Wy, oh Wy...

Wy spends the day running around with his tongue sticking out. Either the tip is just sitting out there for the world to see or he has it sticking straight out like an arrow. That boy has the longest, skinniest, pointiest tongue I have ever seen.

He is a little particular about kisses. If you ask for a kiss during the day - he offers his forehead, just like Jack. Bedtime is a different story: at bedtime Wy gives real kisses.

Poor little Wy found an empty candy bar wrapper and brought it to me the other day. I told him it was empty and put it in the trash. Oh, that boy CRIED. He pulled the wrapper back out of the trash and handed it to me. Again I said, "Baby, it's all gone" and put it in the trash. He looked at me as if I were the meanest thing on earth and he cried real tears. Then he did his "I'm so sad you WILL feel sorry for me" bit and tucked his head and kept right on crying. He does this same sort of head tuck when he is in trouble. For instance: if Mama finds him touching her laptop she says in a loud deep voice "Wyatt Cole, NO!" He immediately steps away and ducks his head for a few seconds. He may or may not put his head in his hands to emphasize his shame. Then it is as if he never heard the warning and he heads right back for the computer.

Wy guy was taking a nap on Monday while Jack and I were putting away the boys' clothes. I don't remember why, but I pretended to cry. Jack walked over to me, looked me in the eye and said "Take a breaf, mommy. I'm sorry you upset but mumble mumble mumble..." I couldn't make out anything else. It was so hard not to smile or laugh. I cried some more and asked him if I could have a kiss. He said "No. I'm sorry you upset. Take a breaf." He turned around and walked off. Now, I'm pleased to know that I'm helping him learn how to handle being upset, but I want it on the record that I never say "take a breath" followed by walking away.

We try to get the boys involved in daily tasks around here. Jack is expected to put his plate, silverware and cup in the sink when he is done eating. I ask him to put those items in the left side of the sink so he doesn't get food on any clean plates. John texted me today to say Wy was running back and forth in the kitchen and then there was a thunk that caught John's attention. Wy had decided he was done with his cereal so he was putting each piece of cereal on the sink ledge and then put his own bowl in the sink - on the left side.

Wy plays with Jack's trains constantly. He loves to hook them together and hold them aloft to see how much weight they can hold. He drives them around. He carries them all over the house. And this is the nuttiest thing: remember how Jack used to line up his trains end to end, then side by side...Wy is doing the same thing. It is funny and creepy in a weird deja vu sort of way. He is NEVER without a train in one hand.

Since Wy loves trains so much, I thought I would try to find a James or Gordon outfit. I didn't scour the Universe or anything, but had no luck. I did find a toddler Thomas costume. Jack has a Thomas outfit left from last year that still fits him. I thought they would be cute in little matching outfits. (What have I become?)

Jack has been running around the house the last few days in his Thomas the Tank Engine 'costume' getting ready for Halloween. "I'm wearing Thomas, Daddy. I'm wearing Thomas." He likes his costume, but he says Thomas and Percy are "skeered of Havoveen, but Thomas yikes canny." I am going to have John get the boys in their train get ups and bring them out to the theatre that night for like the last 20 minutes of rehearsal. It will do us all some good to see a couple of cuties!

John and I were trying to wake up the boys yesterday morning. I said "Good morning, Jack!" His response? "Is not."

Jack watches "noovies" and has taken to wearing a do rag this week."

OK friends, that is it for this week. Send me some good vibes that I can fit in a little update next week - rehearsals are going to be crazy! We love and send blessings to all of you!

a, j, j & wy!

No pizza till when?!

Hello again dear friends and family! The boys have been great this week. Wy is experimenting with new words. I am worried that he isn't saying full words, just the first syllable. On the other hand, his vocabulary is growing rapidly and if you listen carefully you can understand what he is saying. He loves to sit in someone's lap to have a book read to him. He knows when to turn the page and after doing so he will clap his little hands and say "Yay! Yay! Yay!"

He was looking at mom's computer the other day. (Her wallpaper is a hodge-podge of family photos.) Wy kept pointing and saying something over and over. I kept trying to move him so I could check my e-mail, but he would not be moved. I finally realized he was pointing to a picture of John and saying "Da-ee! Da-ee! Da-ee!" I told him he was just right and did a great job! He says "Key! Key! Key!" whenever he sees the cats. He has learned about the color "bwu-bwu-bwu." He can say and point to his "shoe, shoe, shoe." And if you say "OK!" he will reply with "K! K! K!" And I pray no one hears him when he does that.

The boys got their flu shots yesterday. Wyatt knew something bad was going down the second Gammy took his pants off. He was not having it and began to throw a fit. I sent Gammy to grab a few lollipops from the nurse's desk. Mama and I were waving lollies all around the place as the boys were getting shots. Let me tell you, there may have been screaming coming from the other rooms (it was a flu shot drive at the dr.'s office) but there was minimal crying from our little cubby! Mommy's diversionary tactics win again!!!

Have I told you that the wrasslin has begun? So far these two like to wrassle in the middle of a love fest. Hugs and kisses abound and then they start tickling each other and 3 seconds later there is virtual body slamming and they are squealing with delight. I'm just waiting for someone's head to split open...

Jack has finally accepted the fact that "I'm free!" and displays 3 fingers proudly. We have been working all week on "What is your name?" "Where do you live?" and "What is Mommy's phone number?" He has some success with our address: it comes out something like "aa-ee-aa firty one Ha-yee!"

Jack now likes to eat "popScorn" and asks to have candy or ice cream for breakfast. I simply suggest cereal or eggs. He looked at me the other day and said "Mommy, Wyatt's a siddy goose" and walked off. He has also found a tiny toy camera (the viewfinder kind that comes with a happy meal) and has started walking around the house taking pictures: "Smile!" click. "Say cheese!" click. And "Smile 20, Mommy." (I don't understand that one at all so we are all out of luck.)

He has also taken to being a ghost. He loves to toss a blanket over his head and walk around saying "I need a yetter BEEEEEEE!" in a VERY convincing ghost voice. I had no idea what the "letter B" business was about until someone at work started chanting it. He said there is a ghost on Sesame Street who searches for letters.

I must tell you it is really funny to hear a three year old say "Awesommmmme..."

Finally I come to the pizza portion of the evening. I am almost at wit's end. I have no idea what else to do about getting Jack to fully use the potty chair and do it consistently. I have tried having him go around naked - but after about 30 minutes he goes and puts on a pair of pull ups and says "I DID IT!" I have finally given in and switched to the cloth "unaware" (as Jack calls them) and plastic panties. I have tried to avoid this route because I just can't deal with cleaning out 'unaware' every hour... But I hear that being a mommy isn't always about what mommy likes and doesn't like and so we are switching to cloth panties. That doesn't really mean anything to Jack. What he doesn't really understand yet is that I have decreed that Jack shall not have pizza till he "poops in the potty chair." This is a pretty big deal at my house. Because of this, everyone is now chanting about poop at my house. "Jack, do you have to poop?" "Jack, do you want to poop?" "Jack let's try to poop." Every other word at my house is poop.

To be honest, I was surprised when no one said my tactic was too harsh. It is just the only thing I can think of that might actually MOTIVATE him to go somewhere other than in his pants. (I'm sure one day he will read these and be horrified with me.) Anyway, with all the poop talk going on this week I have been running around thinking "poopin for pizza" like it's a game show or something.

Dear friends, every week I think to myself "just a short one today." And it seems to never fail that I write a mini novel. Well, I hope we bring a little sunlight to your otherwise drab day! Some of you we will see sooner than others, but we wish God's blessings on each and every one of you.

love, a, j, j & y

Oh, I Just Can't Wait...!

My Fellow Americans,

First let me apologize if I disapointed any of you by not participating in last night's Presidential debate. I spent last night with The Lion King, Mufasa, his beautiful wife, Queen Sarabi and their delightful son, Prince Simba. I do not believe it would have been very politic of me to cancel our engagement in order to banter with a couple of Senators.

I caught up with bits and pieces of last night's debate by listening to NPR this morning. Though I did cringe, gasp and chuckle at some of the arrows our esteemed Senators shot at each other, I must confess, I was not moved to tears by their words. I was however moved to tears of wonder, joy and amazement as I observed His Highness and the amazing animals of his kingdom. What magnificent creatures; except for Prince Scar and his entourage of hyenas. That last comment is sctrictly entrez nous.

Although I did not meet Joe the Plumber, I frequently have dinner with John the Shop Foreman and he is a very nice fellow. He is the kind of guy who just wants to provide for his kids and get them a shot at a good education while still being able to take care of himself and his wife in their retirement.

Finally, Vice Presidential hopeful Meghann Henry left me a message last night. (I did not take her call as I thought it would be rude to do so in front of royal hosts.) She wanted to ask my opinion about the laundering of Zombie outer wear. I firmly believe Zombies are entitled to have their clothes laundered if they so desire. I fully support Zombie integration. I mean, Zombies are people after all, or at least they were, now they are Zombies. Any one of us could potentially become a Zombie some day. That being said, I want to point out that this ticket is the only party fighting for the rights of Zombies. This grassroots movement was abandoned late last year, but my party has picked up the bloody stump that was left to decay and we are marching forward, for liberty and justice for all!

Oh, I just can't wait to be Queen! I mean King! I mean President!!!

Goodness, Gracious, Great Balls of FUN!

Well friends,
Another post means I cannot believe the week has gone by so quickly yet again.

Watching this week's Presidential debate between the other two candidates was something I opted against. As we all know, I'm leading the numbers in the grassroots polling - so why bother with the other fellas? Instead of watching the debate, the boys and I hung out with my girlfriend Kelly and her boys Sawyer and Maxwell. Oh the fun was had by one and all. Jack is STILL talking about the buckets of balls he and the other boys played with. I must say the fun was had by one and all as bucket after bucket of balls was hauled to the top of the stairs only to be tossed one by one or by the bucket-load down the stairs. The boys even took turns sitting in the buckets of balls. I cannot describe to you the joyous time had by the boys. The funny thing is: they all had fun even when picking the balls up - and I think it was because they understood the balls were just being picked up so they could be tossed back down again.

Wy is working so hard on his vocabulary. He says all kinds of things, but never the full word - everything is first syllable only. (OK - he says "car" but that is the only full word on his plate right now.) "Tray!" train. "Heh!" Henry. "Day!" Daisy. "Pa!" Pappy. "Cah!" Cat. It seems that every day he is adding another word to his vocabulary. I am really amazed at how much I understand him for all of this one syllable business.

Beth took a class this week so my house manager's mama watched the boys at the theatre. In one hour she taught Jack how to count to 10 in Spanish (he can't do it on his own, but he can say all the words and knows what they mean), how to say hello, goodbye and thank you! He didn't want to go home that day so I had to bribe him by telling him we would give Daddy a surprise. Jackie-paper wasn't too convinced that counting in Spanish was going to be a big surprise, but Daddy was very impressed!


Poor Jack fell off of an office chair yesterday and is sporting a black eye. Here he is posing his eye for you.

The only other thing worth note is that all of Wyatt's food must pass a squish test. If he doesn't recognize the food product he must squish it before putting it in his mouth. If he can squish it sufficiently, he will try it. If it is vegetable it is bad. If it is meat, sweet or snacky - it is good.

All week long Jack has been asking to have eggs for breakfast and we haven't had any. As a treat for the boys, I ran out really early this morning and picked up eggs. I came home and fixed up some breakfast. When I heard Jack I told him I had a surprise for him. He saw his eggs, took my hand and said "That's so NICE, Mommy!"

OK - John and I are seeing Night of the Living Dead tonight. We are going to a wedding tomorrow, I get to see The Lion King next week. We may be going to Omaha at the end of the month and John just picked up tickets for us to go see Niel Diamond in December - I suddenly feel like I have a social life again!

Dear friends, have a blessed week and look for more fun & adventures next week! Love, A, J, J, & Y

Amy Abels Owen '08

Thought you might like to see some of the news about me!

http://www.tsgnet.com/pres.php?id=46832&altf=Bnz&altl=Bcfmt1Pxfo

It's all fun and games till somebody gets hurt.

Wy is still obsessed with books. Here is is Wednesday night reading about Lightning McQueen with his daddy. (Like Wy's hair cut?) Aunt Beth is so sick of one of Wy's books that she took the boys to the bookstore today for a few new Thomas books!

We are working on ditching the pacifier. The plan is to not give it to him during the day. (He uses it constantly if it is there, but doesn't seem to notice if it is not there.) Once we are comfortably out of daytime usage, we will tackle nighttime. He WAILS at bedtime until he has the pacifier. One battle at a time, right?

He is is starting to talk a little bit. He is beginning to identify various trains: "Beh" for Bertie. "Ha" for Henry. "Ga" for Gordon. And yesterday he pointed to Poppy and said "PA!"

Jack insists he is two years old. "How old are you, Jack?" "Jax is 2!" "No, Jack is 3." "NO, Jax is 2." (We hold up dueling fingers: Jack holding up 2, me holding up 3.) The debate continues. Then he comes at me and touches his 2 fingers to my 3 fingers as if to correct me.

He has started calling Poppy "Pops".

I took the boys to the oil change place this week. As we were waiting, the boys were entertaining themselves on the FILTHY floor. By the time I realized the floor was filthy, the boys were already filthy, so it didn't really make any difference - it was just a matter of how long they played on the filthy floor. Anyway, Jack laid down to run his trains along the grout in the tiles as if it were train tracks. Wy then made one of his very first displays of affection for Jack by laying down on top of him. Jack proceeded to talk to me as if Wy weighed 400 pounds. Wy began to grin. Then Wy began to bounce on top of Jack who said "Wy-y-y-y i-i-i-is hur-r-r-r-ti-ng me-e-e-e-e!" Wy thought this was hysterical. Jack didn't really mind it until Wy got so excited he accidentally whacked Jack in the head with a metal train. It's all fun and games till somebody gets hurt, kids.

Here is Jack - pre-hair cut. His hair was a mess and refused to be tamed, so I put product in it before we left for church. He is seen here giving the camera "bones". As we leave each morning, Jack makes the "I Love You" sign and waves those 3 fingers at his father to say good bye. It is very funny watching him try to only move those 3 fingers. Then he shoots a "bones" to daddy just before he disappears from sight.

Wy has discovered that it is fun to turn round and round in circles. He starts to stamp his feet and turn around on himself and grin. Jack will copy him. Then it is a game of copy cat accompanied by squeals and giggles of delight from both fellas.

The boys love fish sticks. Currently Jack's favorite thing to do is to have daddy pour two stripes of ketchup down a line of fish sticks. This creates the 'tracks'. Then Jack puts grape tomatoes on the tracks like trains.

Jack usually refers to John's truck as "Mine truck." He will argue with John about it. However, if I say to Jack "Let's get in my truck." He will look at me and say "No, mommy. Daddy's truck."

OK peeps. That is all for the week. God bless and keep you! Love, a, j, j & y