Daily

Y’all, this post is going to be boring.  Mundane.  Probably of no interest to anyone. (except my grown up children, for whom I write this blog…love y’all!!)  But I don’t want to forget the way things are right now.  So faithful readers… bear with me and I promise I’ll be back with something marginally more interesting in a few days.  For now, I want to document each child’s daily routine, and the quirks that go with it, so that I have plenty of blackmail for prom night (still love y’all!!) . 

Ben:  Every morning, regardless of the time he is put to bed(usually 7pm) Ben gets us up around 6:14am.  He wakes up, and lets us know that he is awake by opening his door and yelling, “MAMA!! DJKSOD:FJDKSL:JDFSK JUICE!!!”  (translation: mommy get your lazy behind down here and get your tiny, superthirsty lil’ man some JUICE!  RIGHT THIS MINUTE OR I WILL WAKE UP ALL THE OTHER SMALL CHILDREN LOVE YA MAMA!”).   And when I come downstairs I realize that not only do I have to get the little man juice, but I also have to get him a diaper.  Because he’s taken it upon himself to do the first half of a diaper-change.  (i.e…he’s TOTALLY NEKKID). Once diaper and juice are procured, the little man is perfectly happy discussing his cars, “fwaings” (airplanes. shut up we can’t help the south of the mouth), and “side” (which, inexplicably means Mickey Mouse…..).  

After the morning routine, Benben spends the rest of the day tormenting siblings…either by pulling their hair, throwing fwaings at them or just yelling in their general direction.  His talking is coming along well-he tries to say most of what the siblings say (“yes ma’am” is one of my favorite Ben-Phrases.  He has absolutely no idea what that means, but because the big kids are saying it, he’s saying it).  His favorite foods are spaghetti, soup, toddler meals and skittles.  He still loves his blanket (which he calls “hnnnnmmm” (???)).

Then, it’s Bedtime. (I capitalize it because' Bedtime is so wonderfully important with this kid.  When 7pm rolls around Matt and I start singing ‘It’s the most wonderful time….of the day”). We brush teeth and then walk him to his room.  He insists upon ‘raw-raw’ (rock rock..where he gets rocked for a few minutes before bed).  And after this he is given the “STAY IN YOUR BED AND DON”T YOU DARE TAKE THAT DIAPER OFF I LOVE YOU” speech.  The door is closed and bedtime commences.  ahhhhh…..

Three new diapers and raw-raw’s later, TheBen finally falls asleep.  ‘Til 6:14 the next day…

Pea: The Pea (who does not like being called Pea anymore), is a different morning person.  Matt and I typically get up around 6:14 (THANKS BEN!!)…Matt' showers, and I run down to make his lunch and feed TheBen.  By 7am, Caitlin and Matthew have cleaned their rooms, gotten dressed, brushed hair and are ready for breakfast.  Around 7:40, Matt leaves. 8:00 rolls around and by 8:20, Pea makes an appearance.  She will come downstairs with MAJOR dandyhead and rattle off some big story about ‘stretchy’:

“Mommy iyz try to sweep and stretch beeez so NAUGHTY!!  He always dooz dad sing where he beez naughty and telling me to yell and go in machews woom and make a mess and I jus get so mad at strechy because Iz a good hannah and hez a BAD BOY!!  And I sleep wich strechy every night.” After 15 minutes of discussing Strechy’s behavior, we finally get around to breakfast and hair brushing. 

During the day, Hannah’s favorite activities are playing ponies, brushing ponies hair, drawing ponies and making things for her ponies.  (see a trend here?  Girlfriend is obSESSed with My Little Ponies.)  Yesterday we had a Pony Tea Party and she was so happy… 

She still loves riding her bike but since it’s been so hot here, we’ve not spent too much time outside.  Ben is the bane of her existence (except when they are best friends) and torments her mostly by arbitrarily throwing himself on top of her and laughing hysterically.  “BEEEE-EEEEEEEEEEEEN!!!! OOWWWW!!!!!!!”, she is always yelling.  She is excited to go to preschool two days a week this Fall and I think she is ready.  She is ms. social…she will go up and talk to anyone about anything…and not stop talking until they walk away (though sometimes she will follow them and keep talking.)

She is hard headed and wants to do what she wants to do, but in spite of this, she is a little sweetie. 

Matthew and Caitlin’s daily routine is pretty much the same and goes like this:

Wake up, get dressed, brush hair, clean room, eat breakfast, brush teeth, play one round of the wii.  Do daily chore (Monday: clean bathroom, Tuesday: get floors “vacuum ready” Wed: entertain littles while mommy washes the floor, Thurs: clean out the van, Fri: go grocery shopping with mommy) and go to the pool/playground.  Lunchtime, followed by “quiet time” while the babies nap, during which they usually read, draw or play the DS.  After quiet time we usually go back to the pool or find things to do inside until dinner.  After dinner they shower, and then relax until bedtime (8:30). 

Here is a little bit about each of their personalities:

Matthew:  As obsessed as Hannah is with my little pony, it is nothing compared to Matthew’s obsession with the Wii…Mario Kart specifically.  I really think he would play 24/7 if we let him.  He has mastered all of the races and f(or those of you who speak MarioKart Wii), he has a gold medal and rank star on all the races including the mirror races.  When he is not playing the wii, he loves being outside and checking out the creatures outside.  This summer he got to keep a swallowtail caterpillar and watch it hatch from a cocoon (chrysalis?) and become a butterfly.  He loved it!  (it was pretty cool..)  He named it “frito” and made up little stories about it for a week after we let it go.  He has a very compassionate heart and while he is sometimes a little stink to his siblings (he is very good at antagonizing them while maintaining an innocent face), the minute someone is hurt or sad he is right there to help them.  He has gotten into baseball and I think he will continue to play once Fall rolls around.  Overall, he’s a good boy and I’m so proud of him!

Caitlin: Caitlin is my little reader.  She reads and reads and reads!  We have to make 2-3 trips to the library to keep up with her.  When she is not reading, she is either drawing or writing interesting stories.  She is still a little fish and is the first into the pool and last to get out regardless of the temperature.  She has had several sleepovers this summer and has gotten over the anxiety she felt at the first one (she didn’t end up spending the whole night).  She loves dogs and when she grows up she is determined to be a “chef in Charleston and have lots of dogs”.  I’m all for it and tell her I will be there every weekend to eat and see the puppies.  We have decided to take a trip to Charleston at the end of this month so that she can see the city, which she is so excited about.  Mommy is excited to go back as well . 

Caitlin continues to be my little worrier and before bed every night Matt has to say the following bedtime litany:

“I’ll be in my room or downstairs, I’m not going outside, I’ll be up for a longtime, you can get me if you need me and there are no monsters”.  Sometimes Matt will throw in a “there are lots of monsters” just to see if she is paying attention but she catches him every time! 

Next year she will be going to a new building for school..here they split up the elementary into two separate places-Pre-k through second grade are in the elementary building, and third through fifth are in a different building.  She is, of course, nervous about the change but I know she will do fine. 

The “babies” are all different, and I love each and every one of them very much-Matt and I feel so blessed to have such a sweet little family.