They think they're sooooo funny!

Today I told Nathan to go put some underwear on (again, running around in his birthday suit!)… when he came in wearing it on his head I realized I should have been a little more specific about where to put them :) He of course thought it was hysterical and laughed and laughed at himself... it's so much fun when they start learning how to play with humor :) I can only imagine the fun we have in store with two little boys running around the house together... oh the adventure... maybe I should start asking for prayers now :)

Oh and while we're on the topic of underwear... can I tell you how hard it is to discipline a child who's curled up in a ball on the floor, back (and backside) facing you? Through the wails and gnashing of teeth (on the part of the child, not you the parent :) you look down to see Mater smiling at you (screen printed across the backside of your sweet little boys undies). Oh my goodness, I couldn't hold it together. Sometimes you just have to laugh :)

Call it a day...

So I think after a crib (including the bumper pads) covered in pukies, a booster seat (including the seat it was strapped to) covered in poopies, an ATM out of service (which in this cash only culture makes life an adventure), a pair of 2T/3T tightie whities hanging from my new angel tree topper, and a thirty minute power outage that almost resulted in a meltdown from Nathan who couldn't watch his new Winnie the Pooh Christmas movie (a tradition for we have to watch a new movie on nights that Daddy's not home) and I think it's about time to call it a day... whatcha think?

Owwwies...

Yesterday Grant and I went to run errands... it's amazing how walking the streets can distract a 9 month old from the teething process! Nathan stayed home with his daddy to take a nap and when I got home I found band-aid wrappers covering the living room floor. I asked Gary what exactly happened while I was gone :) He then proceeded to tell me that because of the blister he has on his pinky toe, Nathan decided it was time to try out his doctoring skills.

Now the extent of Nathan's medical experiences here at the house is for scratches and owwwies (Okay, okay, there was the time we super glued his chin... but there was just the one time!). The "making it better" usually involves alcohol/hydrogen peroxide, neosporin, and a band-aid. It seems that Nathan decided to spare his daddy the pain of alcohol and went straight to the neosporin. Only (as we learned yesterday) in his 3 year old brain any tube of cream is neosporin. So as he approached daddy's foot with Lanacane Gary got a really good laugh :) Then Nathan showed off his fine motor skills by unwrapping and applying the band-aid to daddy's toe (only apparently Gary hadn't been behaving well because he got a boring band-aid... no Dora, Diego, or Curious George for Daddy).

Fast forward to this morning... I'm coming out of Grant's room from putting him down for a nap when Nathan comes running at me with Quincy (his little Einstein). And this is what I see...

It appears that Quincy had quite the accident and so again, Dr. Nathan to the rescue :) (can you see the Lanacane on Quincy's forehead?... Maybe in honor of Ralphie he had an adventure with his own Red Rider BB Gun... he could've shot his eye out!)

My three year old tree decorator...

So here's what happens when you leave your three-year-old in charge of the beads on the Christmas tree :) He definitely gets this from his daddy (Sorry the picture's a little fuzzy, but you get the idea, right?)
Here he is modeling his work of art... and his big boy underwear... that's right, Nathan's day-time potty-trained! Yea for no more diapers except at night! He did it all on his own, when he got good and ready, and I'm so thankful that I waited on him... it made all the difference in the world!

And because Grant's been getting alot of face time... here's another shot of my first born practicing his scissor skills. He's having so much fun and really getting good at cutting different shapes. We've made it an after brother goes to bed activity for just he and I and that's made it a special time that he really loves... and it keeps the vacuuming up teeny tiny pieces of paper to a minimum :)

Christmas here I come :)

Yesterday found me pulling down all my boxes of Christmas decorations... I know, I know, it's not Thanksgiving yet. But you see here in Cochabamba I don't have the benefit (and yes I do mean benefit) of the holiday advertising, Christmas music on the radio or in stores, and the cooling temperatures to help me get into the holiday spirit. So yes, I'll confess I pulled out the Christmas CD's over a month ago. I know to some people it's an unforgiveable offense, but you know, you do what 'ya gotta do to make it when you're far from home over the holidays.

In listening to my beloved Christmas music I was reminded of a long ago miscommunication between myself and Karen Carpenter. I grew up on the Carpenter's Christmas album and am a better person for it :) But as a little girl I remember being very confused with the lyrics, "And so I'm offering this Christmas wish, to kiss from 1 to 92." Did that mean that you were supposed to kiss someone 92 times... Did it mean you should kiss for a count of 1 to 92... this perplexed me for years, until one day the comic strip "ah-ha" light bulb went off above my head as I realized it was "to kids from 1 to 92". Oh the fun there is to be had in the confusion of communication :) Tomorrow I'd love to share some thoughts with you on our holidays this year... tonight my brain's so tired you just get the kissing story... until tomorrow when my lucid thoughts return... here's to kissing from 1 to 92 :)