All I Want for Christmas...

Approximately a week or so ago, Billy and I were discussing with the kids what items they wanted to ask Santa for this year.  At the time, Tyler wanted the Doris Tyrannasaurus and Buddy interactive dinosaurs from the show Dinosaur Train.  (Now he wants the Night Fury dragon from How to Train your Dragon).  Allison most wants a "Cookie Bake Oven" (translation - Easy Bake Oven).  Ryan just wants to pull all the ornaments off our Christmas tree!  There are other requests of course, but we were just discussing what would be at the very TOP of their lists.
At the end of the discussion, Allison wanted to know what would be at the top of her Daddy's Christmas list...

Allison:  Daddy, what do you want for Christmas?
Billy:  I want all my stress to go away.
Allison:  No, what do you want for CHRISTMAS???
Billy:  That is what I want.  For all my stress to go away.
I think Allison asked her question even a time or two more, not being able to comprehend her Daddy's wish, but finally moved on when his answer didn't change.

Now, fast forward to this morning at our church's Breakfast with Santa.  After Allison sat on Santa's lap and told him she wanted her Cookie Bake Oven on Christmas morning, she came back to our table and started coloring.  A few minutes passed and someone came over and started talking to Allison...

Bro. S: Hey Pretty Girl (Billy calls her this all the time, so a couple of people have followed suit).  Did I hear you wanted an Easy Bake Oven for Christmas?
Allison:  Yep.....And Daddy wants all his stress to go away.

Precious.  Absolutely precious.

Little Caesar

Allison saw this guy as we were driving down the road the other day,

and he seemed to really make an impression...

"Mommy!  I saw a guy with a pizza on his tummy...

and SPINICH in his EARS!!!"

A Little Thursday Cuteness

Allison (on the very HOT walk to the bus stop to pick up Tyler):  I wish our feet was a rocket!  (In other words, it's too bad we can't get this over with a bit more quickly!)

Tyler (after overhearing me ask Billy a question about the iPad):

Mommy, iPad NEVER dies!  I've heard about it on T.V.

Another Budding Artist

Remember the culprit behind this work of art back in October of 2008???

Yeah, that was Mr. Tyler's first experiment with an ink pen.

Well...

Now we have a different culprit.

And a different canvas.

But the same old ink pen.

She went to the bathroom.  I heard her singing and laughing (and no, this didn't make me suspicious because these are not uncommon things for her to be doing).  Then she came back not even 2 minutes later looking like this.  I couldn't help but laugh!

For some reason, Allison urgently wants Auntie Vanessa to see these pictures of her.  She created this work of art yesterday and has been bugging me to get them on here ever since.  Her exact words were, "I really want Auntie to see me like this!"  So I hope it gives you your laugh for the day Auntie!

P.E. Day

While discussing Tyler's day with Daddy at dinner tonight...

Me:  Tyler had P.E. today.
Billy: Oh really?
Tyler: Yeah!  I went to the gym.  And they said P.E. stands for Physical Evalation!

Cute boy!

Keep scrolling to read all about his first day!

FREE is hard to come by...

Me (after enjoying a free Roly Poly sandwich):  Man, that was good.  Especially since it was free!  I wonder how many people just threw those free sandwiches in the trash.
Tyler:  They threw sandwiches in the trash?!
Me:  Well, they threw the coupon in the trash.  I had a coupon that gave me a free sandwich, and I bet lots of people threw the coupon away.  But I got to have mine for FREE!  Can you believe it???
Tyler: *gasp* No!  I've seen NOTHING for free!!!

Just Couldn't Take it Any Longer

Bless her heart.  I think she fell asleep mid-bite.  She's just recovering from a nasty stomach virus and hasn't eaten much over the past week.  So when she wanted a snack before bedtime, I couldn't turn her down.  Looks like it was more than she could handle!  :)

A Bigger Family Tree

Tyler was explaining to Allison that he was going to marry his cousin Keilana when they were older.  Upon hearing this statement, I jumped in on the conversation.  The rest of it went as follows:

Me:  No, you can't marry Lana, because you can't marry your cousin.
Tyler:  Why not?
Me:  Because she's part of your family, and we don't marry family members.
Tyler:  But she's Quan.
Me:  I know.  But that's still part of our family.
Tyler:  Ohhhh.  So is Grandma and Pawpaw?
Me:  Yep.
Tyler:  And Grandpa?
Me:  Yeah, and Kandee...
Tyler:  ...and the guy she lives with?  (This is another cute story for another day.) :)
**At this point Tyler goes on listing family members names, and I confirm each one.**
Tyler (in a very awe struck voice):  Wooooow!  That's like almost EVERYbody!

Tyler's Creatures

Tyler has always been fascinated with seasons.  Winter has always been his most favorite.  Afterall, it's the season that has Christmas and his birthday, and on occasion brings him snow.  But he's almost always just as excited for summer to roll around.  I think it ranks as a VERY close 2nd to winter.  In the summer, he looks forward to swimming (he is such a little fish!) and all the creatures that can be found.

He absolutely loves catching, observing, and playing with a number of little creatures.  Fireflies, lizards, turtles, frogs, insects...  You name it and he's probably caught one at some point.  We have to sit out and catch fireflies pretty regularly.  He has a net and "bug catcher" for this very purpose.  He won't stop catching them until all their little glows have faded into the trees.  Then his blinking bug catcher goes to bed with him, and I have permission to release them once he's asleep.  He's a pretty proficient little firefly catcher too.  If you're on facebook, you may have read his firefly story from last week.  If not, here's what it said:

"After running some errands, we got home when fireflies were lighting up the sky. Tyler stayed outside for a few minutes to catch some. About 5 min later he comes running in looking for his bug catcher. He finds it and starts emptying the contents of his little fist into the container. I'm expecting 4 MAYBE 5...but... he caught 17! Amazingly, most all of them were still alive and kicking!"

Tyler also names all his creatures.  And before releasing them back into the wild, we have to take pictures to remember them by (with the exception of the fireflies).  A week or so ago we found Feisty the turtle.  He got this name because he wasn't scared of anything and would keep moving even when being held.  I don't think I saw him go inide his shell even once the whole time he was in our posession.  Feisty got to hang around and play for a day and a half before I decided he might need something more than leaves, grass, and water to keep him alive.

FYI - Tyler was recovering from some sort of break-out (rash? allergic reaction? virus? I'm not sure...) on his face.

Then just the other night, he caught Slip the frog.  We put him in a bowl with holes cut in the lid, but I'm thinking Slip wasn't feeling the love.  We only kept him captured for a couple hours before his release. 

(Please excuse the blurry photos, but he was still inside the bowl.  It was dark out when it was time to release him, so I took the photos inside.  Call me crazy, but I insisted that Slip stay in the bowl while inside the house.  The last thing I want is a frog hopping around my house at bedtime!)

And is it just me or is Mr. Slip slipping me the finger in this next one...

I guess he took the bowl thing personal.

Or it could have been the flashing camera in his face...

Sorry Slip.  It was for the boy.

A Month of Discoveries

Well, he's 8 months old.  Can you even believe it?!  I can't!  Ryan was actually sick the day he turned 8 months. He had been running fever for a few days so I decided to take him to the doctor. It just turned out to be a virus, of course. But my reason for telling this is because they weighed him at his visit, and he is now 20 pounds!  He has no teeth yet, but I think the two front ones on the bottom may be working on breaking through soon.
Ryan's past month has been full of discovery after discovery.  He's at the stage of finding and getting into EVERYthing!

Ryan made his first big discovery just a few days after turning 7 months old.  After venturing past his normal crawling zone, he just happened upon Riley's dog food bowl.  There has been no keeping him away ever since!  No matter how many times Billy and I removed him and took him back into the sunroom, Ryan was crawling right back around the corner at full speed to go straight back! I finally caved and let him explore. This time, he approached the bowl very cautiously. He'd crawl a bit closer, stop, and peek his little head around the corner to see if he could spot it.

Once there, he enjoyed raking the food out onto the floor. Amazingly enough, he didn't splash in the water even once. This shocks me because he LOVES splashing in the bath tub. I guess the dog food was way more intruiging!

Then a couple days later he found the stairs. All of a sudden I hear Tyler announce, "Moooooooooooommy! Ryan's climbing the staaaaaaairs." He had only made it to the 2nd step and I pulled him away. About a week later, Ryan made it all the way to the top while Daddy followed along behind to spot him. Lucky for me, our stairs are in a pretty inconspicuous part of our house, so Ryan doesn't locate them on a regular basis.

His most recent discovery was the tissue box....

Can you tell he was having himself a good old time?!

Ryan has also been "cruising" along the furniture for a couple weeks now.  And lately he's even getting brave enough to let go of what he's holding onto in an attempt to stand up all by himself.  He isn't quite coordinated or strong enough to do it just yet, but it doesn't keep him from trying!  (And at this rate, I'm sure it won't take long!)

There really is NO holding this kid down.  He's deteremined to be up and at 'em!  Remember the highly secured seat we transitioned to???  Uh, yeah...

We were eating dinner the other night, I took like 5 steps to the kitchen and back, and found him doing this!
I guess he's getting strapped to the chair now.

Dentist Visits

I would apologize for this being long, but I bet you get that about me by now. I can't help it. I just like to be thorough. We recently got finished with a series of 5 dentist visits for Tyler and Allison in approximately a month and a half. Here's the saga (and a little background knowledge to go with it!).

Tyler's first dentist appoinment at age 2 1/2 ended up being a traumatic experience for the both of us. Billy and I suspected he needed to go in the first place because little black dots showed up on his back molars, despite our best efforts of brushing his teeth daily. I found a Pediatric dentist, took him in, and our suspicions were confirmed. Tyler is not a timid kid. He did GREAT with the cleaning and wasn't nervous at all. When it came time to fill the cavities on his 2nd visit, however, they basically tied him down, stuck a scarey mask over his face, and filled 3 or 4 cavities withOUT even numbing, all while telling me his screams meant he was angry - not in pain. I think NOT! Quite a horrible experience for a Momma to watch and even tell about without getting teary-eyed! So, needless to say, I still beat myself up about the whole ordeal and have put off taking him back to the dentist until present day. Luckily, he doesn't remember any of it and had no apphrehension about going. Unfortunately, he ended up having a mouthful of cavities to fill again (5 total). Thankfully, we were referred to an AMAZING dentist this time around (thanks Yvette)! Here's THAT story...

Once again, Tyler wasn't scared at all. He acted as if he'd done this a thousand times before. He walked back, climbed in the chair, and let them go to work. He got to choose a movie to watch during his cleaning. Out of the selection, he chose Cars. He chose chocolate flavored toothpaste and a Lightning McQueen toothbrush. He also chose a Lightning sticker and a green T-Rex frisbee from the prize box. Dr. Drew expressed over and over what a great patient Tyler was. She noted that she could tell we took good care of his teeth. They looked great, he has healthy gums, etc. Tyler just has extremely deep crevices in his molars. She said that no matter how much brushing we do, it's almost impossible to get into those crevices. After viewing Tyler's x-rays and discussing what needed to be done (fillings, possible nerve treatments and caps, and sealant to protect his molars), we set up another appointment and were on our way.

He had 3 cavities to fill (right side only) on his first follow-up visit, and ended up needing to get a cap on his very back molar. Despite the fact that prior to the visit he said he wanted his Mommy to go back with him, he walked right back with the nurse without even looking back! He's such a brave boy! He was very excited about his new "dinosaur" tooth, as Dr. Drew called it. At first he called it his gold tooth. He proudly called Grandma Hamby to tell her all about it since she was at the cabin. "I love my gold tooth!" he told her. (It's actually the normal silver cap, he just called it gold at first.) He even let Allison touch it once his mouth "woke up." (They had given him a special sticker that stated, "Teeth, gums, lips asleep. Do NOT disturb." So he explained to her that she would have to wait until they were done sleeping, per the sticker's directions.) Back at home during lunch, Tyler was trying to drink from a straw. After taking a sip, the juice came running out of his mouth on the side that was numb. He let out a concerned and helpless "Mooooommy?!" so I told him to try drinking on the other side of his mouth. It went well for the next sip, but then it happened again on the third. "Mommy, I accidently got too much and it leaked out again because my lips are crooked!" I had to chuckle. That night, he came to the realization that this new tooth cover couldn't and wasn't coming off. He came to me with a very concerned look while pulling at it with his thumb nail. Then he exclaimed, "It won't come off!" I had to explain that it was permanent until his tooth fell out around age 12. He wasn't too happy at first, but was understanding of the fact that it was protecting his real tooth so it wouldn't have to be pulled.

On his 2nd follow-up visit, he had two more cavities filled (left side) and needed another cap on the back molar again. When he was all finished, Dr. Drew asked how he was and he said, "I did much better than last time!" When I asked him why he thought that he said, "because it didn't even hurt me this time!" (I guess he was a little uncomfortable with the pressure he felt when the first cap was put on.) He was also pleased to now have a matching set of caps on the back molars. After the appointment, he decided he would wait and eat lunch this time "when his lips weren't crooked anymore."

The 4th visit came the very next day after Tyler complained of a pain when brushing his teeth that night and the next morning. I took him in, they checked things out, and came to the conclusion that his gums were a bit inflamed from the cap. Thankfully, it turns out that's all it was. He's been 100% ever since and has adjusted to his dino teeth quite well!

And here's Allison's story...

My Allison has always been a little more reserved when it comes to new people, situations, and surroundings, so I was a little nervous about her first experience with the dentist. Since she was able to come along on all of Tyler's dentist visits, however, she was able to observe the situation, get to know her surroundings, watch Tyler, and discover that visiting the dentist was actually a fun experience. She could NOT wait for her turn in the chair. After all of Tyler's dental work was complete, I made the appointment for Allison's first cleaning. I showed her the appointment card (which had a picture of Dora on it), and she immediately confiscated it from me. That card remained with her the entire week until her appointment. She carried it everywhere with her. If she did happen to sit it down somewhere, she would later think of it and question where it was asking, "Where's my appointment card???"

She was SO excited the day of her appointment. She ran right into the office and started playing as she had done on the previous visits, but I could tell she was a little more hyper than normal. She could barely contain all the excitement built up inside her! When the nurse came to get her, she started jumping up and down and got the most excited look on her face. Dr. Drew was so happy about her excitement! Allison got to watch Alvin and the Chipmunks during her cleaning and chose pink watermelon flavored toothpaste. For her prize bag, she chose a red and purple Eeyore toothbrush, a Hannah Montana sparkly sticker, and a blue flower ring from the treasure box. She did amazing and was the ideal little patient (to not even be quite 3 yet!). Dr. Drew bragged to everyone that she was the best patient of the year for her age! And imagine how thrilled I was to learn she has NO cavities! They all think Tyler and Allison are the cutest and sweetest! We agree of course!

Later that day, Allison told me in a very disappointed voice, "I forgot to tell the dentist I wanted cavity!" Apparently she was hoping to have a silver tooth of her own. :) I explained to her that she didn't need a silver tooth, and that her teeth are beautiful without being silver. She is content with us telling her that she has "sparkly teeth" instead of silver teeth.  This is what Dr. Drew told her when she painted the fluoride treatment on with "birthday cake frosting." Good doctors certainly are a blessing!

Just a quick note:  Tyler was 2 years and 7 months in his pictures while Allison was 2 years and 10 months in hers.  How is it that Allison looks so much more grown up to me when there's only a 3 month difference???  Maybe it's got something to do with my perspective on the difference in time?

Nutritious and Delicious Chocolate Banana Smoothie

Creative title, don't you think?  Ha.  Anyway...
I'm the only normal member of my family who LOVES vegetables.  I could have a plate full of veggies for dinner every night and be perfectly happy.  Billy and the kids, not so much.  They do like some veggies - in small quantities.  But if I never prepared another vegetable side dish as long as they lived, they wouldn't be sad.
So I have to get creative when trying to get my kids to even get a portion of their required daily servings of veggies.  Smoothies have been one way I've been able to do this.  Vanessa is the one who first told me she put veggies in her kids' smoothies.  I was skeptical at first, but I decided to give it a whirl.  Some things work, some don't.  Like don't try spinich, right Vanessa?  Peas, however, do SO well in a smoothie.  They have the right texture and a mild enough taste that won't over power the other flavors.  So, before you think I'm nuts, try this recipie I created.  You will never even know it has peas in it.  I promise!

Cocolate Banana Smoothie

1 package chocolate flavored Carnation Instant Breakfast mix
1 1/2 - 2 frozen* bananas (depending on your taste)
3/4 - 1 cup milk, until desired consistency  (I use skim)
1/2 cup green peas

Blend all ingredients until smooth.

I actually divide this in half for Tyler and Allison.  Give them a handful of pretzels to go along with it, and it's the perfect mid-afternoon snack (or breakfast-on-the-go even!).
The first time Tyler and Allison had it, they slurped it down in like 5 minutes.  Tyler even went out of his way to tell me, "That smoothie was REALLY good!"  And when I asked Allison how delicious it was, she gave it a 10!  And this is coming from two kids who really dislike peas!  Like I said, you won't even know they're in there!

*I use frozen bananas because it gives the smoothie just the right consistency and makes it cold without having to use ice. 
If you don't keep frozen bananas on hand, here's a little tip.  Everytime I buy bananas, I always seem to have one or two left over that start to get spotted and no one will eat.  So option #1 is to make banana bread.  If we're not in a banana bread kind of mood, then option #2 is to peel them, put them in a Zip-loc bag, and stick 'em in the freezer.  Then I always have frozen bananas just waiting to be a part of my next smoothie (and the bananas are much sweeter that way too). 

By the way, has anyone purchased Jessica Seinfeld's book, Deceptively Delicious?  If so, do you like it?  It's actually on sale (45% off) at barnesandnoble.com for $7.12 (and it's a hardcover)!  So I'm ordering mine today!  Anyone want to purchase it with me?  Orders over $25 get free shipping!

Didn't think I could possibly make this post any longer???  Well, think again!  :)
Here's some banana humor for ya...compliments of our very own Tyler Man!
Tyler (when he sees that I'm chewing something):  I want a bite!
Tyler again (when he discovers it's a banana):  Oh nevermind, I don't like bananas.  I'm not a monkey.
I wasn't aware that was a prerequisite!

Feeling Behind

I'm behind on posts. At least 10 of them. All for the purpose of journaling and documenting what's going on in our lives. When I get overwhelmed thinking about how many posts I need to catch up on, I type up all the cute things I've heard Tyler and Allison say. It somehow makes me feel better. So here's the latest...

Quotes by Allison:

"Mommy, can you fix me some dinner? My tummy has a headache!"

"Quit playing with my hair. It's not a toyeeeee!"

Conversations with Tyler:

While discussing Easter...

Me: Tyler, what if it's raining on Easter? The Easter Bunny might not be able to deliver our baskets.
Tyler: Well, he can just wear a rain coat.
Me: But then all our goodies will get wet.
Tyler: No they won't! The Easter Bunny wraps them up in plastic. Like that other time, renember?!
(Yes, he does say 'renember.' I think it's adorable.)

One day when Tyler was outside with Pawpaw, who's smoking a cigarette....

Tyler: Pawpaw! You shouldn't smoke. It's bad for your heart!
Some time passes and Pawpaw lights another cigarette.
Tyler(pointing his finger): Pawpaw! Now I'm really mad! I need you to stop smoking! I told you smoking is bad for your heart! I'm tired of asking you to stop!

And then later after Tyler had asked Pawpaw 100+ questions about all his tools and equipment...

Pawpaw: You're wearing me out, son.
Tyler: Why?
Pawpaw: Because you're asking so many questions.
Tyler: I have to ask a lot of questions because I don't know what any of this stuff is!

What's Better than 100 Percent?

According to Tyler, 90-100-90-100% is!
Here's a couple ways he's used his new phrase this week:

Me: Tyler, do you like the Apple Cinnamon Cheerios I bought?
Tyler: Yes! I 90-100-90-100% LOVE 'em!

Daddy: Tyler, did you have a good day?
Tyler: 90-100-90-100% YES!

Going for a Swim

While getting ready for bed last night, I send Allison into the closet to get a Pull-Up.
She comes out looking like this....

"I have floateeeees!!!" she exclaims.

I laughed until tears were streaming down my face!

Carrots and Space

I have a long list of posts to catch up on, but instead of playing catch-up, I'm posting some Allison and Tyler humor. It's easy and at least it's something!

We had glazed carrots with our dinner tonight. But unless it comes in soup form, Allison doesn't like veggies. BUT, we have the you-at-least-have-to-taste-it rule in our house. It's been a challenge to follow through on this rule with Allison because even if she doesn't think it LOOKS right, she isn't going to eat it (or taste it for that matter.) I have still enforced it to the best of my ability, and surprisingly she's getting a bit better (although it entirely depends on her mood).
SO getting on with it, tonight we were trying to convince her that carrots were yummy and that eating them would make her have great eyesight. She still hesitated throughout the meal and decided to save the torture until the very end. When it came time for the dreaded carrot tasting time, she surprisingly took the bite without a fuss. After chewing it for a while she exclaimed,

"I can see better!"

Tyler's story comes in three parts this time.

Part 1: Tyler had a helium balloon from his rocket birthday party that we had been carrying around in our car for probably over a week (long story). A couple Saturdays ago, I took Allison to a Build-a-Bear birthday party. Ryan had to go with us, but Tyler stayed at Grandma and Pawpaw's house. After the party was over, I had to feed Ryan in the car before heading back home. I was a little hot after lugging a 2-year-old, a baby in the snuggli, the car seat, and a bear in his brand new home all the way across the mall and through the parking lot. So I decided to roll down the windows a bit and get a little fresh air. Well yeah, as soon as the windows cracked, the wind created a suction and Tyler's balloon flew right out the window. Gone. Forever. I felt horrible.

Later, when I broke the news to Tyler, I tried to lessen the blow by telling him excitedly that his rocket balloon was just dying to blast off into space. It did help somewhat at the time...

Part 2: Since Tyler's recent interest in rockets and space, we have had some discussions about space, astronauts, etc. One conversation we had (which took place after the whole balloon incident) was about gravity, and Tyler wanted to know how space ships could leave Earth and go into space since there is gravity on Earth. I told him that they just have to go super fast so that they can get out of Earth's gravity.

Part 3: Apparently Tyler had been pondering over his lost balloon, the fact that I told him it went to outer space, and the phenomenon of things being able to leave Earth's gravity if they were going fast enough. A couple days after the gravity discussion he tells me, "Mommy, my rocket balloon couldn't have gone to space!" "Why not?" I asked. "Well, it couldn't have gone fast enough to get out of Earth's gravity!"

I had no further comments after that.

And so it starts...

Your little boy turns 5.

He's all "grown up" now.

And now it's time for him to start showing interest in girls.

Woah, wait just a minute!

I said 5...not 15!

5 year olds don't have crushes, do they??? The thought never even crossed my mind until Tyler made the following comment the other night.
Tyler, Grandma, and I were watching Family Feud. When the winning team started jumping up and down in excitment, the cameras showed the losing team clapping and smiling. Then the following dialogue takes place:
Tyler: Awe man, I wanted the other team to win.
Me: Why?
Tyler: Because they have a girl that I like on that team.
Grandma (smiling): Was she pretty?
Tyler: Yeah. And she has a good shape too.

Are you kidding me??? I'm not ready for this!

While you're laughing, here's a little more humor from Tyler...
While unzipping his footed jammies: Man, I'm hot.
Me: Really?
Tyler: Yeah, I'm roasting! I'm like chicken fried steak!

And while I'm at it, here's one from Allison...

We had to take Ryan to the doctor yesterday because of a high fever. Since everything was checking out okay, they decided they needed to get a urine sample. After watching them do the catheter Allison asks, "Why did they put a paint brush in Ryan's peepee?" I'm not sure what about it made her think it looked like a paint brush, but I told her that it wasn't a paint brush and did my best to explain what they did and why. After my explanation she said, "What? I didn't hear you?" (Translation: That sounds like a lot of rubbish. Please try again.) So, I attempt to explain once again and she replies, "WHAT??? I still didn't hear you?" Then she sticks her pointer fingers in her ears, twists them around and says, "Let me clean out my ears so I can hear you!"

Tyler's Wish List

Tyler: I'm going to tell Santa I want a remote control rocket and remote control T-Rex for Christmas.
Me: You already have a remote control T-Rex.
Tyler: No, a medium sized one. One that doesn't have a cord.
Me: I don't know if they make them without cords.
Tyler: No, SAAAANTA. I know the guy.

*Keep scrolling for another catch-up post!*

Allison said...

Just 3 cute comments Allison made yesterday:

1. After sneezing and not getting a response she said, "Someone please tell me 'bless you.'"

2. She put on Tyler's flip flops and said, "Mommy, I'm 4 now!"

3. Tyler was playing with a noisy dinosaur while Allison was trying to go to sleep. I told him, "Tyler, please stop that. Allison is trying to go to sleep." Allison chimes in from the other room and says, "And you're not being very quiet, Tywer!"

Babysitting

Among Tyler's growing collection of turtles are a couple miniature ones that are very easily misplaced. We are constantly searching for Popsi-pickles since, of course, he's one of the favorites. Last night, Tyler was playing with the other mini one he has (who doesn't have a name yet), and asked me to keep an eye on him for a few minutes. Allison also loves these little guys and asked if she could hold on to it for a little while. Being the responsible babysitter that I am, I asked Tyler if it would be okay if Allison could see it for a few minutes. Then the following conversation took place:

Tyler: Sure, until I count to 11. Then tell Allison to give him back to you. 1, 2, 3...
Allison (feeling frantic as Tyler gets closer to 11): NOOO! I want to hold it!
Me: It's okay, Tyler. You aren't playing with him right now. Just let her hold him for a little while.
Tyler: But I want YOU to keep an eye on him for me.
Me: Well, Allison's a good babysitter. Let her keep an eye on him for you.
Tyler: But...you have a bigger eye!