Levi's nose meets a green marker

Dec. 1-Dec.7, 2008
The book of the week has definitely been Max and Ruby’s ABC’s. Both of the boys love it because its not your standard ABC book—it uses the alphabet letters to tell the story of Max’s ants escaping from the ant farm and how Max and Ruby try everything to escape the ants. Its actually pretty funny.

We went to the Please Touch Muesum on Monday morning with Kim and Carrie and their boys and if was fun—except for when I briefly lost both boys in the Alice in Wonderland section. There are so many mazes and dividers over there that its hard to see where they are.
Isaac wanted to write a letter to Santa Claus so he wrote out all of the letters of Santa’s name and then I helped him make a list of what he wanted which included:
1. a watering can for a beanstalk
2. magic powder to make the beanstalk grow
3. a pretend gumball machine from Target
4. a new Max and Ruby dvd
5. a new Spanish storybook
6. new paints for painting
7. that’s enough


Thanks to James coming up with the idea of eating string cheese on a fork, the boys now both insist on eating string cheese with a fork and calling it “silly cheese”

Levi loves to eat bananas and green peppers whole. He does not like it if I cut them and hey—who can complain if that’s what he’s eating. Isaac on the other hand has decided he’s allergic to the smell of vegetables and it drives me nuts.

Wednesday morning Rachel Jackson invited us over to celebrate Maggie’s birthday and the kids had a blast decorating and eating Christmas cookies. There was also pizza and veggies and Isaac kept saying, “mom, this is the best party ever!” The boys actually woke up super early and wanted to go over to the party right after breakfast, but I took them on a detour to the Please Touch Museum. I’m SO glad that it opens at 9 o’clock instead of 10 like everywhere else. It’s really nice to have a place to take the kids early in the morning when we just need to get out. Today they spent most of the time in the art room and Isaac and Levi painted and mixed colors with cue tips.

Levi has discovered whip cream and he can’t get enough of the stuff.

For Spanish class on Thursday we did Kool-aid playdough and practiced the names of shapes in Spanish. We also did the caminar song and Levi and Isaac had fun dancing with Shrey. I taught everyone the Corre Caballo song and Levi kept asking for “mas caballo”—I think we probably did it about 5 times.

For book club we discussed The Book Thief and it was a pretty amazing book—I didn’t actually finish it yet, but it is told in one of the most creative formats I’ve ever read (the narrarator is death). It’s also a great book for learning about World War II history. Mostly it was fun just to have a girls night out and have James put the boys to bed.

The boys have been rocking out with their homemade band instruments lately. They look so cut playing instruments together. Their favorite song right now is “You got a friend in me” from the Toy Story soundtrack. Isaac tries to sing along with the lyrics, but it’s funny to hear what his version of the words are sometimes. For example, instead of “You’ve got problems and I’ve got ‘em too,” Isaac will say—“You’ve got problems and I gotta toot.”

Friday morning –the boys insisted on going to the zoo even though it was a pretty chilly day. We had the whole place to ourselves except for the school groups that were there. Luckily the crocodile/reptile house was warm and cozy and so was the treehouse so we spent most of our time in those to places. There was also a peacock wandering around outide that the boys befriended and dubbed “Mr. Peacock.” Isaac really wanted to take him home with us.

Isaac is still intent on getting a little sister. When I reminded him that he was getting another little brother he said, “but mom, where’s the door in your tummy so that a sister can get in there too.”


I took Isaac to his first “drop off” b-day party on Saturday. It was really weird to drop him off at a party and not have to stick around to watch him. It was a Transformer theme party for one of the kids, Griffin, in his preschool class and he had a blast.

The boys started spontaneously playing Ring Around the Rosie with each other on Sunday night during bath time. It was uncontrollably cute. It is so fun to see them playing together more now and really communicating with each other.

Major food break through with Isaac—I’m being more strict about making him try new things and finish his food even if he says he doesn’t like it. Tonight I made a chicken/rice dish for the boys and Isaac didn’t want it but I told him he couldn’t have anything else to eat until he finished his small bowl. After 2 hours he finally finished it, but not without ALOT of whining.

Happy Thanksgiving

Nov.24-Nov.30, 2008
Cold Monday—lots of role playing games with the boys. We only made it out of the apartment for music class and by that time the boys were very ready to get out and run around. We left early and I let them collect sticks for a while in front of the boy scout building. The boys both wanted to wear their superman outfits to class.


Isaac has fully entered the “WHY” stage, except for most of the time he says “how” instead of “why.” He’ll say things like “how is it that we don’t have a swimming pool on our roof” And “how did I not want to be reverent in church?”

Levi surprises me everyday with how well he understands and communicates. After getting home from playing with his friend Jordan today he said, “mom, I want Buzz lighyear shoes like Jordan. We need to go shopping for Buzz Lightyear shoes. He cracks me up.

I had my OB appointment on Tuesday morning and she said everything looks good. I had partial placenta previa on my first ultrasound, but the ultrasound they did on Friday showed that everything was okay now. The baby’s weight is fiftieth percentile and there’s plently of fluid in the womb. I also passed my glucose test, Dr. Prilou did say that since my iron count was low in my last blood test, I need to start taking an iron supplement in addition to my prenatal vitamin.

Isaac really loves elevators. Today he wanted to go over to the Central Library just so that he could push the letter “R” for roof. We went up there, but all of the doors to get out on the roof were locked. Isaac loves asking people what floor they’re going to and pushing the button for them.

Levi is obsessed with popcorn, but he’ll still eat lots of other good foods like cucumbers, asparagus, baby tomatoes, and carrots. I really wish that Isaac would eat vegetables like Levi!! Isaac drives me crazy with his eating habits and I know that I’m part of the problem because I’ve let him get away with it.

Isaac seems very sensitive to my moods now and if I’m not smiling he’ll say, “mom, how is your mouth feeling?”—its kind of his subtle hint that I need to remember to smile.

Levi’s new favorite game is “momma cave.” He really enjoys pretending that the bed spread on Isaac’s bed is a cave and then getting tickled inside the “cave.”

We found the Toy Story 2 music soundtrack at the library and the boys love listening to track number four over and over and pretending to fly around the house like Buzz Lightyear. I really need to take a short video clip of it because it looks really funny to see them running all over the place with their hands stretched out in front of them.

Isaac wanted to know this week where the baby will come out of me. He wanted to know if the baby was coming out of my mouth—well not exactly. . .I remember when I was a kid I thought that babies came out of the belly button.

Thanksgiving!! We had a very nice Thanksgiving celebration with the Millers and the Hollingshaus family over at Edgewater Apartments. We had the big turkey dinner over there potluck style and then everybody came over to our place for games and dessert. Isaac and Levi had a blast playing with Jackson and Jordan. Isaac actually ate some of the turkey which was a total miracle. He also ate almost a pint of strawberries from the fruit salad. Levi was too distracted with the Buzz Lightyear toys to even think about eating.

Isaac asked me tonight why his friend Jackson had to go far away in May. He overhead John talking about his job offer in San Francisco and how they’ll be moving. It’s hard because Isaac’s really starting to understand things like people moving and not coming back. He kept saying, “I just want Jackson to stay here in Philadelphia with me!” It’s going to be really difficult for Isaac to lose a good friend. I’m really glad that he’s got Levi though and at least he has the security of knowing that they’ll stick together because they’re brothers.

Isaac and Levi and VERY excited about Christmas. Isaac is the most excited because he loves the idea of Santa Claus bringing presents. He can now say in Spanish “quiero ir al polo norte”

The boys woke up Sunday morning and decided that they wanted to pretend to be the Wiggles. Isaac was Greg, Levi was Anthony, I was Murray, and James was Jeff. It was hilarious because Isaac kept up pretty well with the Australian accent. He also insisted on wearing yellow to church so he could be in Greg colors. We compromised with a yellow t-shirt under a blue sweater.
I love my boys.

Vacuum Power

Newsflash: Isaac has overcome his fear of vacuums and beaters. Unbelievable. This week he actually asked if he could help me vacuum and then he wanted to help use the beater to make cookies. This is major progress for him—he used to run from the room when he even heard the word vacuum or beater and he would shut the door to avoid the sound. I’m not sure what changed things for him—but I am very grateful to see this change in him. Es un milagro.

More fire station pics

Firestation frenzy

Nov. 17-Nov.23, 2008
Monday morning we headed over to Target to pick up a b-day present for our Chilean amigos. Matias and Pepita are having a joint b-day party on Saturday since their birthdays are so close together. I just had to grab a couple of things quickly since lingering in the toy section with my boys is a ticket to the land of meltdowns.

Mr. John the music teacher gave the kids cds at the end of class and Isaac and Levi can’t get enough of listening to it.

I went to Isaac’s preschool on Tuesday to teach a lesson at the end of class. All of the kids get to have their parent come in and teach something with them once during the year. I let Isaac show off his Spanish skills and we taught los numeros y los colores. We also did a fun treasure hunt at the end and I let Isaac find the “galletas” to share with all of his classmates.

Wednesday morning we went over to a local firestation for a fire house tour and the boys really got a kick out of that. The firefighters let them try out the firehose and pretend to drive the firetrucks. Levi kept saying, “there’s no fire” and then looking up at me for reassurance. He wasn’t sure why were were talking so much about fire and getting out the fire hoses when he couldn’t see any fire. Isaac was very excited about getting to climb up in the fire truck and pretending to drive it. He was hoping that the firefighters would let him take the truck for a spin around Philly.

Jackson and Jordan came over Wednesday night while Carrie went to a meeting and Isaac and Levi were in heaven with their buddies over. They wanted to do playdough and then take a bath together. Isaac is always disappointed when they can’t spend the night.
Thursday was just a long cold day. Isaac had school, but afterwards it was too cold and dark to go out again.
Friday morning we woke up to SNOW! It was snowing outside and I had to go to a doctor’s appointment. Isaac kept trying to catch the snowflakes on his tongue when we were walking outside.

We found Toy Story 2 at the library and Levi has become even more obsessed with Buzz and Woody. He really loves pretending to be Buzz Lightyear and jumping of the bed or bureau while yelling “To infinity and beyond!!!”

Saturday was a morning shopping marathon at Aldis and then I let the kids play and eat at Chickfilae and Ikea. They had a lot of fun a the Matias and Pepita fiesta and had chance to practice a lot of great words like “pastel” “regalo” “globo” and “juguetes.”

We had a Sunday afternoon Thanksgiving potluck at the Huntsman building for the Wharton Kids Club. Isaac and Levi started a game of red light green light with the other kids and they totally wore themselves out running back and forth in the lobby.

Superboys

Isaac and Levi both love snacking on frozen yogurt tubes after they're done leaping tall buildings in a single bound.

bubbles. . .las burbujas

The boys love taking bubble baths now. We got some Dora strawberry scented bubble bath and they love playing with the bubbles.