Paying attention

Will, Charlie and I were lounging on the bed after bath time last night, when Will spit out these gems.

-After watching a commercial for a TV series about time traveling, I asked Will if he could go anywhere in time, past or present, where would he go. "Mexico," he said.

-After seeing a commercial for one of the two leading satellite providers, Will said "There really isn't much of a difference between DirecTV and Dish Network, is there?"

Guess not.

Bucks Game

Will exceeded his Jump for Heart (thanks again everyone!) and won a chance to shoot a basket at the Bucks game.

Many thanks to Don Broesch for getting us all tickets to the game. We had a blast.

The Bucks management surprised us all by sending tickets for all of us to shoot a basket. Papa Ken, Nick, Andy, Scott and I each got a chance. Here's a video of Will's prediction on how we'd do:



For the record, only Scott made his shot. I liked the spirit of Will's predictions more though. Here are a few pictures from our outing:

Have brother, Will tattle

Charlie is really ending his "Terrible Twos" with a bang. He's thrown Barney DVDs at the TV, tossed chairs to the ground repeatedly and overall just been a loud, extra whine-y pill.

So, we've been reintroduced to the "time-out" -- much to Will's delight.

Yesterday, I was taking a nap and Will came in to inform me that "Charlie just threw three items. Do you want to come down and put him in time-out?"

When I was getting ready one morning, Charlie wanted my contact case and when I took it away, he expressed his discontent by slamming the drawer in my bathroom repeatedly.

"Stop or you'll have a timeout," I told him within Will's earshot.

Charlie made eye contact and slowly opened the drawer again and pushed it shut, a little more gently this time.

"That's IT!" Will piped up. "Put him in time-out already!"

Will's extremely helpful. I'm only hoping that Charlie's as much of a tattle tale when Will enters his teen years.

Easter 2010

We spent Easter weekend in West Bend this year... lots of fun.

The kids got to go swimming at the hotel pool and we had a nice dinner there as well. On Sunday after church, the boys had a treasure hunt at the condo house and found their Easter baskets in the bathtub!

Later, they found eggs outside. Charlie didn't really want to touch them so he just pointed and inferred that other people should pick them up. Then he just gave up altogether.

Will was a natural, of course, and ended up filling both his and Charlie's baskets.

Here's a few pictures:

The baby got back

For nearly two years, we've been telling Will to be gentle with Charlie, to back away from Charlie, stop smothering Charlie, don't wake up Charlie.

Tired of our ineffective parenting skills, Charlie has taken matters into his own hands.


Will was bouncing on an exercise ball one morning and Charlie sent him sailing with a well placed shove. If Will gets anywhere near the vicinity of the TV while Barney is on, trust me, there's going to be some noise.

And so, we now find ourselves telling Charlie to be nice to Will, not to push Will, stop yelling at Will, and repeatedly informing him that it's OK for Will to be within two feet of him.

Last night as I was putting Charlie to bed, Will came in three times. After each time, I asked Will to please stay out of Charlie's room.

The fourth time he peeked his head in, Charlie very clearly stated, "Stay OUT!"

At least he's using his words.

Total recall

Scott's had to travel a lot recently for work so we've fallen into a sort of "fly by the seat of our pants" policy when it comes to meals.

Today, tired and not in the mood for cooking, shopping or going out to eat, I asked Will to pick our dinner.

"What are the options?"

Well, to be honest, not much.

I deflected the question and asked what he'd had for lunch. I'm sure at some point in this period of single parenthood, it's really just a matter of time before I fall back on hot dogs.

I'd feel a little better about it if he didn't have them for lunch and dinner though.

"Let me think. Oh, I know! We had a choice of either Gogurt or sausage."

What? That doesn't sound right. "Did you have anything else?"

"Nope, I chose sausage. It seemed like more of a meal, you know."

I checked the school lunch menu and they had Brunch for Lunch today: Brunch for Lunch

French Toast
Sausage or Yogurt
Hash Browns
Juice Cup
Muffin

How do we get our hanes on him?

First off, I just have to say that I'm well aware of the dangers of comparing children. Secondly, I can't help it.

Will used the potty way before this point and Charlie remains adamant that he wants nothing to do with it.

With Will, I put out the potty chair and he sat on it and went potty. Charlie nearly did the same thing a few months ago but instead peed on the floor mere inches from the potty.

Progress, but progress in the wrong direction. Since then, he's peed on the floor, in the tub, everywhere EXCEPT in that potty chair.

I've tried to be coy, I've tried bribing. Scott and Will were both forced to sit down and pee "like a big boy" as an example to Charlie.

"Do you want to try now?" I asked after their demonstration.

"NO!"

"Maybe later?"

"NO!"

He almost seems to think it's a joke he's playing on Mommy. He'll make eye contact with me before a bath, sit on the potty for about two seconds, stand up and cheer "YAY!" and then pee all around the potty's perimeter. Perhaps his potty chair has an invisible force field?

Anyway, my new tactic is to have him wear big boy underwear. Having him go with no diaper just seemed to inspire him to "mark his territory", and this seems a reasonable next stage.

As you can see from the photo, he looks adorable. Love those thighs!

Recently seen on Facebook -- Scott edition

March 5
Will, tonight at Dunham's: "It's a good thing I like sports so much. It's either because I play them so much, or because Daddy likes them so much." Made up for Charlie destroying the shoe department.

March 4
Will: "Daddy, you know that Miller Lite commercial? ..." I was concerned -- what he ended up describing was that Buffalo Wild Wings commercial with the basketball game that goes into overtime. Keep your brands straight, son.

March 3
It's already been a good day: Charlie said "Touchdown!" for the first time this morning.

February 27
Today Will kicked my ass in checkers -- legitimately -- then ate more pizza than me for dinner. It's all downhill from here.

February 21
Tried to teach the boys "U-S-A! U-S-A!" this weekend. Will's version: "Amer-i-ca! Amer-i-ca!" Charlie's: "E-E-A! E-E-A!"

February 17
Someone forgot to tell Charlie that Ash Wednesday mass is a solemn affair, darn kid was smiling and giggling most of the time.

February 14
Great moments in road tripping: Will just suggested we have a quiet contest. Seriously.

February 12
Will, this morning; "Daddy, tell me just before we're going to go so I can get ready to party." Sure thing, dude!

Recent utterings from Charlie

"uhh-owwww!" -- touchdown!

"uhh-iiiii!" -- tough guy!

"aassshhh!" -- splash!

"din! din!" -- again! again!

"E-E-A! E-E-A!" -- U-S-A! U-S-A!

"deee! dee!" -- drink! drink!

And, the old reliable:

"Bo!" -- Will!

Fort-ified

The boys and I have been spending a lot of time at the Iola fitness center lately, fighting cabin fever. Sunday we had the whole gym to ourselves, and Will suggested we make a maze out of wrestling mats. Pretty fun!