Morning bath, anyone?

Last night we could not get the boys down, they played, wrestled and laughed for what seemed like all night.

This morning, once again, we are up at 5 am. Nyle is exhausted, but is up and not giving up his position. There was a small indication that he might be ready for a nap when he asked for his bed. I found that out the hard way that he was not ready. Fifteen minutes after I put him back into his room I heard him. Coming to check on Nyle, I found Tyler standing in the hallway, half-sleeping-half-crying. It turns out, Nyle climbed out of his crib, got a hold of Tyler's water cup and dumped it all over Tyler's bed, getting his brother soaked in the process. Poor kids did not know what hit him.
So now, Tyler is changed and, hopefully, asleep in a dry bed while Nyle is still up and watching his "dobowe". That's what he calls Little Einstein videos, though we can not figure out what dobowe actually means.

Nyle on the Loose

Now that Nyle can get out of his crib, he's on an insane schedule.  This morning he was up at 5am.  He and Tyler didn't stop playing around until about 10pm last night.  So first thing in the morning I was planning out when we will force him to take a nap.  No need, as it turns out.

After I gave Nyle some breakfast of Cherrios, he came out of the high chair and said "bed" as he made his way to the stairs.  I followed him up and he went to his bed.  At first I thought he just wanted to wake Tyler up (who now shares a room with him).  He wouldn't lay down and would just watch me go out of the room. Through a cracked door I watched him climb in and out of his crib and then finally go to sleep in the bed Mom made him last night.

I Love the Kids

I looked at a piece of paper that Nyle colored in nursery.  It was colored carefully, obviously not done by a one-year-old.  I don't keep these things anyway, but in this case it made me think of some kind adult helping Nyle color.  I realize that I love these kids so much, and I relish even in the idea of someone patiently showing them kindness.

Nyle is really a charmer---and a troublemaker.

Tyler will remember Jesus

Today in church, in a very matter of fact way:
"I'll always remember Jesus,... and I'm not going to forget him,... so I don't need to have sacrament."

Lydia a Grown-up

Lydia is now to the age where she gets even my (slightly) more subtle jokes.  Like today after a long battle to get Lydia and Tyler to eat their dinner, Lydia finally finished and I asked if she was completely done.  She looked at her plate.  Then I held it right up to my eye and said, "let me see."  She burst out laughing historically, with no hesitation.  "You can't even see anything that close to your eye....  It's not like you want me to eat a little speck or something."  She could hardly even get the words out.

It's fun that I can have a conversation with her.  She's so full of knowledge and understanding.

I can also see how much she loves to observe Nyle.  She watches him with adoration.

Tyler's a kindergardener

Last week Tyler and I went to Elementary school for a kindergarten orientation. We dropped of Lydia and Nyle at our friend's house. I worried that Tyler would want to stay there with them. As he was hisitating about leaving for the open house, Lydia came up with the best save. She told Tyler that they always have cookies for the new kindergartners. Tyler made no further complaints.

In school, we visited Tyler's future classroom, met his teacher-to-be and found out who his class mate will be. One of Tyler's good friends from pre-school was in his class which was a happy moment for the kids and the parents. I could tell that little girl will help keep Tyler in line.

Tyler was kind of quiet through the whole thing. He wanted me to be right with him when we went on a walking tour. Lucky for me, he did not drag me into the school bus when kids went for a ride around the school. Overall, he enjoyed his experience. He loved seeing kids he knew while they all ate snacks in the cafeteria at the very end of the orientation.

When we came home, Tyler told everyone that there were no cookies. But he loved wearing the shirt with his name tag from the orientation. He put the same shirt the next day. Then at breakfast, he asked if he was going to Lydia's school that day. We had to explain that he will go to school after Lydia has her birthday. So he wore his shirt with name tag that day and made sure to point it out to people.