Theo and Chili

Theo was having a particularly hard time eating his dinner tonight. Long after dinner had finished, he wanted to try again. We told him he had to eat five bites of chili and then that could serve as his no thank you portion, which means he could move to another dish/side. Well, Charles and I left the room, and he came in and told us that he had eaten five bites. It was immediately obvious that he had eaten the five smallest bites possible - not five normal-sized bites. We didn't fall for it, and things started to spiral downward.

After about five minutes in his room sobbing, Theo got it together to walk back out to the kitchen to call Charles back to the bedroom. He got back in bed and said, his voice choked with emotion, 'Dad, I worked really hard to eat those five bites, and I don't think you are appreciating it.' Charles acknowledged that it was hard for him, but that five bites wasn't unreasonable. Theo remained despondent (it's the chili beans in particular that he finds hard), and finally concluded that he would just have to eat in the morning.

It's a tough life with parents like this.

He's not a baby anymore

One of our family's favorite games is the Skittle Game where we yell Skittle any time we see a yellow car. Yesterday I was driving in the car with only Eliot, and I saw a skittle and instinctively yelled 'Skittle'. From the backseat I heard this little voice say, "Hey. Good one Mom."

I chuckled and we headed onto the gym. He went to the playplace at the gym while I went to spinning class. When I picked him up I asked him how his time was. Did he have a good time? Who did he play with? What did he play? Thinking he would tell me loads about his time as he normally does. Yet this time was different. This time he very clearly told me, "I was kind of tired of people Mom so I went and sat by myself."

He isn't a baby anymore. He doesn't miss a beat.

Welcome Mayu

So next week our family is welcoming a Japanese foreign exchange student for a week. As a way to welcome her, we made short videos so that she could get a feel for us. I thought the videos actually were fairly insightful into each kid's personality. Here they are: 

My little organizer

One of our friends just had a baby and a meal schedule has been organized for her. Addie is very interested in this meal schedule. She has had loads of questions:

How do you sign up?
How do you know who to invite?
Do people write down what they are bringing so you don't bring the same thing?
What if they don't like the food?

Literally it was like non-stop question asking over this idea. This is a great insight into Addie's personality. After answering these questions, I commented to Addie 'You really like organizing, don't you?'

Without missing a beat she said, 'Well, I don't really like organizing my stuff, like cleaning my room, but I love organizing other people.'


Well said my lady. Well said. What a cute (and sobering) insight into lots of our own hearts!

Eliot and Ice cream

The other night Eliot had a little bit of ice cream left. You could really tell that he was getting full, but he also was having trouble parting with the ice cream. That is when we heard him very inquisitively ask, 'If you go to sleep with ice cream, does it get in your hair?'

Not his wisest idea. The answer: Yes, my son, yes.