allergies

So they're saying that this year has been absolutely terrible for allergies and I can certainly believe it. Andy's been living on zyrtec since March and even though I've never really suffered from allergies, I've found myself more congested and uncomfortable then ever.

Sadie, however, has developed a new and unusual allergy. She's decided that she's allergic to turtles. Now we're not sure if this means that she can't be around turtles or if it's more that she can't eat them but she's pretty insistent on it. Even at the doctor's recently, the doc asked me if she had any allergies (wanting to be sure that she would be okay on antibiotics) but before I could respond, Sadie informed the doc of her turtle allergy. The doc looked at me wide-eyed and I really didn't know what to say, except that "yep, that's Sadie." In defense of the doc, she doesn't usually see Sadie. Somehow, I think that Dr. R, her usual pediatrician would have just laughed it off. He's definitely used to Sadie's stories.

So, while most households need to be nut-free, we will be going turtle free but I have to admit, I'm curious as to what her reaction is to turtles.

silly monkeys

we went to the zoo the other day and mistakenly brought home 2 monkeys instead of the children...

Caleb's Everything Shoppe

Caleb has joined the ranks of small business owner or possibly even corporate CEO. The Everything Shoppe. This is a store that he came up with sometime during the past few months and talks about it every now and then.

This morning during breakfast we got to see how diligently he works at managing his store. He informed us that business was great, that there were people everywhere. The store seems to deal mostly with super hero merchandise and cereal. He mentioned how his Human Torch Flame dolls weren't doing so good. We suggested trying to advertise more. He explained that they came with a turn-offer switch for the flames- a good design element.

During our conversation, Caleb excused himself to take a call from his cell phone (a dedicated CEO working even on Saturday morning). He quickly came back and filled us in on the latest. Apparently his best box maker (the guy in charge of making all the cereal boxes) was ill and needed to go to the doctors. Caleb told us that he had caught diabetes from his cat and was in need of medicine. To make matters worse, he was in Harrisburg and didn't know how to find the hospital. He only knew the one in Pittsburgh and didn't have a GPS.

I'm not sure what this means to the cereal production at Caleb's Everything Shoppe but I suggested that his box maker go to the library and look up directions to the hospital on the computer. Hopefully that will help and Caleb can enjoy the rest of his weekend :-)

Romeo and Juliet at McDonalds

The other day was conference day. The kids' preschool does parent/teacher conferences twice a year and they're pretty helpful (especially with trying to judge where Caleb is with things). The disappointing thing about conferences is that they are on a school day so no school and normally that's not a bad thing but when you've missed most of January due to snow and ice it's kind of frustrating to have another day off for the kids.

Well, to reward them for making it through their first, mostly full week of school since December, I decided to take them to McDonald's. There's one near our house that has a nice indoor playground and the kids have been bugging me to go there since we moved out here.

We got there, ordered and went to sit and eat in the play area. I have to say, it was nicer than I had expected. It was clean and most importantly, it didn't smell funny. The kids were really good and ate their lunches. Caleb even ate the chicken nuggets (he's been objecting to them on past trips) When they finished eating, I let them play. There were quite a few kids there and I would say, in less than 10 minutes, Sadie had a little boy just a bit older than her, following her around.

The kids all played for awhile. I was excited to see Caleb involved in the games too. They were pretty much just chasing each other through the tubes and while it makes me nervous, I was happy that things were going so well. Caleb is doing better with other kids but when he gets excited, he can seem aggressive. He yells and growls a lot which other kids can interpret as threatening and, well, we've had things escalate to where he's hitting. Previously this wasn't such a big problem but as he's getting bigger and older it's a more difficult situation. Most parents don't expect a 5 yr old to be hitting and without understanding his circumstances, it makes for a very uncomfortable situation.

I sat back and let the kids enjoy playing for a while and it was nice. They came over for some sips of milk and to check on their Happy Meal prizes. Then I noticed that Sadie was spending more time with her little friend and Caleb was off on his own. Again, this happens some time so I wasn't too concerned. Then I noticed Sadie and her friend running away from Caleb and I started paying a bit more attention. Sure enough, Sadie's little friend was getting a little possessive of the Sadie-girl and didn't seem to want to share her attention, even with her big brother.

Caleb came by and I told him they could each do one more thing and then we would get ready to go. Of course the one thing Caleb wanted to do was to sit in a car with Sadie and Sadie didn't want to leave her friend. I tried to persuade Caleb to let her have some space and then I tried to persuade Sadie to indulge her brother and none of it was working. Caleb started getting upset and I was done and so announced that we were going home. This was when Sadie's little friend decided to come over and taunt Caleb for having to go home. Big mistake!!

Mama bear kicked in and I gave the little guy a very serious mommy-glare and said "Do Not Do That. We Don't Act Like That." Not yelling, but talking very sternly to this young man who quickly backed off and got quiet.

I calmed Caleb down and then had an upset Sadie who wasn't ready to go (of course- did I mention, this started out like a great way to spend the afternoon?) I tried to explain to Sadie that if she and her friend couldn't be nice and play with Caleb, then we couldn't stay. Sadie was heart-broken and so I had to help her with her shoes. I was done. While doing this, I noticed her little friend inching back over towards us. I told Sadie she should say good bye to her friend as he came over. He got very close and very sweetly said "Good-bye Sadie, I love you." Sadie rattled off a "Good-bye, I love you" too and that was the end.

I was sooooo done with McDonald's and soooooo not ready for my 4 yr old to have little boys telling her they love her.

We are in soooooo much trouble with this one

The Case of the Missing Zuzu Pet

It was a quiet afternoon in the Walsh house. Mom and the kids had finally finished un-decorating the Christmas tree. Suddenly, Sadie appeared with her Zuzu pet that she had gotten for Christmas. In order to travel, Daddy had wisely removed the batteries (on/off switches should be required for all toys) but Mommy wasn't sure where he had put them.

"Wait 'til Daddy comes home" Mommy told Sadie and she happily bounded away to find new fun and wait for Daddy. The Zuzu pets were forgotten... or so we thought.

After dinner, Sadie found her pet once again and asked to get it working. Daddy took over and soon we had a Zuzu pet rolling and squeaking around the floor. Daddy also mentioned to Caleb that if he brought his Zuzu pet over, Daddy would fix it too.

"But I don't know where it is" Caleb answered.

We sent him upstairs to look for it and sent Sadie with him- since she was the one who had found them first. The kids searched upstairs for a bit and came down empty-handed and disappointed so Daddy and Mommy began searching too. We searched book bags and other possible places downstairs but couldn't find anything. So we went upstairs. After a bit more searching, success! Caleb's Zuzu pet was right in the middle of his bedroom floor!

"Guys, how did you not see Caleb's Zuzu pet on the floor? What were you looking for?" Daddy asked.

"We were looking for footprints and found some and followed them downstairs" Caleb explained.

Not sure what Zuzu pet footprints look like and really not sure what footprints they were following.

the cast of characters keeps growing...

So Mexico is quite a crowded place, at least in Sadie's Mexico... we'll set aside the fact that my daughter's imaginary world happens to be in the news constantly for drug violence. i swear, we rarely have the TV on in this house

Anyways, so recent additions to Mexico-

Sadie's Mexico Grandma. This one has been talked about off and on over the past few months. Apparently her Mexico Grandma and Grandpa teach her things- best i can tell is that they are Mexican dancing instructors because she's usually doing some kind of little dance after which she says "my Mexico Grandma taught me that" and adds a little hand on her hip, flip of the hair for effect.

Well, just a couple weeks ago, we learned Mexico Grandma's name. Sadie informed me that her name was Terri and that her friends call her Aunt Terri. i can't help but wonder if she's basing her Mexico grandma off of my Aunt Terri. it's given all the Mattocks a giggle.

The other addition is Dotty-

i learned about Dotty last night while driving out to Derry to visit family. Sadie informed me of her Mexico cat named Dotty. Dotty is pink and apparently has taught herself to talk. when i asked Sadie if she spoke Spanish or English, Sadie replied that she "talks like me" which meant English. then we got distracted trying to figure out how to say hug and cuddle in Spanish so i didn't get to hear any more about Dotty.

And expect a call Aunt Betsy and be prepared to know how to say cuddle and hug in Spanish. :-)

Saving the planet... or not

in the new house, we have multiple bathrooms. This was eagerly awaited by everyone in our family. From a mom's point of view, the idea of getting to use a bathroom when one needs to and in private is a glorious idea.

Now, the kids get to use their bathroom (at the top of the stairs) and the half bath (at the bottom of the stairs) and this has worked out pretty well. They're enjoying their new independence, being able to reach the light switch and the water for hand washing. There is one downside- they are quite happy to turn the light on but somehow forget to turn the light off. So after I hear a monkey use the bathroom, I immediately ask the 3 most important questions...

Did you flush?
Did you wash your hands?
Did you turn off the light?

And of course, the monkey always replies "no" to all 3.

Now, if I should miss hearing a trip to the bathroom and forget to ask the 3 questions, I later hear the other monkey (the informant) announce to the house that the bathroom light is on. The announcement is always made and the informant monkey continues on their way- not touching the light switch. I guess there has been too much emphasis on the discussion of lights being on and not enough emphasis on the fact that we don't want the bathroom lights left on!!!

Sorry Al Gore, we're trying.

Drive-way, Dump-truck Luge

This is our new entertainment at the house. I should probably discourage them from doing this but they're having such a good time and I actually get a kick out of Caleb doing something reasonably dangerous. This might all change when they end up needing a trip to the ER.

More From Mexico

In an earlier post I discussed Sadie's new imaginary friend, Margot. She's from Mexico and apparently this is where Sadie has a second home (with lots more toys). Margot still visits frequently and is sometimes joined by her brother, Sal. They often have opinions on what Sadie will or won't do. For example...

me- "Sadie, would you like to go to the library?"
Sadie- "hmm, let me ask Margot and Sal"
she whispers to Margot and Sal, then
Sadie- "yes, we would like to go to the library"

It's cute but can also drive you crazy sometimes.

At dinner the other night, we were informed that in addition to Margot and Sal, she also has a mom and dad in Mexico (of course). We were having pancakes for supper and the little girl was trying very hard to get ketchup for her pancakes. Our children don't seem to understand ketchup as a condiment but is instead a side dish and happily eat it up with using their fingers. We said she could have ketchup if she would eat some sausage but she refused. She then explained "My Mexico mom likes to eat ketchup on her pancakes." We still didn't cave on the ketchup.

A little while later, the girl was angling for a choc. chip cookie for dessert. The rule in our house is that pancakes are so good, they're like dessert (all that maple syruppy, yumminess). So on pancake night, we don't do dessert. After reminding Sadie of this rule, she replied "well, my Mexico dad eats syrup on his choc. chip cookies."

Looks like I might have to offer some parenting advice to Sadie's Mexico mom and dad. Hmm, I wonder if they're willing to contribute to her college fund?

Snow storms and Bookstores

Well, what a start to 2010. That's the last time we get the kids bikes for Christmas. Any other year, we'd be having a heat wave and I'd be going crazy trying to come up with things to do for the kids. This year, we've been stuck inside and still going crazy trying to find things to do.

30+ inches of snow! Absolutely crazy! It shut us down for a week. We did manage to get the kids out in it a bit but even then there was too much snow for them to do anything in. Poor Sadie was confined to the shoveled sidewalk. She attempted to make it to the backyard one afternoon but she just kind of fell on her face and when she started loosing her boots, I said that's enough.

In true Sadie fashion though, she was able to come up with her own games. Apparently Sadie has an extensive interest in collecting snowballs and her collection covers most of our yard. While Daddy shoveled, Sadie collected her snowballs and carefully his them back in the piles of snow. It was so cute to watch. I really wish I had taken video of it. We managed to get Caleb out in the snow too and took a couple of walks down the street. Sadie picked up more snowballs for her collection on the way.

Caleb enjoyed the snow only until his gloves got wet. As soon as he could feel the wetness, he was done and ready to come inside.

The kids missed almost 2 weeks of school. That was not really fun. While they played pretty well, towards the end of week #2 they began to really start picking at each other. We made it back this week for 2 days but today school was closed because of more snow. I'll be so happy when spring gets here.

Since we were stuck inside for so much of the time, the kids had to come up with new games. Well, recently, Caleb decided to open a bookstore in his bed. He lays out the his books and Sadie gets one of her bag and shops. He'll also happily tell you that his bookstore also sells toys (and this week keys when Mommy locked Pappy out of the house). He's also been known to show movies in his bookstore and they'll climb into his house (his bed) and sit there pretending to watch movies. Unfortunately, many of the movies that Sadie requests are not being shown (he can be such a stinker).

His bookstore is appropriately named, Caleb's Bookstore. Maybe he'll be opening a chain. But don't worry, he's still a policeman and he'll quickly tell you that but it's nice to see him branching out. He's also been following Handy Manny and dons his trusty tool belt to fix things throughout the house- like the elevator button? Well, he still likes to go along with a script but it's so great to see him pretending more and more these days (and not just going along with whatever wackiness that Sadie comes up with).

Well, I'll be posting snow pictures later but that's all for now.

Meet Margot...

Earlier this week, Sadie made an imaginary friend and she's been with us almost constantly all week. Her name is Margot and Sadie will happily inform you that she is from Mexico, has blond curly hair, is 10 yrs old and speaks spanish. We also learned that her mom is named Sophia. Sadie takes care of her friend, making sure to hold her hand when crossing the street and buckling her into her seat in the car. Caleb has started riding in the back back of the chocolate car so Margot has been able to sit next to Sadie. Margot has gone to preschool and came out for dinner the other night but sometimes has to leave suddenly to go with her parents. If Margot is around, Sadie will happily introduce you to her.

I've found Margot to be quiet but helpful, especially in getting Sadie to listen. For example, Margot always is quick to put on her coat to go outside and Sadie seems to respond better knowing that Margot is waiting for her. I have managed to not have to make lunch for Margot- Sadie's quick to inform me that Margot has her own food. I'm also hoping that Margot has her own Christmas presents too :-)

Caleb has also been recognizing Margot and asking if she's with us when we go out. This morning there was a little problem though. Caleb was the first to start playing with Margot and Sadie was hurt. Sadly, she told Caleb "but Margot is my friend" Fortunately, she bounced back quick and then very sweetly asked Caleb if she could play with Margot. Caleb (being a good older brother) said "yes, if you promise to be nice" and then Margot, Caleb and Sadie enjoyed pretending to watch movies together.

I'm not sure how long Margot will be with us but she's been very entertaining and we continue to be amazed at Sadie's imagination.

Sadie Sings

This afternoon, we were treated to a private performance by a budding superstar singer - Sadie! (Like all the greats, she is known simply by her first name.) The concert was a delightful mix of Sadie originals (including her famous "Cowboy Song") and standards like "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and "ABCs", as well as a few seasonal favorites like "Jingle Bells."

Of course, even when she is covering a well-worn chestnut like "Jingle Bells," Sadie manages to inject it with her own original flair. Here are Sadie's lyrics for this particular number:

"Jingle Bells,
Jingle Bells,
All the way!

Oh what fun it is to play
Oh it is so fun...HEY!

Jingle Bells,
Jingle Bells,
All the way!

Oh what fun it is to play."

Each number was met with riotous applause. At times, one might have thought that Sadie was waiting expectantly for it. But this little nightengale is no diva; she thanked her audience profusely after each outpouring of affection and she graciously took a number of requests. When she was unfamiliar with a suggested tune, she was quick to provide an alternative. And on a few occasions, she had to postpone a particular request, presumably to help it fit better into the flow of her setlist. But we were always promised that we would hear that song "in 5 minutes."

As if her remarkable singing talents weren't enough, Sadie also demonstrated a finely honed comedic sense as well. For instance, consider how she handled a request for "The Bear Went Over the Mountain":

"OK, I'm going to sing 'The Bear Went OVer the Mountain.'

Hmm... what are the words to that one? Hmm...Let me think about that. Aaahhh, I've got it!

The bear went over the mountain,
The bear went over the mountain,
The bear went over the moun-TAIN!!!"

Unfortunately, video and audio recording were strictly forbidden at this performance. We certainly understand Sadie's decision to tightly manage her public image at this early stage of her career; the wordly is hardly bereft of young starlets who could have benefited from more discretion. Nevertheless, it seems a shame to deny the rest of the world the opportunity to experience Sadie's prodigous talents. Therefore, we were able to smuggle out this short clip of Sadie performing one of her signature originals, "I Love You." We were told that this was the world premiere of this number; after listening, I think you will agree that this song, like Sadie, is destined for great things.

Quick Bits

Sadie had her 3 yr check up this morning and provided quite the entertainment the whole time. I was a bit shocked to have her tell me in front of the doctor that "Girls don't read books" after I told her to try to read a book to herself while I finished up with the doctor. I glanced up to see the doctor raise his eyebrows and wonder where she might have heard that. I honestly have know idea where she got that and proceeded to feel awful that somehow my daughter has already picked up this idea about what girls do and don't do.

And now this evening, Sadie decided to start calling me Lady and is insisting that I call her Carrie. Not sure where that name came from but all her dolls have been named Lady. We'll see how long this goes.

Finally, at bedtime, Caleb read to Daddy and Sadie about the 10 pla-goos in the Bible.

The Little Artists

This what I found just after lunch. I thought the children were happily coloring in their coloring books. I had been sure to remind them to ONLY color on the paper. Guess that wasn't specific enough...

oh and Caleb is covered too. He was just camera shy while Sadie couldn't wait to show off.

Sadie Says

Sadie's been having a rough week, not been feeling well ;-)

The other day, Sadie told Daddy "My tummy has a headache" and then yesterday she told me "I feel a little woozy." Fortunately, these maladies seem to pass quickly so we're not too concerned.

Funny Bits

Sadie's asked me to call her Michael for much of today, as in Michael from Peter Pan. Apparently I've been Wendy, Daddy is Peter and Caleb is Captain Hook. Not quite sure what to think about that one... :-)

Packing for Vacation...

Tid Bits

• At dinner this evening, we witnessed first hand Sadie "playing" with her food. She's been doing a lot of pretending lately with the Little People and other little toys. At dinner, it was the strawberries.

One strawberry says to the other "oh no, I lost my daddy"
The other strawberry says "oh, maybe he's in my tummy"
And then she eats both strawberries.

• Last week, we went out to visit my friend Kelly. I've known her since kindergarten and now she has a 2 yr old and a brand new baby. While out there, our friend Karen dropped by with her brand new baby so it was quite the houseful. Sadie and Miss M (Kelly's little girl) got along really well and seemed to have a lot of fun playing. As I loaded the car back up to drive home, the kids sat and watched out the window. At some point, they found a little thing of chapstick. Miss M happily showed Sadie and Caleb how to put it on and then all 3 kids were smearing chapstick all over their face. It was funny to watch. When we got home, Sadie ran to the book shelf int the dining room, where we keep all the art supplies and pointed up, saying "I need the gluestick for my face". Apparently the chapstick and gluestick looked a little too similar and now I'll have to keep both out of reach.
  

Beware...

of the infamous Hamper Monster! yes, this creature invades our house when mommy has the chance to do laundry and leaves that empty hamper around to gobble small children...namely Sadie. i'm hoping to get some nicer shots of the hamper monster but these will have to do. apparently, unlike Sadie, the hamper monster is camera shy. who would have thought :-P

Sadie Baby

just a couple of cute updates...

we were doing a little GF (gluten free) shopping at Whole Foods this morning- Caleb in the basket of the cart and Sadie walking. i was trying to get her to keep up with us calling her name, she was admiring the ice cream cases. Caleb decided to help and as i pushed the cart, he started calling out very loudly, "Saaaaa-diieeeee baaaaa-byyyyy." it was very cute.

we've been noticing Sadie is trying to sing songs. she's really been working on Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and it's so cute to hear. she doesn't quite have all the words but you pick them up here and there. she's also tried ABC's. i have to try to get in on video but more and more she doesn't like to perform.