Dirty Belly Buttons

Most nights Alyce gets out of bed once. Most of the time she wants a drink or use the bathroom. Other times she has some weak reason for being up like her closet is open an inch. Tonight about an hour after going to bed she pops out to tell us that her belly button was dirty. The things that go through a child's mind.

Close Enough

On Alyce's birthday we had a little get together at Grams and Papa's as it was Alyce's dance class night. While sitting around the table we were all telling Alyce happy birthday. Luke piped in saying "happy birfday". Alyce immediately responded with "close enough". We all busted up. It appears that Alyce received a sense of humor for her birthday.

Cold Ice Water

Alyce is now old enough and tall enough to get her own cup of water. A cup of water from the water dispenser on our refrigerator. Our fridge also has its freezer on the bottom so Alyce can get ice cubes for her water. All that is left for us to do is to put the cups on her level and she can get water anytime she wants. Not that we want her to do that as we'd have spilled cups of water everywhere.

There is one thing that I find so cute about her getting a glass of water, how she asks for it. When she wants some water she'll come up to Mom or I and ask for some "cold ice water". I don't know why I find it so cute. Maybe it's just because it's funny because most water that has ice in it is going to be cold. I love kids.

Super Swinging

A while ago I caught this video of Alyce swinging. She had found her Super Girl cape earlier in the day and wanted to wear it everywhere. I thought it looked cool blowing behind her.

Rock n Roll

Last weekend while Mom was at a spa night with some ladies from the neighborhood I took the kids over to Josh and Tammy's house for some fun and dinner. I use dinner lightly because between both kids they managed to eat about 4 bites of food. They were having too much fun to slow down enough to have a bite to eat.

Post dinner Alyce got up on the fireplace to entertain. She grabbed a guitar and sang some songs. She used an electric guitar at first but took a liking to the acoustic. Most of her songs were her babbling words and humming but there was one song about rock n roll where she just said "rock n roll" over and over again.


I had to take a video just in case 30 years from now when she's a big star and on the Jay Leno show they can pull up this video showing her humble beginnings. It's a long shot but you never know.

Oh

Last night Alyce gave everyone a good laugh. Alyce and Luke were over at Gram's and Papa's house for quiet time so Mom and I could go see a movie. Following the movie and dinner it was time for us to go. As we were putting the kids in the car I lowered all the windows to vent out the hot air in the car. Alyce must have not noticed the windows being rolled down because she started yelling to Mom and I "I can't roll down my window"! As the last word was rolling off her lips she reached up to touch or hit the glass.  Much to her surprise her hand went right through where the window would have been and outside the car. Immediately after we hear Alyce say in a sheepish voice "oh".

What Will You Be When You Grow Up

Last week I asked Alyce what she was going to be when she grew up. Her answer was "A builder and a mommy". I was expecting her to say builder. The addition of mommy was a surprise. For a while she said she wanted to be a builder like Bob from the Bob the Builder tv show. I'm not sure when she decided to be a mommy too.

Just today Alyce asked Mom a question out of the blue. She asked, "Who's going to be the mommy while I'm being the builder?". A very astute observation. Mom answered by saying that she would need to hire a baby sitter. Alyce then said the she'd be the mommy when she got home.

I approve of Alyce wanting to be a builder. It's a good field. I'd like her to be the head of construction for a neighborhood development. It would be an interesting job that would require a college education. I'm guessing Alyce just wants to drive the construction equipment like Bob. In a few months she'll change her mind and want to be something else. That's ok she's got a few years before she heads off to Missouri State University.

S'nores

Today when I got home from work I asked Alyce how her day at school was.  After a brief conversation Mom asked Alyce if she would tell me what their snack was.  Alyce, when she doesn't know the answer to something says "you know" and our usual response is "no we don't.  How about you tell us?".  Mom ended up whispering the answer "s'mores" to Alyce.  A few seconds later Alyce pipes up and says "s'nores!".  That was too cute to correct her so Mom and I let it go.  I then asked her to describe what a s'nore was.  She said it was some chocolate and a marsh mellow between two crackers.  When asked if it was yummy Alyce said yes.

At Alyce's school this week they are learning about camping.  Naturally s'mores come up in the conversation.  Today the boys hung out in one tent and the girls hung out in another.  As per Alyce the girl tent was a castle and it was for girls and not for boys.  Later in the week we are to bring in a sleeping bag and a flashlight if we have them.  We didn't have one for her but one trip to Walmart and $10 later we are the proud owner of a pink polka dot sleeping bag.

Next week are the end of the year festivities.  There is messy art day, water fun day, and family picnic day.  FYI grand parents reading this blog.  You are invited to family picnic day too!  May 23rd if you're interested.

After we got the sleeping bag we asked Alyce if she wanted to go camping outside.  She said no and that she wanted to go camping in her room instead.

This One Has Lots of Words

Tonight was my night to put Alyce to bed. One step in the going to bed routine is to read a story. Mom and I give her carte blanche on the story she chooses. We do try and steer her towards ones that are short or don't have a lot of words per page. Tonight, however, I wasn't so lucky. She picked out a book that we just purchased and I wasn't sure how long or complicated it was. Well it turns out the book has lots of pretty colorful pictures but it also has lots of pages and lots of words. To top it off level of reading is probably for a 3rd to 4th grader and not a preschooler. But I decided to be a good dad and trudge through the book.

About a third of the way through the book I look over and Alyce is bored out of her mind. I ask her if she liked the story and she said "this one has lots of words". I agreed with that it did and I asked if she'd like a new story. She agreed and we read a new book about a dog named Biscuit. The adventures of Biscuit are more more appropriate for a 4 year old.

Howdy Do

This weekend Alyce dug up an old cowboy hat and was wearing it around the house. At one point she was standing on the bench my father made her. While up there I said to her "hi little lady" in a cowboy voice. She then took of her hat, held it off to her side, curtsied, and replied "how dee do" with a Southern accent.

Kids can be so funny sometimes.

That's Poop

Apologies for the title of this post but none other is really appropriate. Alyce has been very much into artwork lately. So much so that we got a note from her teacher saying how good she was at art and that it was her favorite subject.

A few days ago as I was leaving to go to work Mom and Alyce were busy painting a picture of a caterpillar that was sitting in front of them.


That night after I got home, during dinner, I asked her how her caterpillar turned out. She ran and got it for me off of the refrigerator.


Her recreation of the subject was impressive. I'd call it watercolor impressionism. I noticed one extra circle on the backend of the caterpillar. Talking to Mom earlier I knew that Alyce had run out of room to put a head on the caterpillar and that she gave up and put it on the other side leaving half a head on the bug's rear end. I asked Alyce what each part of the caterpillar was. She showed me the head and the body. When I pointed to the blob at the rear Alyce said without missing a beat "that's poop!". Mom and I just howled! Alyce and Luke looked on not knowing what was so funny.

I love kids

At the Car Wash

A few weeks ago we had a break from the Winter chill and the people of the neighborhood left their caves.  We, like everyone else in the neighborhood took the opportunity to wash the months of salt and grime off of our cars.  While I washed my car Alyce and Luke were in quiet time or taking naps.  As I finished with my car Alyce came outside asking if she could help wash Mom's car.  I agreed and got a little helper.

First we needed some new soapy water.  I let Alyce pour in some solution and she operated the hose to make the bubbles.  Next I gave her a sponge and sent her off to wash the car.  She did one side while I did the other.  When it was time to wash off a section of the car I walked around and looked at Alyce's work.  Needless to say she missed a few spots.  She was very much enjoying herself and she wasn't getting in my way so I allowed her to continue.  When it was time to spray off her sections I let her shoot while I held the hose behind her like a fireman.  When it was time for me to spray Alyce took position behind me and held the hose for me.

During one spray session Alyce's aim wandered and she started showering me with water.  I lightly protested this and rather than turning the hose away she continued to shoot me giggling the whole time.

I very much enjoyed my time with Alyce washing the car.  It was cool that she was so willing to help me.

Amateur Photographer

Mom and I didn't know it but Alyce is an aspiring photographer.  Since Mom upgraded her iPhone to an iPhone 4 Alyce has been the recipient of her old one.  We took the SIM card out of it so it no longer makes telephone calls but it makes for a great device to watch movies and play games.  iPhones also have built in cameras and we hadn't thought to look at the list of photos as we didn't think Alyce knew how to use the camera.

Mom and I a few days ago while upgrading the phone took at look at the photos and were greeted by album upon album of pictures.  Most of them were taken during her quiet time at both the old house and the apartment.  Some have a obvious subject and others were taken while she was under her sheets.

The best pictures in the album were of the princesses on one of her books.  The cover is a picture of all of the princess but with each exposure Alyce focused on a different princess.  They were surprisingly well composed.  If finger painting doesn't work out for her perhaps she should try her hand at photography.

Can't Keep a Secret

Last week the first of my gifts for Mom arrived in the mail.  I'm ok to write about it since she told me what she wanted and saw the box before I got home.  Alyce was also there when the box arrived and wanted Mom to immediately to open it.  Mom delayed her because it had my name on it and said they needed to wait until I came home.  As I walked in the door Alyce runs up to me telling me there is a box for me and that I should open it.

I told her that we could open it but we had to do it upstairs because Mommy couldn't see it.  Upstairs I took the present out of the box and showed it to Alyce.  Alyce exclaimed that is was "very pretty".  I told her that it was a present for mommy from Luke and her and that we couldn't tell her what she was getting as it was going to be a surprise.

Following our quick little discussion Alyce went back downstairs.  Mom in jest asked Alyce what was in the box.  Alyce responded excitedly "it's a necklace for you"!  Note to self; 4 year olds can't keep secrets.

Making Her Own Stories

In the past few days I've noticed a change in Alyce; she is starting to make her own stories.  Last night we cooked dinner over at Gram's and Papa's and they handed me a piece of junk mail that had my name on it but their address.  Most likely because we forwarded a few magazines to their house while we are living in the apartment and our new information hit a junk mail list.  When we got home Alyce asked if she could open up my mail and I agreed she could.  The junk mail was an advertisement for a home security system and one of the pages at the top there was a picture of a fire truck and a police car.  Alyce, sitting in my lap pointed out the police car and fire truck and described aspects about them such as fire trucks are loud.  She then proceeded to turn the page over to the blank side and started talking like she was reading a book even through there was nothing there.  The story she was telling focused on firetrucks that were red, were loud, and come by our house every day.  The story was only a few sentences long but every time she'd tell it she would add another aspect to it like there being more than one fire truck or police cars driving by too.

Earlier in the night while at the dinner table we were all talking about something that isn't important to the story with each person getting a turn to talk.  When it became Alyce's turn to talk she started going off on some tangent where most of her words either didn't make sense or were being mumbled.  This went on for maybe 20 seconds with the rest of the table just staring at her like lobsters were coming out of her ears.  After those 20 seconds she just stopped, looked at us, and said "I'm gonna be funny.  Bwak, bwak, bwak".  "Bwak" being the sound a chicken makes.  And while she is making her chicken noises she puts her hands in her armpits and flaps her arms like a chicken.  It was hilarious!  After she finished she asked the rest of us to do it too so going around the table we all made chicken noises, flapped our arms, and Alyce giggled the entire time.

Alyce is now making her own stories and her own humor.  I give the credit to her being older and to preschool.  I think her being in a structured environment with teachers trained in educating preschoolers has done wonders for her development.  I couldn't be prouder of her.

That's Not Food

Tonight was my night to get Alyce ready for bed. When it was time to get her into her jammas we couldn't find them. While looking around the house Alyce says "I didn't eat them. They are not food".

Jammas. They are not food.

You're Always Taking My Stuff

Even though I wrote in the past that Alyce and Luke are nice to each other and can even be friends there are times when yeah, not so much.  A while ago while we were still in our old house Alyce was playing with something while sitting on the blue chair in the living room.  Luke had been pestering her off and on all day by taking something she had and running off with it.  After a while Alyce had had enough and blurted out "Luke, you're always taking my stuff!".  Of course Luke didn't care what she had to say and proceeded to try and take what she had in her hands.

I don't remember at the time whether or not she pushed him to keep him away but sometimes she does do that.  And that usually leads to some naughty corner time for Alyce.  The one exception to the naughty corner is that a few times she has pushed Luke while we weren't around and Luke's cries bring us into the room.  We ask Alyce if she pushed him and she tells us the truth that she had.  To encourage telling the truth we have her tell Luke she is sorry and give him a hug.  I'm hoping that the truthfulness will last, but who am I kidding?  I was a kid once.

Who Needs Expensive Toys?

A while ago I took this picture of Alyce playing with her laundry hamper.  She was crawling inside of it, closing the top, and jumping out of it like a birthday cake.  Some of the time instead of jumping out she'd just fall over into pile of giggling little girl.  Who needs to buy expensive toys when a laundry basket is tons of fun.

Yours Has More Power

Just recently Mom and I updated our phones.  Mom has had an iPhone for close to 2 years and I just picked up my first one.  When it comes to kids owning an iPhone is probably the best tool in the box to keep your kids entertained.  You can upload movies to it, watch cartoons on YouTube, and play video games.  When Mom first had her phone and Alyce was 2ish Alyce would watch Roadrunner cartoons while we ate dinner in peace.  From cartoons she graduated to Disney movies and now she's moved onto apps.  Some apps are simple and silly and others require a little bit on intelligence.

When Alyce was younger her favorite application was Peekaboo Barn.  This app would show a red barn that was shaking.  When you pressed on the doors they would open up, show an animal, the animal would make a noise, and a kid would say the name for the animal.  You could set up the application so that when it reached the end of the animals it would start over with the first.  Brilliant!

The second application that Alyce took a liking too was Shape Builder.  Shape Builder gives you an picture and breaks it up into individual shapes.  Your job is to drag those shapes into their appropriate positions.  A simple puzzle game where you match shapes rather than the picture.  Alyce still gets some use out of this one but her interest has been waning.  I'm thinking because she's seen all the shapes and is getting bored.

Now that Mom and I have new iPhones Mom's old iPhone has been re purposed as the kids gaming machine.  This works well for everyone because Alyce can't break our phones and we can keep most of the kids applications from cluttering up ours.

Last weekend we were at Gram's and Papa's and Alyce was playing a game on her new old phone.  She was sitting in my lap and I was helping her play the game.  After 5 minutes or the screen goes black as the battery has run down on Alyce's device.  I tell Alyce that we can't play the game anymore because the batteries have died.  Her response to me was "yours has more power" and then looked at me expectantly.  Everyone burst into to laughter.  As Alyce is getting older it is becoming obvious that we can't pull the wool over her eyes like we used to.  I hear once your kids are able to read and spell you lose the last trick in the bag to keep information from them.

Funny Things Alyce Says

Alyce says the funniest things sometimes.  A lot of the things she says are hilarious because they are so innocent;  innocent but true.  In the past few days she said two things that got both Mom and I to burst into laughter.  When Alyce said them and we started laughing she laughed too but to look in her eyes I don't think she understood why it was funny just that it was.

The first thing she said that was funny was a few nights ago I sang a few lines from the opening song of a new t.v. show that Alyce is watching, Wonder Pets.  Wonder Pets is a pretty cool show in that there are three animals a baby duck, guinea pig, and turtle that go and help other animals.  Throughout the entire show the Wonder Pets are singing their dialog.  Naturally these songs get into your head but you can't remember all the lyrics so at dinner I sang to myself "wonder pets wonder pets blah blah blah" to the melody of the song.  Alyce breaks into my blahs by saying "daddy, those aren't the right words".

The second funny thing Alyce said was also a few nights ago while the family was eating tacos.  I like my tacos very hot and put on lots of sauce, however, I have a reaction to that sauce that causes me to sweat profusely.  So I'm finishing my first taco, sweat is beading on my forehead, and Alyce states "daddy you have water on your head.  Where did it come from?"  Try explaining that to a 3 year old.

I love all the questions she asks and things she says.  You never know what she will say next.