Tell me what you want, what you really, really want

The other night as we were driving home from daycare, J started saying that he wanted to be a girl. He said he wanted a "gina" - he always forgets the first syllable "va". Then he started singing as loud as he could,"I want a gina. I want a gina!" over and over. Soon, D joined in singing the same thing as loud as he could. When there was a break in their singing, I said, "hey guys. If you had a vagina you wouldn't be able to stand up to pee." *silence***********************
D: Well, he started it.

Edit (2/7/06)
I was re-reading this post over T's shoulder one evening and I suddenly realized that most of the people who read this blog are members of my family and I got a little embarrassed as the word "vagina" jumped off the page at me. Here's the deal: we use the correct terminology in our house for all our anatomical parts. I don't want the boys to ever be embarrassed at the words or be afraid to call "it" what it is.

One of those embarrassing moments

One of J's favorite movies is the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. His favorite part in the movie is when the gum-chewing girl turns into a blueberry after chewing a piece of gum that is still being tested. This particular gum is like no other piece of gum in that when you chew it, it's like eating a 3 course meal. Unfortunately, Wonka hasn't gotten the kinks out of it yet and it always goes wrong at the dessert course. In this case, when she gets to the blueberry pie she starts to blow up into a big ball and turn blue - turns into a blueberry. Recently, T took the boys with him to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription. While he was waiting in line, a very, very large man got in line behind him. He started making small talk with T - oh, twins huh? how old are they? - you get the gist. J looked at the guy and said, "You big!". Then he looked at T and with a scrunch of his nose remarked, "Daddy, he a blueberry!!"

The Princess

J has started referring to himself as "The Princess". For instance, this morning when T was putting him in his carseat he called him by name and J said, "no, I'm not J. I'm The Princess." Then later as we were driving to school, I don't know what D said to J but J's response was, "I don't care. The Princess doesn't care." So, we'll see how this progresses. Perhaps I should go to the Disney Store and pick out one of the Princess costumes. Hmmm, maybe at lunch.

potty mouth

D has taken to spending mass quantities of time on the potty. He fights going and then when I finally put him on it he instantly pees and poops and then thinks he's got more poop in there so he doesn't want to get up. He stays there for 20 minutes at a time. Literally, when he finally gets up the line of the toilet seat is embedded into his tiny butt. So, we tell him that he should yell for us when he needs us and we leave. Sometimes he yells for us but it's only because he's lonely. So we ask him if he's done, he says no, it's stuck (meaning the poop) and we say, well, call us when you need us. This morning I took a shower while he sat there. When I got out I told him I was pretty sure he was done and that as soon as I got my robe on that he was going to get off the toilet. He sighed, "ok mom. If you think so."

He's three.

Talks to himself

Tonight on the way home from daycare I overheard D have this conversation with himself.


Mmmmm, something smells good! *pause* I think it's chocolate. *pause* No (fake laugh) I'm just kiddin'!

evening conversation

J: We're gonna go home and get dat dinner and den we gonna eat ice cream!!
Me: We'll see.
D: I say we do!!

Morning Conversation

D: Remember that time when I saw the tiger come and bang on the door?
Me: You saw a tiger bang on our door at our house?
D: No, it banged on this door (pointing to his car door) and it scared me and then I woke up and went into Daddy's bed and then that tiger ran away.
J: And den I close dat door and dat tiger can't get in and it went away.
D: And then the tiger it say "roar" (in whisper).
J: No, (nose scrunched up) it canna say "roar" (with lilt at end).
D: No it do, it do say "roar"(so earnest).
J: I don't think so (nose scrunched up).

Pennsylvania Visitors

Fred and Cece Citron were in town for meetings and dropped by our house Saturday night to visit us. We got to visit with Fred when we were in PA last October but Cece was busy that night. Anyway, it was great to see them. They're such nice people and were so excited to visit with the boys and get to see their personalities. They had toured the Getty before they came over and they brought with them thick pads of craft paper, markers, crayons and paints. J made quick work destroying the markers but I'm grateful that he didn't break every one of the crayons, as he has done in the past. D was napping when Fred and Cece first arrived and just as I got done telling them how he doesn't like change, he woke up, stumbled into the living room, saw strangers and immediately melted down. It's almost like I planned it. After much wailing and hiding in the kitchen, T finally managed to coax him into the living room where he proceeded to charm the pants off our visitors. He's just brimming full of elven magic, that little one. J didn't nap that day so he was by turns manic and full of rage. I feel a little pressure with this because Fred runs a daycare center and even though I know he isn't grading me (is he?), I still feel extra vigilant about the way I'm disciplining and communicating with my kids. We were planning on making dinner but both T and I were feeling kinda crappy with seasonal allergies so, we ordered in Thai food instead. I had 2 glasses of Thai ice tea and thought I'd never be able to fall asleep but I did except that when D came into bed at 4:00am I woke up and stayed awake and started thinking about the letter I had to write for the SFVMOMC fundraiser and I just couldn't turn my brain off and do you think the Thai ice tea had anything to do with it? Maybe, a little. Either that or the 10 Advil cold and sinus capsules I had to take yesterday just to keep from blowing my head off. Seriously, when I woke up yesterday my head hurt so bad, but just over my right eye like I had a hot poker stuck into my forehead over my right eye that was speared through my brain and came out the back of my head and it throbbed so bad that I lay in bed awake unable to sleep because of the pain and when I got up to sit with the boys I found that I was shaking and nauseous and I couldn't take it anymore. I took AC and S and told T he had to go out and deal with the boys or I was going to throw up. 2 hours later I woke up and felt much better. Yeah, so that's why we had Thai food. And it was so nice to see Fred and Cece and as soon as I get my pictures loaded up to snapfish, I'll post one here.

Overheard conversation

J: There was a rainbow and dat dog was goin woof woof, like dat. I close my eyes and then I waked up and went into mommy's bed. I don't want dat dog anymore. I want to leave him in the car and get a cat.
D: We can get you a cat someday.
J: Someday?
D: Yeah, someday.
J: (with nose scrunched up) I don't think so.

Preschoolers

Yesterday was the first day back to the daycare after the holiday break. It also marked the boys' first official day on the preschool side. T and I had been prepping them, not only about returning to school, but also about the fact that they were moving to the other side. When we got there, M's son A greeting the boys with hugs and they walked in and immediately showed me where their cubbies were. Then they got down to the business of playing. Usually I have to pull J off my leg with a shoehorn, but not this time. Off he went with barely a glance behind him and a half-hearted "Bye Mom" thrown over his shoulder. So, I asked them to come back and give me hugs and kisses, which they did, and then they ran off again. Clearly, I wasn't needed to help ease this transition so I headed back to my car. As I was leaving, I suddenly started to feel really emotional. After all, this was a big milestone for J and D and I was so busy prepping them that I forgot to prep myself. I suddenly remembered the early days when I first went back to work. They weighed less than 10 pounds and stayed with one caregiver in a small room off the preschool side. I used to go to the daycare every lunch hour to nurse the boys and I could watch the preschoolers running around the back yard and I thought I'd never see the day when my boys would do that. It seemed so far away. Now, those days seem like ancient history. Flashing through my mind went all the little milestones that we've had at the daycare. Moving from that little room with the one caregiver to the "infant" room when they were deemed strong and healthy enough. Then from the infant room to the toddler room. And now, this is the last move they'll make before they go to kindergarten. It's happening so fast. I wasn't prepared for this part, well let's be honest - any part, of motherhood. And the thing is, I'm so proud of them. So impressed with D's self awareness, independence and cleverness. Then there's J who wants to help me with everything, who's so strong and athletic. So, to see them integrate into the preschool life without a care in the world just brought their young lives into focus for me. I wish I could just take a moment from their babyhood and wear it around my neck so that whenever I longed to smell their baby soft skin or touch their silken hair, I could do so. Is that so wrong?