." Dex has just been acting more and more like a big baby and less and less like a new baby all the time. Here he is playing some more with toys and already working on rolling from back to tummy. Ollie is so big that he can even drink from a really big boy cup. Funny, cute boys!

The Infamous Yellow Tub

The bathroom in the basement that we live in is incredibly small. There's barely enough room for one person to be in there and there's no bathtub, just a small shower. So, we had to improvise. Ollie got washed in the sink for the first few weeks that we lived here, but he quickly got too big for our puss green, kitchen sink which is also smaller than average. Marie had this old, yellow tubberware bin that she didn't use anymore. There's cracks all over it, but I figured that it was better than nothing. I took it home, duct taped the cracks (ghetto, huh?), and turned it into our "bathtub." He sure has fun in it even though it's a little sad looking. But sadly, I think that he's starting to get too big for this too. And Dex is getting too big for our blue, baby tub. I guess that I'll just have to improvise again. Maybe this time I'll be able to work something out that will fit both of them otherwise the whole bathing routine will continue to be quite the lengthy process - fill Ollie's yellow tub, wash him, dry and dress him, dump his tub, get him in bed, fill Dexy's blue tub, wash him, dry and dress him, dump his tub, get him in bed - needless to say, it takes a while. But Oliver has loved his tub and we'll cherish the memories, even if I don't so much love it now!