Oh noodles.

Oh noodles.
"Edee" and "Chicken" are nicknames for my two little rascals. The names originated from how my daughter would pronounce both her own and little brother's name when she first started talking. They've stuck. Chicken may live to regret that someday....

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

My Space

This hotel stay is almost over (Daddy is with the movers right now unloading our stuff in the apartment, but we are still staying one more night here).  I'm ready to leave.

A few minutes ago I was getting Chicken dressed and Edee decided it would be a great time to jump all over me. I'm on edge already because the kids had woke up in the middle of the night for over an hour and then entirely too early this morning.   So the jumping  on my back and "combing" my hair with my cell phone while I'm trying to put pants on a head-butting toddler was a little too much for me.

Me:  "Edee, get off of me now."
Edee: " No, I wanna jump on you."
Me:  "Quit it!!  I need my space!!"
Edee:  "NO!  need your space!"

Honestly, I'm still a little ticked off right now and don't quite find this humorous yet. But it's clever for a two-year-old, and maybe a few days from now I'll laugh about it.




Kidding

Home hunting is not fun with small children.  Not fun for us, not fun for them.   We've been looking for a place to live for the past two weeks and finally settled on an apartment.   It's a pretty nice place with great amenities, but still an apartment nonetheless.  I think it will be a nice change, but I know there will be some difficulties going from owning a two-story home to renting a two bedroom apartment.

We went to sign the lease last night at probably the worst time--around dinnertime.  While Daddy read the fine print, I wrangled the grumpy/hyperactive kids outside in front of the office.   They felt fairly limited in their activities since I wouldn't let them pick flowers, grab and throw mulch, and run out into the parking lot. Finally we settled on gathering little cherry-like berries that had fallen to the ground from an overhead tree. This kept them entertained for about 10 minutes.

Until Edee saw a bush with different berries.

Me:  "Edee, hands off.  Don't touch that bush or those berries."
Edee:  "Awwww.  Mooooommmmy.  You gotta be kiddin' me."
Me: (Did she really just say that to me?) "I'm not 'kidding you.'  I'm serious.  Don't touch them."

A few minutes later she went for the berries again.

Me:  "Edee.  I said 'no'."
Edee:  "Moooooommy.  You gotta be kiddin' me."
Me:  "Edee.  I'm not kidding. I'm serious.  Touch them again and we go inside."
Edee:  "Aww Mommy.  You kiddin' and serious-n' me."

How does she come up with these things which I have no response for?


Spider

We've been staying at a Residence Inn for the past 10 days.  Hotel life has had it's adventures.  I don't mind it much, usually, but I'm getting to the point where having a place of our own just might out-weigh having someone else doing the cooking and cleaning.

Yesterday as the kids and I were getting ready to head out to look at yet another apartment, I noticed a huge, black, menacing spider on the bathroom floor.  I try to be brave about spiders.  I really do.  My bravery usually consists of grabbing the vacuum and sucking the creepy things up (don't tell me how they go on to live in the vacuum and lay eggs or something, that's not how it works in my head.  Out of sight, out of mind).  Since I was short a vacuum, and it's hard for me to fathom getting close enough to kill it, my reaction was instead to squeal and shut the bathroom door.  I was tempted to just leave it for the cleaning lady to deal with when I saw just how large the crack under the door was--the spider could easily escape and be anywhere waiting for us on the dark navy blue carpets.  I couldn't handle that thought.

Edee had been observing my freak out episode.  I was telling her and Chicken to stay away from the bathroom while I got the spider.  Edee could sense my anxiety, so when I opened the door and we found the gross critter,  she yelled, "GET IT, MOMMY!!!  SMASH IT WIT YOU SHOES MOMMY!!  YOU CAN DO IT MOMMY!  SMASH IT!!!"

So I did smash it with my shoe, while screaming and convulsing with disgust and terror.  But my little cheerleader helped give me the courage.  After I had stomped down on it she yelled, "YOU DID IT, YAY MOMMY!", clapped her hands and gave me a high five.  She was so proud of me!

I have a pretty awesome two-year old.

Sibling Rivalry, Part II (read 'Part I' first)

Driving Somewhere in the middle of New Jersey:

Chicken: "Go."
Edee: "I not going anywhere, Chicken!"
Chicken:  "Go."
Edee: "I not going anywhere, Chicken!!!"
Chicken: "......Go."

You can imagine how the rest of our drive through Jersey went.

Sibling Rivalry, Part I

I'm amazed how sibling rivalry between my kids seemed to be there from almost day one of Chicken's birth. I know it's natural for older kids to be jealous of younger ones, but for some reason I thought it would be something that developed over time and not be such an issue with my now one and two-year-old.  

I don't like it....but sometimes it can be pretty darn funny.  

One example was while we were driving a few hundred miles from our old home to our new town.   Long car rides with toddlers aren't always so fun.   There is often a lot of whining and crying and stops at random places (and playgrounds) to change diapers and let little legs run loose. 

This is one of the conversations from the back seat while we were somewhere in Pennsylvania.  Note that Chicken is still a babbler and I'm pretty sure he wasn't saying what Edee claimed he was.  But, I'm fairly confident he knew he had the power to evoke a reaction out of her, and liked it.

Chicken:  "Ma."
Edee:  "I not your mommy, Chicken!!"
Chicken:  "Ma."
Edee:  "I NOT your mommy, Chicken!!"
Chicken:  "..........Ma."
Edee:  "I NOT YOUR MOMMY!!!!"
Chicken:  "..........Ma."
Edee:  "GRRRRRR!!! ARRRGGGGHH!  CHICKEN!!!  I.  NOT.  YOUR.  MOMMY!!!"
Chicken: "............................Ma."

Lather, rinse, and repeat for the next 20 miles.  Welcome to my life.

Sickness

It's been a crazy month in our household.  We are getting ready to move and in the process of trying to pack, sell our house, and find a new place to live.

To add to the madness, Edee became sick on Sunday.  Sickness hasn't made her any less quotable.  We've been hearing several of these:

"I'm yill yick, Mommy."  Translation: 'I'm still sick, Mommy'....just in case I've forgotten.

"I'm yick mommy, I nee anoder mowie."  Sickness is an excuse to rot in front of the T.V. all day in our house I guess.


Later, as Daddy and I were talking:

Daddy: "I wonder how she got sick."
Me:  "Could have been from anywhere or anyone."
Daddy:  "Edee, who do you know who's sick?"
Edee (in a pathetic, sobbing voice, pointing to her chest with both hands):  "MEEEEEEEEE!"