On the good ship Lollipop!

A couple of days ago, I decided to sing "On the good ship Lollipop" to the kids, and when I did the little "pop" noise, both kids copied me. Here is Lizzie:

Tommy, lately

So he's just full of crazy stuff. He's been watching "The Incredibles" every weekend morning (he doesn't watch television during the week, but makes up for it when Daddy stays home), and recently while scooting alongside Eli to the store, he said loudly, "You're a lousy father!!" Mr. Incredible tells his family that he's a lousy father, which is where Tommy learned the word lousy.

He asked recently, "what does it look like inside electricity?"

I went into Tommy's room while he was playing legos. I asked what he was doing, and he said, "I'm making a meeting about building a tower." I told Eli that his honesty about what he does at work (go to meetings about building things) has destroyed Tommy's creative play. But that's probably extreme.

"Mommy, your hair is a fright!" (Eli says that to Lizzie on a fairly regular basis, so that's where Tommy learned it, but still.)

Before their trip here, Tommy called Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Bob on Skype all by himself.

Grandpa Bob took Tommy out for a burger on Friday and Tommy finished the whole thing, plus fries, etc. He told the waitress that he was very impressed with himself.

To me: "Mommy, I've got a new rule for you and it's very mysterious." (I can't remember the rule, but it wasn't mysterious at all.)

And finally, about a week ago, we told Tommy he could have a lolly if he had a dry diaper in the morning, and apparently it was incentive enough, because except for one accident, he has been dry all night. Yay!

Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Bob's visit

Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Bob came to visit (Grandpa is still here, as a matter of fact), and we had a lovely time. The first week of the trip, they accompanied us on preschool drop off and pick up, watched Lizzie while Tommy and I went on playdates, watched Lizzie while I went to the gym, watched the kids while Eli and I went out to dinner or a movie...And I think they were pretty much exhausted. Over the weekend, we went to Hampton Court and Oxford, both of which were successful trips considering that we had two little kids with us. Here are some photos:

Grandpa Bob and Lizzie eating a crepe:

Oxford, at Christ Church College:

Oxford, again:
Hampton Court gardens, chasing geese:

Oxford -- the super duper old library:

And one of the little lady walking around the Natural History Museum. She prefers to walk now, and prefers not to hold hands. I had forgotten how exhausting this stage can be, for all of us.

Random cute pictures

Sitting in the toy shelf -- she takes all the toys out and climbs in.

In his football jersey from Uncle Brett.

A snuggle.

Singing me the song he learned from the music teacher Miss Janey.

Peek-a-boo

Parent-teacher conference

On Friday morning, we had to pack up early and get to school at 8:45 so that Lizzie and I could meet with Tommy's teachers (just two of them: the head teacher, and the teacher who is assigned to Tommy for observational purposes).

It was an interesting meeting, because the teachers said that Tommy is really working on"maths" and the map that they have at school (I'm waiting to see how Tommy can become more like his daddy, who also loves maps), and in cultural studies. This, of course, is all secondary to practical life work. They said that Tommy keeps the classroom sparkly clean with his love of polishing, sweeping, mopping, and scrubbing. (I need to get some Tommy-sized cleaning equipment so he can keep my house sparkly clean.) The teachers also commented on his empathy. He is apparently very sweet to all crying children (the other day I asked him if he'd had a good day and he said, "yes! it was great! No, no, no, no, it was a sad day. Two friends were crying and missed their mommies."). Miss Leila said that his empathy is a "lovely part to his personality, but doesn't impede his willingness to stick up for himself." Which is good. We also discussed the fact that the "best friend" concept has hit full swing at Paint Pots. (This is developmentally appropriate as the age of three is when kids really start playing with other kids, instead of just playing beside them.) When we ask him who his best friend is (we shouldn't but it's just so cute), he launches into a list of girls. One of the favorites is coming for a playdate tomorrow night, after telling me at pick-up last Monday that she wants to come to Tommy's house.

The teachers also said that Tommy becomes very absorbed in books -- when looking at them on his own or having them read to him. He is also more able to work alone (instead of with other kids) than he was last term, but vastly prefers working with other kids when he can.

I am overall really happy with his school, and am proud of how well he's doing there. He's such a sweet, cheerful little guy...

Naps

So Tommy stopped taking a nap in December. It wasn't his choice, it was mine. He was having a hard time going to bed before 8:30 and I like both kids to be in bed no later than 7:30. But every day around 4pm, I have to wonder if I've made a horrible mistake.

Lizzie and I picked Tommy up at 3:30 and he was in a great mood. He'd had a wonderful day at school and had all kinds of things to tell me about the big boys (one of them lost a tooth; two others had not). And then we got home and he asked me to blow up a balloon for him. So I did. And guess who else wanted a balloon? Lizzie. And when I blew up a balloon for Lizzie (her own balloon, not Tommy's balloon), we started the nightly cycle of tantrums. When I refused to take the balloon away from Lizzie, he stormed up to his room and pouted. When I finally went up to get him, he started the tantrum again, even though Lizzie had left both balloons three floors below. I convinced him to come down for dinner, and he had a tantrum because the pasta wasn't spaghetti. He cried also because there wasn't corn in his pasta! Then a tantrum because I wouldn't let him eat cashews. Then a tantrum because he didn't want to take his clothes off for bath. (I should mention that during all of these tantrums, he takes time away from the main focus to talk about how much he (1) needs his daddy, (2) misses his daddy, (3) really wants his daddy, (4) is worried about his daddy because his daddy isn't home, and occasionally (5) how I should go to work so his daddy can stay home. And by about 4:45, I am ready to sign up for that last one.)

And the crazy part is that while he's crying, he often says this: "but Mommy, you didn't give me a nap today." Sometimes, he says, "I just really need a nap."

Friends, we are closing in on two months without a nap and this situation does not appear to be improving. Do we reintroduce the nap? Or will this end?