Cooking up some interest

Goodbye, Dora.
Goodbye, Elmo.

Hello, Food Network.



You've heard of the boys' fascination with football, and Deal Or No Deal (Michael's reaction one day after watching a much-anticipated episode: "Mommy, I like those dresses.")
Those two are solid favorites with both boys.

New ones on the list: Jeopardy and Wheel Of Fortune.

And, this is a real shocker.
Anything related to food.

I guess they don't see me cooking that much, they need to get their fix on the small screen.

It's funny, they tell me they won't eat ANY of the food being prepared, but, they still enjoy watching the process unfold.

This could be a concern, though.

Michael's birthday is coming up.

And, right now, all he can think of asking for is a "slicer dicer."

Potty Training Problems

I know my Michael is strong-willed, even stubborn.

We really saw that play out this weekend.

He's two months away from turning three, and we thought, let's potty train. It's time. Months before #3, just enough time to get used to the idea of using the toilet.

We followed through as we did with Jason.

Straight to underwear.

But, this is where Michael showed us who's boss.

We gave him drinks, filled him with food, and waited.

He had to relieve himself somewhere, we thought.

He sure did, in his underwear. That was to be expected.

Of course, it was EIGHT hours after we started this little experiment.

It was then we realized, mmm, maybe he's not ready.

We'll just have to save it for another day.

Blast from the past

We thought it might be fun to take a stroll down memory lane.
We'd visit Richmond, we thought.
Show the boys the hospital where Jason was born, the neighborhood where he had his first few months of life.

Did they care?

Not at all.

The only time they perked up was when they saw the long hallway at Channel 8.

They saw it as an opportunity to run.



The other outpouring of emotion came when they saw all the television sets in the studio. Big ones.

I got the boys to sit down, but you'll see I couldn't get them to look at me at the same time. The screens below their faces were just too fascinating to them.

Bowling Mania

It has swept the household.



Jason enjoys nothing better than a good game of bowling.
The rest of us enjoy watching.
Really.




We cheered Doug on, though, in his last match-up against Amah and Jason. He got four strikes IN A ROW! That earned him a picture of a turkey on the scoreboard above us. The game may have ended well for Doug, but, the beginning was not so easy. For at least three frames, Jason had knocked down the most pins in the group.

We know what memories the boys will carry with them. To this day, if we mention bowling, Michael wants to know if he'll see any turkeys.

Snow Day!

We were lucky enough to pay a brief visit to Amah and Akong, the day after a big snow!
The boys were thrilled to enjoy this outdoor treat.



Jason immediately got into it, making snowballs, merrily putting them together, and with good humor, getting hit in return!



Akong didn't seem to mind the battle with the boys. In fact, he seemed to relish the challenge.



It took a couple of minutes for Michael to realize that the snow wouldn't hurt him. So, bundled up and recuperating well from his illness, he did get to enjoy a few moments in the winter sun.

My day with Michael

It is a very rare day when it's just Michael and me.

As always, there's a reason for the alone time.

He's a little under the weather right now, and in this picture, taken today, he looks 300 percent better than he did yesterday.



See the stuff under his nose? Scary looking, isn't it? It's the result of a staph infection called impetigo. Poor Michael got it a few days ago. It started as bumps all around his mouth, he looked like a teenager with really bad acne. We thought it would go away, and it didn't. It spread to include scary scabs under his nose. I assumed the worst, of course, that it was chicken pox. A lot of our friends are dealing with it right now. But, the doctor assured me it was not, just impetigo, treatable by antibiotics. He's pretty contagious, though, so I was happy we kept him away from school.

My happy-go-lucky boy took it all in stride. For a couple of days, he just hadn't been himself. I would try to wipe his nose and he would cry. Well, now I know why. After we started the treatment, I tried again to wipe his nose, and he told me that it still hurt. When would it go away?

Meantime, we truly enjoyed our afternoon together, without his big brother. We did everything he wanted to do. Saw part of "Charlotte's Web," then halfway through, he wanted to to watch "Toy Story 2." He was giddy with power, in control, something he doesn't get to be very often.

Then, like sick people do, he took a long nap. He woke up, refreshed for more battles with his brother!

Reading With Jason

Our little boy is learning to read! It's hard to believe how FAST everything seems to be moving. At school, they are learning geography, cursive, reading, and the other day, he started adding and subtracting with double digit numbers.



Our bedtime rituals are changing a bit, and we're letting a new voice chime in.

Jason has started to read to Michael, which is about the cutest thing I've ever seen. These are books we've been reading for five years now, but, with a new reader, the books are taking on an even greater meaning.

Endless Questions

First, let's start off with the expected.

Haircut time!

Yes, it is that time of year.
And, the boy are very happy about it. I always wonder why I wait so long to get the boys a trim.



Mr. Jack, our new barber, is also our newest best friend.

It is difficult to get both boys in frame at the same time. It's too exciting to move around the camera instead of in front of it.



Now for the unexpected, and the things that come out of Jason's mouth these days.

He is an endless list of questions! I've written about the love of football and the obsession with "Deal or No Deal." Now, he's really into numbers and he's started to ask questions about dying.

The other day he asked me if someone turned 164, would that person be dead?

Before that, he asked Uncle Tim, who lives in Austin, how long it takes to get to Austin.

Fair enough.

Then, he wanted to know how many SECONDS it took.

Gets better.

He then wanted to know how many MOMENTS it would take to get to Austin.

What is an adult without a calculator to do?

Learning Curve

We took Jason ice skating for the second time in his life this past week. We have had a wonderful string of guests visiting us this winter. First, Amah, Akong, and Uncle Tim for Christmas. Grandma and Grandpa stayed with us as we rang in 2008.

During their stay, we decided to pay a visit to the local outdoor skating rink, and for a while, let's just say the experience was not a good one.




It took a while for Jason to once again get the hang of sliding around on ice skates. There were plenty of falls, and his little brother could only look on, since he was too young to take part.



But, after a while, amazingly enough, Jason got it. He skated for quite a while on his own, much to our surprise.




We really had a wonderful time, both boys as well, ending up with a wonderful experience with our very special visitors!

Deal Or No Deal

I've been holding off on sharing Jason's new obsession, hoping it would pass. But, as obsessions will do, they just grow in intensity.

The writers' strike has been a good thing for our oldest.

"Deal or No Deal" is on about every half an hour, it seems. And, Jason wants to watch every minute of it. It puts Jason in a state of happiness he's not known before.

Amah introduced him to the wonders of this television game show. I don't know if it's the pretty girls, the big shiny boxes, or the money that thrills him the most. But, once in a while, out of the blue, I'll hear him scream, "I want that million dollars!"

We don't let him watch that often, but he knows how to access the game on our home computer. He asks to play all the time. He wants to be on the kids' version of the show, should one ever materialize. He's so serious, he has even asked members of our family if they could help him find Howie Mandel's phone number.

It's a little over the top.

Speaking of over the top, here's Michael.



Finishing up some pudding for dinner. As you can see, more of it made it ON him than in his mouth.



As for Jason, his interests are so varied, it's hard to tell where he'll go next. One day, he'll talk about the strategies HE would use on "Deal or No Deal." Another minute, he'll want to know about the best way of getting a football in the endzone. PRO football, of course. Not that college stuff.

Still, we never realized the introduction of a game like "Deal or No Deal" would elicit this special kind of response. After all, we put broccoli in front of him, and he never reacted like this.

We can only smile, and hope this is a stage that passes by peacefully. Otherwise, we might have to call Mr. Mandel ourselves, to let him know his biggest fan is right here.

Happy New Year!

It is 2008, and we're ready for the changes ahead. Well, not really--but, who is ever ready for the return of a little being that will turn the household upside down?



We had a truly blessed 2007, and we hope the same can be said for you and your families. We very much look forward to introducing you to our newest member, Squishy. Hopefully, he'll have a more refined name than that. Of course, hearing some of the choices being tossed around, "Squishy" is the best one by far.

Happy New Year!!!