Prince Charles the Charming

Charlie's second birthday earlier this month coincided with our first parent-teacher meeting at daycare.


The comments we received were not a shocker:

"He loves art projects. He's always the first to the table."

"Charlie doesn't really like it when we turn off Barney."

"He really like fruits and vegetables."

"He's been getting more aggressive."

"When he's mad EVERYBODY knows it."

"Sometimes if we're watching a video that's not Barney, he'll just turn the TV off even though the other kids are watching it."

One thing I noticed as Scott and I talked to the three teachers: Every time we talked about Charlie's not-so-positive quirks, we couldn't help grinning.

Talking about his experiences with time-outs, we all tried to be serious.

Finally one teacher admitted, "It's just so hard for us to stay stern at him. He just gives the cutest looks."

As his mom, I know what she means. But they're professionals! I was counting on them to be immune to his antics :)

Dear Tooth Fairy

Dear Tooth Fairy,

We’re so excited to report that Will lost his FIRST tooth tonight!

Will was so brave and so patient waiting for it to fall out. He’s put it in a plastic bag under his pillow.

I think this is how we did it when I was a little girl, is that still the right procedure?

Thank you!
Jana Tappa
(Will’s mom)


Dear Jana,

How exciting! Will’s FIRST tooth!

That would be just fine to put the tooth in a plastic bag under Will’s pillow. Every family does it a little different but I can usually figure it out.

Tell Will that he will find SIX dollar coins in the bag this morning.

This is an unusually high amount for a tooth (most teeth only get between 25 cents and 1 dollar).

However, the rate for a first tooth is generally higher plus Will has done such a nice job of brushing his teeth every night that I’m giving him this one-time higher rate.

Congratulations to Will on his bravery and fine tooth-brushing (please tell him he could do a little better in the back!)

Thank you,

The Tooth Fairy

Soccer time

Another soccer season is upon us, and Will is back on the pitch. Playing for the Badgers, he was waaaaaay too excited for his first practice. The Badgers might be pretty good. Check out #2, Jayden. Will is a good head taller than him, but he shows good ball skills and fitness.

Long jumpers

Sunday was a beautiful day, so we checked out a new park in Stevens Point. Charlie jumped two inches into a sand play area, which sparked what turned into an eight-kid long jump contest. Jana was wonderful in her role as the chief pit groomer.

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