Milo... in the lap of luxury

This morning Milo said he wasn't feeling too good. I had a few things to do at the office so I asked if he wanted to come with me instead of going to school. He said he did, so we grabbed some DVD's and headed in.

It wasn't long before Milo have started feeling a little better. After a couple of episodes of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles he said "Dad, after I finish my soda I'd like my snack." His tone was not that far removed from how you would expect the Master of the house to relay an order to his butler.

Good Lord, do I really wait on him that much?

Joey @ Christmas

A few Joey moments on Christmas...

1 - On Christmas Eve while mommy was out shopping I let Joey and Milo color with some Crayola washable markers. Joey decided to test Santa's tolerance by eating a few of the marker tips and coloring the carpet in addition to the paper. FYI - For those who have yet to learn this the hard way... Crayola's washable markers are EXACTLY what they claim to be and it cleaned right up.

Joey helped by taking the brush attachment and brushing the carpet by hand.

2 - After the kids were tucked in, Milo went right to sleep. Joey was a bit more restless and I had to go back into their room a couple of times to remind him that Santa won't come if he's still awake.

As I tucked him in I mistakenly tried to hype up Christmas by whispering things like "Joey you need to sleep because Santa's going to come and we'll have presents and pancakes and we'll watch 'Jack Skellington...'" (code for Nightmare before Christmas) Joey's eyes opened wide and he sat up and shouted "Watcha Batman?"

The second time I had to go into the room I tucked him in again and said in a much more calming tone "Joey, you have to go to sleep." Joey replied "I hate sleep!"... then he paused and leaned forward to kiss my forehead as if to say "Dear man, bless your heart for trying... but there's no possible way you'll ever get me to sleep."

3 - Joey has been playing around on the stairs to our apartment a little more than he should. On Christmas day we went outside to ride our bikes and Joey was laying on his stomach and sliding down the concrete steps feet-first. He stopped at the 2nd to the last step, stood up and turned to run... and missed the one and only step he had to make. He hit the ground with a thud... his torso, right arm, and right cheek taking the brunt of the impact. Joey was crying. Now, I'm from the school of parenting where when a child takes a spill like this one crying is a good sign and NOT crying is a bad one. So I scooped Joey up and put his head on my shoulder to comfort him. Within a few minutes he was calm and after a hug from mommy he went off to play some more... but not before hearing an "I told you so" from his old man.

Yes, the kids are both handfuls at times, but they can make up for it very quickly. For every time I have to clean up a mess or chase after my boys in a parking lot, I remind myself that there are many parents whose children are in hospitals (or even worse) and I think about what they would give for an extra minute with their kids... no matter how trying they can be.

Sometimes it's easy to forget just how much we really have.

Who needs formal education?

Milo can now tell time.

Smart little boy? Nah...

He just just tells me things like: "In twenty minutes, 'Batman' will be on."

Never mind using a clock, just let voice-overs do the work for you!

[Disclaimer: Photo was self-taken.]

The Best Table in the House

On Friday we went to Waterloo Ice House for dinner. We asked Milo where he wanted to sit and he walked around for a bit and then decided on a table in a high-traffic area on the other side of where we normally sit.

I'm always wanting to know what's behind his motivations, so I asked him why he chose this particular table.

"This one has TWO ketchups!" was his response.

Punch and Joey

Chapter 1 -

The wee hours of Wednesday morning found daddy sleeping on the couch. Joey came out to snuggle and watch some tv. Milo joined us as well.

As mommy started her morning, Joey ate his breakfast and then walked back over to the couch and placed a double-fisted hammer punch square on daddy's nose while daddy had his eyes closed.

There was no blood, but it was still a little sore on Thursday.

I guess he thought that would be funny.



Chapter 2 -

Tonight after we put the kids down for the evening, Joey and Milo did their usually playing around after we said goodnight. I had to go back into their room once and found them both sleeping on the floor. Again, nothing unusual.

During The Daily Show we heard the door open slowly and Joey walked out and announced "Milo crying" like Lassie sharing one of little Timmy's mishaps.

We went in to investigate and sure enough Milo was sitting on the floor in the dark sniffing and moaning.

Thinking that maybe he had just gotten scared, we asked him what was wrong. He wailed "Joey hit me the nose!"

(Joey had forgotten to share that part of the story)

A Team Sport

Last night, the boys sat side-by-side, eating spaghetti, apples, and bread. Joey was messing around with his bread, so I told him he should share it with Milo.

Joey and Milo went back and forth, sharing the bread. At some point, the bread was gone. And some time passed. Milo noticed the bread was gone.

Milo: Where did the bread go?

Mommy: You were sharing it with Joey and finished it.

*pause*

Milo: Yay! We won! (pause) Hi-Five, Joey!

And they celebrated. It was awesome.

[photo seen to add visual image of "teamwork"]

Giving Thanks

In the car ride home, where it seems Milo is at his best, we had the following conversation-

Milo: We can have Halloween everyday!

Mommy: Halloween is only one time a year. Thanksgiving is next.

Milo: Yeah! We can give thanks for Halloween!

And, I suppose, we could!