Advice: Don't argue with a 2 year old....

Yesterday, I was playing with Jack just before bedtime. Lately, one of his favorite things to do is undo and redo (over & over) his Shapes Puzzle. As he grabs each shape, he announces the name of the shape, "shircle" and places it in the appropriate spot (the circle indentation in the wooden base.) However, he and I had a disagreement on the name of a shape. I could not understand why he seemed to have forgotten this particular shape, but moreover, why he persisted in disagreeing with me. He would hold up the wooden square piece and say "cat". I would correct him by saying, "no, sweetheart, that's not a cat. It's a square". He would say "No, cat". Doesn't he know that I have a Master's in Education, and therefore, am quite competent at sorting shapes?!? With much alarm, I began to think that my child, who had known (and could name) all of the basic shapes, was all the sudden developing Oppositional Defiant Disorder. After all, I knew he could easily differentiate between a "cat" and a "square". However, I was not to be deterred. I just had to set him straight at once! After all, he couldn't be making such mistakes when testing to go to preschool...

Once more I held the shape in front of him (as shown below) and said "SQUARE".

Jack shook his head (side to side...clearly loosing his patience now), took the "square" away from me, looked at me like I was an idiot, held the shape (as seen below) in front of my face and repeated his utterance even louder...as if I was deaf, or dumb, or both. That's when I realized that while I had been "hearing" him say "cat", he was really trying to say "KITE".... (ding, ding, ding, ding, ding....) I'm sure he was quite proud of me as he saw the light go off in my head and my eyes register understanding. I laughed, kissed and hugged him and said, "Oh, I see, you meant to say KITE!" My two year old looked at me with relief, nodded with a smile, and said, "yeeees". Then he grabbed the star and said, "starfish".... Ahhhh! Now I got it. He had moved on from identifying basic shapes to analogies! Why didn't he just say that!! lol! j/k....

I told this story to the Admissions folks at Cooper today while working there at summer camp. They laughed much at my expense, and then announced (with a straight face) that it was OK. That Jack was welcome to apply for admission into Pre-K when old enough, as they do not "discriminate against children based on a parent's questionable mental acuity". Sighh...

Belated Birthdays Blog Entry

Many Birthdays were celebrated in May and June.  With the end of school madness and then the rush to sign the kids up for summer camps before they fill-up and getting the kids packed to go on vacation, I just haven't had the time to catch up on my blogging.  

The first birthday celebration was that Jack and his friend Jude. They turned two, but Jack at least, celebrated his "Hap-py Day!!!" for about a week.  He definitely has the whole "blowing the candles" thing down....  Below is the cake I baked for the boys this year.  The theme was "pool party", so I baked a couple of flip-flops.  I used orange licorice for the straps.  My nephew Jayce now wonders why not all birthday cakes come with these....

Yes, we actually used the pool noodles to decorate the table.  This was last minute inspiration just before the guest arrived.  You have NO idea how difficult it is to get six noodles to balance just right inside a gift bag so that the bag does not topple over and land on top of say...the cake? It was an irresistible challenge.

For some strange reason, the two mothers who take the most pictures of their children in the whole world (Tracy and I) were total picture taking slackers this year.  The only pictures I got of Jack smiling are completely out of focus.  I am making it a priority to do MUCH better next year.  Below is the Thank You card the boys will be sending out....  I know, it's been a month already, but better late than never, right?!?

Below are a few random snapshots taken during the party....

"Aunt" Tally, cuddling one of the million babies

(How many "uncles" (Eric & Paco) does it take to untangle the birthday boys' fishing rods?)

In case you were not aware, toddler boys looove fishing in pools.  Their plastic fishies are tied to the lines, so they catch something with every cast :)  As evidenced by the picture below... sometimes they catch each other!

"Uncle" Mike with Lissie & Anna after playing in the pool...

The Aunties (honorary and actual) playing with the babies...

The second birthday celebration was that of Katja, who turned 12 in late May.  She opted not to have a large party this year in lieu of some "choice" gifts.  However, she did invite a few girlfriends over to swim and grill at grandma's pool and mark the occasion. 

The girls made ice-cream sundaes, 

and swam until it got dark and the pool lights came on...  

The third birthday celebration, was that of my nephews Zeke and Baz.  This was an impromptu party we threw together as the boys announced that they wanted to celebrate their birthdays(which are actually later in the summer) with their cousins, for a change.  You see, the boys are always taken on some fabulous vacation trip for their birthdays, and thus, are never around to have a traditional party with cake and all the trimmings.  This year they will be flying to France to spend their birthdays in a castle.... but what they really wanted was a swim party with their cousins.  So, we threw them one.  Zeke is turning four and Baz six.

Baz took some healthy swings at the pirate ship pinata.

Zeke went after the pinata with gusto.

I know they'll have a fabulous time in Paris, but they'll remember wacking the pinata, and jumping into the pool screaming and laughing with their cousins, and eating snow cones and candy until their tummies ached....  and that's a good thing. 

Summer Time Fun

The only way to survive our hot Texas summer is to hang out at the pool. We visit grandma and papa's pool as much as possible, sometimes inviting friends to join in the fun.

This is the annual "Papa & Grandma with all the grandchildren in the pool" picture.  Paco and Kerrie just found out that they will be having a little boy, whom they will name Luke, so expect one more little swimmer in next year's picture.

Robbie is still Robbie.  Fun-loving and goofy as ever and looking forward for football season to start.  He has become an avid sports fan.  He watches basketball games online and on tv simultaneously because there's a few seconds delay and he can tell what's going to happen on tv before it happens.  How exactly does a 9 year old find these things out?

Katja is growing up faster than I'd like.  She has had her first boyfriend this year just before her 12th birthday.  His name is Austin.  The romance lasted no longer than a couple of weeks.  He seemed like a nice boy who got all A's (mom's favorite trait), played golf and the violin.  They went on one date, Katja's first, to the movies as part of a group.  Uncle Paco drove her and checked things out.  If there happened to be an a adult she knew in the back of the theater watching exactly the same movie, I'm sure it was a coincidence. ;)