Is he a Double-Agent?

So, we all know Kaleb, right? Scrawny little rambunctious and totally wild guy. My best word to describe him is "EXTREME." It's his most frustrating yet endearing quality about him. He is either extremely loud, silly and obnoxious, throwing tantrum after tantrum, unable to go 10 minutes without using a "yucky word," and I'm on the verge of killing him... or... he is the cutest, sweetest, and most lovable thing on the planet. Also he can be the happiest, most excited little kid ever... or extremely angry and frustrated.


There is hardly any room for in between. He is most often one or the other. Mellow would be his antonym... his nemesis even. He is my wild child.


Getting a moment's peace with him is a treasure. He wares me to the bone. He pushes those boundaries as far as possible and then some--not to mention always at a much-too-high decibel. (Alli has even commented that she wonders if he has a hearing problem because of how loud he can be.) Maybe.


I just gotta say, thank goodness for those extremely sweet moments.


He is lucky he as cute as he is... or who knows what might happen to him!


So this is the Kaleb I know and love.





Apparently there is another.





When Kaleb turned 18 months old, he started going to Nursery every Sunday. At first he showed the common signs of being shy and not wanting to be left alone... but after few weeks, he was fine. He could walk right in, start playing with toys, and there was never a complaint.

This year he started preschool. When we first started taking him, he again showed those signs of being bashful and unsure of being left alone... but now he seems to be fine. Last week his teacher asked me if he is as quiet at home as he is in school. She said she hasn't heard him speak a word. Not even during Show-and-Tell. For him it is all "show" and no "tell." Well, I figured he was just still adjusting, after all it had only been about 5 weeks. (9 school days.) Here he is on his field trip to the Fire Station, obviously not being himself.



And then the next day I ran into his Nursery teacher. He said "hi" to Kaleb, and Kaleb just turned towards me and pretended as if he hadn't heard or seen anyone. I greeted his teacher and after a few failed attempts at getting Kaleb to even look at him, his teacher asked me... "Does he know how to talk?"


WHAT?!

He will be turning 3 in like a week. He will have been in Nursery for a YEAR and a HALF... and has never spoken a word? Who IS this kid? What has he done with my Kaleb? Or... out of curiosity... can he teach MY Kaleb a few tricks of the trade? Is there hope for having him mellow out just a bit? This is just preposterous! I don't even know what to think. It just baffles my mind that after a year and a half, he has not transitioned back to his comfortable self. Kind of makes me sad! I wonder if it will ever happen in Preschool. I mean, I guess at least he won't be a "problem child." But... still. Should I be worried that he's not being himself? Will it ever happen?

Or... maybe I should just add "shy" to his list of extremities. Now he's either super-shy... or in desperate need of a chill pill. One or the other.

Bradley the Brave

A couple of months ago Bradley learned how to start from the ground and climb all the way to the top of the big slide and go down... without any help. Kaleb won't even do that half the time! Kid can't walk, but he sure is brave.

It was also really fun to watch Kare get freaked out while she saw him do this the last time she was here. Hehe.

And, yes, at the end of the video, Bradley DID receive a bit of unsolicited assistance from his dear older brother. Oh, Kaleb.

Hey! Pretty soon when I take my kids to the park I can start bringing a book to read! What would that be like?! :)

Hmmm... but then I might turn into THAT parent. You know, the one that sits there and takes a nap and doesn't watch their kid on the playground. The one that has no idea their kid is trying to bully my kid. The one who steals Kaleb's toys and takes off with them. The one whose older kid goes up to my Jaden, kicks him in the shin and then doesn't let him pass. The one whose kid pushes my little ones back down the stairs when they are too high for me to reach and help and all I can do is watch in terror, hoping that they don't fall off one of the many edges... The one whose kid I have to be the one to tell them to knock it off. The one who makes going to the park a miserable experience for the rest of society.
You know that parent! You've had experience with that parent a time or two!
I hate that parent... slightly more than I hate their kid.

I will not become that parent.

Sorry for the tangent. But not really, because it's my blog and I'll blog what I want to. :)

The Loot

For all of you out there who really appreciate a good deal, and who enjoy seeing someone score big... this is for you.

Trip to Old Navy

4 pairs of kids jeans
2 pairs of kids cargo pants
2 kid shirts
1 adult shirt
1 pair of adult yoga pants
1 adult yoga tank


Regular price: $160.60

ON's Birthday Sale price: $103.74

MY Price: $28.74

Total Savings: $131.86

In the words of my dear, Charles... Hizzity-Heck yeah!

I WON!!!

So, I don't mean to brag but...

I can't believe I won! I never win ANYTHING!! But I won I won I won! Sorry, I'm a little giddy at the moment. And I feel like I may have pulled a muscle in my arm from punching the air so may times. But I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!!! Woot woot!

Okay, calm down. I'm so excited I think I might get sick. My heart is racing so fast, (I wonder if this will count for cardio...) I know this is lame that I am blogging, but I have to tell SOMEONE! Charles is at work and the kids are in bed. I interrupted Kare and Curtis' date to tell her... oops.

So what did I win? I won a coupon for $75 off of a $100 purchase at Old Navy. That's right. $100 worth of merchandise for 25 bucks. I really LOVE Old Navy's clothes (for the boys anyway... not so much for myself) and I wish I could always buy from there... but I seriously can NOT bring myself to shop from there when I can find better deals elewhere. But ever since my cute friend Jamey told me about these weekly coupon hunts (thanks Jamey!) I have been a little obsessed with wanting to win a coupon. I actually was NOT going to hunt for one today because it pretty much kills my entire day... I get nothing done and I never win anyway. BUT at the last minute I happened to look on their website and notice that the hunt would begin any second. These coupons go so fast (I'm talking like seconds and they are gone,) and I still can't believe I found one in time. I will probably never win again, but oh well. I ACTUALLY won! Boo-Yaa!!!

(Congo Line tune)
"I get to go shop-PING! I get to go shop-PING!
The boys will be so sty-LING! The boys will be so sty-LING!"

Oh snap... I'm so pumped right now, I'm not sure I'll be able to sleep tonight. Okay... time to chill...

Thank you for listening. Goodnight.

5 going on 13

Me: Hey, you have a short day at school today, are you excited?
Jaden: No.
Me: Why not?
Jaden: Because that means no recess. And besides, no recess means I don't get to see my girlfriend.
Me: You have a girlfriend?
Jaden: Yes
Me: Who is she?
Jaden: Her name is K.
Me: Oh. You play with K at recess?
Jaden: Everyday! She runs and I run, but she is faster than me. She tags me and says, "You're it!" And I can never catch her.
Me: What about your friend Mason? Don't you play with him anymore?
Jaden: No, he has his own girlfriend now too. But he doesn't like her.
Me: Why not?
Jaden: Because she wants to marry him and he does NOT want to.
Me: Oh. (I did not ask anymore questions)


Later that day I took the kids to Jumpin Jacks (an indoor place full of bounce houses) Little did I know that K would be joining us. As soon as she and Jaden saw each other, they ran up to each other and started holding hands. They went down all the slides together and just could not be apart. If K was out of his sight for more than a few seconds he would stop whatever he was doing to look for her. K also has a bit of a dramatic side. As she was following Jaden up a ladder to a slide she would "slip" and then call Jaden for help. Jaden would turn around, reach down and pull her up. K's little sister thought that was fun and she decided to give it a try with Kaleb. As we were leaving, Jaden and K said their goodbyes over and over. They also gave each other a hug. Another girl Jaden's age was also there and she said goodbye to Jaden. Jaden must not of heard, becasue he then said goodbye again to K. The other little girl just looked down and said, "Jaden like's K more than he likes me!"

I wasn't sure what to think about all that had gone on that day. I know he's only 5 and that everything was innocent... but there were a few moments when I felt like I was keeping my eye on a 13 year old! I didn't tell him to stop what he was doing, but I DID have a talk with him about how fun it is to have LOTS of friends, and that maybe he would have fun with the other girl that was there too... as well as other boys!

We had decided a few days earlier that we wanted to make and decorate cookies to give to some of Jaden and Kaleb's friends around the neighborhood. When we started talking about it he asked if he could give cookies to K and the other girl. He said he now had 2 girlfriends. I told him that would be okay and he said, "I think we should do pink and purple because... girls like pink and purple, right?"

Jaden and Kaleb had fun making their cookies and cards, and delivering them to their friends. When we were on our way home, Jaden said, "I know my friends liked it, but it made me feel really happy to give everyone those cookies."

Hmmm... problem solving

So we have been working on getting Kaleb to go #2 in his potty for months now. He just won't do it. He holds it. We put pull-ups on him at night and during naptime (because he still goes in his sleep), and he will wait until one of those times. We've tried MANY different forms of bribery. Our latest, is a lightsaber. Jaden has recently saved enough money to buy one for himself and Kaleb is very envious.



So we bought one for Kaleb and placed it on top of the fridge for him to see and hopefully want to earn.


Well, he of course threw a tantrum saying that he wants it and he wants it now. One time during one of his tantrums, Charles said, "Kaleb. You know what you have to do if you want that lightsaber. So what do you have to do?" Kaleb just calmed right down, looked Charles in the eye and said, "Get a ladder."


Problem solved.

Jaden's Blog... Tooth Fell Out

I KNEW it would come out today! I'm so happy that my tooth is gone because I love that. First my tooth moved to the side, then it fell out! It was bleeding when it fell out. So much that I wanted to scream, but I remembered,"No screaming in school." So I kept my scream inside, and I thought I was gonna DIE. So I put my finger on the spot where my tooth came out and kept it there till it was dry.


Then I picked up my tooth, went to the coat hanger and got my Ziploc bag and put it in there. I raised my hand to tell my teacher but she never called on me.


I put it under my pillow. I hope the Tooth Fairy will come tonight!


Well thank you. See ya later Alligator. Crocodile.