On a Rolo

The other day, I told Will that he was doing a great job listening and going to bed and staying in bed.

"You've stayed in bed the last two nights and you've had no time-outs. Great job!" I told him.

"I'm going to do it again tonight," he said. Then, he swiveled his hips Elvis-style, pumped his fists in the air and declared, "I'm on a roll!"

Well, truth is, he has been on a roll. He's even started providing himself with incentives for good behavior.

This morning as we were walking into the school, he showed me a Rolo candy and said, "I'm going to try to not have any time-outs and do a good job listening and if I do, I'm going to have this, OK?"

"Cool! So you're not going to have any time-outs and you're going to listen all day?"

"No, Mommy. I said I'm going to try."

I'm curious to see if just "trying" gets him the Rolo or not.

School days, school days

"I just can't wait until Charlie and I can go to Kindergarten together," Will said in the car on the way home yesterday.

"Well, you guys won't be in Kindergarten at the same time," Scott said. "When Charlie's in Kindergarten, you'll be in 3rd grade."

"WHAT?!? Third grade? Third grade is HARD! You have to do math and science and ex-spear-ments. I can't do all that! Third grade is too much work!"

We tried to find out who had scared the love of learning right out of him but he couldn't recall.

The whole conversation did bring to mind that old song we used to sing ...

Kindergarten babies.
First grade tots.

Second grade angels.
Third grade snots.

Fourth grade peaches.
Fifth grade plums.

All the rest
are dirty bums.

No doubt Will's new-found fear was inspired by a third-grade snot.

Of course, I am a bit protective of my Kindergarten baby.

New Blue Eyes

Smooth moves

Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal" came on the other day when we were in the van so I told Will about how his Uncle Nick did an amazing garter dance to that song at his and Sara's wedding.

Instead of being impressed, Will started questioning me about what made Uncle Nick's dancing so good.

"What did he do? What were his moves?" he asked.

"Hmmmm. I don't know. He was just a real smooth operator," I said.

"Is he a better dancer than me? Has he seen me dance?"

"Um, well, you're both good. I'm sure you could teach each other some great moves."

So, Nick, here's a video of Will's first dancing lesson: The Limbo (which he also calls his Hawaiian dance).

Mr. Socks

Turn Charlie loose in a pile of socks ...

Science is fun!

One of Will's Christmas gifts was a Magic School Bus chemistry kit. Santa's intent with the gift, we imagine, is to help spur Will's interest in science by performing some simple experiments with household items.

Early results are positive. The below experiment was pretty cool. We mixed yeast, sugar, and warm water in a test tube, then put a balloon over it. Lo and behold, it inflated! Reading to Will in bed, I told him to go downstairs and check on it. Seconds later, he yelled "Daddy! Daddy! You've got to see this!"

When I went to move the test tubes, the balloon slipped off and wet yeast got all over my hands. Ewwwww ...

Let it go already

We've been going through another round of "behavior boot camp" at our house. When Will turned four, I started calling it "the terrible twos times two." But, oh, that was a long seven months ago.

So, this morning, Will decided to jump on the couch. I told him not to jump on the couch. He continued to jump on the couch. I repeated, "No jumping on the couch. Stop right now."

"No," he said. "I don't want to stop."

Little punk...

Up the stairs, to Will's room. I'd like to stay I escorted him up there, but he's getting big and by the end I was sort of carrying/dragging him.

Next, he pulled a trick out his Auntie Sara's book and slammed the door in my face. (Sara did this so many times, Will's Grandpa actually took the door off the hinges. Mind you, she was closer to 14 than 4.)

I opened the door and said, "No TV. No TV at all today."

Scott and I didn't let Will watch TV for his earliest formative years. A decision we stand by. One unfortunate by-product is that it's now his favorite thing to do. We limit him to mornings during the week and we're pretty liberal on the weekends (mostly because sometimes we just would like him to sit still.)

So, no TV is a pretty big deal to Will on a Saturday. (I think it was a pretty big deal to Scott too, I think I heard him groan when I announced the punishment.)

Anyway, the slamming stopped and I went back downstairs to resume updating the baby books. Not long after, Will came down the stairs and went into the basement. Then he collected his colored pencils and paints and went back to his room.

A few minutes later, he came down with a beautiful picture he painted for me. He asked if I'd help him paint one for his Daddy too.

We had a really nice time and it seemed we were on the right track until an hour or so later when Scott came downstairs. I told him, "Will's not going to watch TV today."

Will looks at me with saucer-eyes and says, "WHAT?!?"

"Remember when you weren't listening and slammed the door?"

"Yeah," he says, pointing to the painting he made for me. "I thought you were going to let that go ..."

Brothers

Christmas isn't done yet!

Found this cute picture on one of our memory cards ... it's rare, since Charlie didn't like having the Santa hat on very much!

Happy New Year ... Happy Old Memories

Found a few videos ... all are within a few months of Will turning two.