Sayings We Stovers Say

One more year...

2011-07-31T20:49:00.000-07:00

It's about that time of year when both of my "babies" turn one year older. Boston first, on August 13th and then Hooper on September 1st. They have changed and learned so much in one year it is amazing. Mostly, they've learned how to drive their parents nuts while charming them at the same time.

Going on five, Hooper's big thing is telling one parent the other parent has approved of something like playing computer, when that said parent has not. He's good at it too. Frankly I'm expecting him to somehow negotiate a car if Shiloah and I don't pay attention. He likes movies now and has seen four in the theater. He's very upset when movies like Captain American (rated PG-13) are for grown ups and not little kids. He loves nothing more than to stay in nothing but his underwear all day long. Hopefully this is a summer phase. He likes you to watch how fast he runs. He also really likes sleepovers, except with Boston. Hooper likes to wrestle with Boston and do cartwheels around him, nearly clobbering Bo in the head every time. Hooper is getting so big that it would hurt to look at him if he wasn't such a beautiful child.

Boston Ren....oh Boston Ren. He has hit the terrible twos. In fact, he hit it two months ago, ran over it and it now doing donuts all around the terrible twos. He's naughty. Boston gets into EVERYTHING he shouldn't. Boston will hit any toddler, child or adult that gets in his way. He will even hit his parents when they are disciplining him. Boston has a hair trigger temper and gets mad all over his little body. He's stubborn and pig-headed. Boston is also the most squeezable, adorable, lovable melt-your-heart little boy you will ever meet. In Boston's personality, are wrapped two polar opposites of emotion, and you never know which one will get out of the crib in the morning. Boston likes to say, "Help! Help!" while on the changing table in the morning. He HATES shoes and tells us "OUCH!" when we know there is plenty of room. He loves wrestling with his brother and tries to do everything Hooper does, only better. He's not quite the good eater he was even two months ago. He's on the go too much to slow down to eat much. He still crawls in my lap and lets me rock him every now and then. When you pick him up sometimes he will pat your back as if to say, "It's okay Mama." Boston will say sorry with a smile that you know means he's not really sorry but you can't help but love him anyway. He's my baby.

My babies are growing up so fast and my heart hurts to even think about it. I remember their faces, their cries and even their smell as babies. I wish I could bottle it up so I'll never forget it, which is why I write this blog from time to time. I have told many people that having children is the most wonderfully horrible thing you'll ever do. It brings out your best and your worst somehow. But the real miracle is I love them so much that I only see the best parts of Shiloah and myself squeezed into those two boys. They are amazing and as sad as their getting older may be, I cannot wait to see what they'll do next.

Toots and Sass a Frass

2011-01-30T20:02:00.000-08:00

New phrases are spreading around our house like wildfire. Some are even from my 18 month old, Boston Ren, who up to this point, has been silent (minus the screaming). He began saying, "Yeah, yeah," when asked if he wanted something. He said Nanny for the first time. He says dog when he hears Sam, our chocolate lab, bark and can even make over a dozen animal sounds. I'm so proud of how he grows and learns. However, I am a bit worried about his cow noise because frankly, that cow sounds demonic. Boston's ornery nature has earned him the nickname, "Toots", one I'm sure he'll learn to treasure.

Hooper has become much more bold in the things he says to Shiloah and I which has earned him the nickname Sass a Frass. Tonight when Shiloah told Hooper he was going to run the boys' bath, Hooper jumped up and said, "Oh no! You're not going anywhere!" Hooper has learned the word girlfriend and applies it to any girl he knows. Which leads me to ask, is it wrong to tell your son girls are the devil? Anyway, his most used new phrase is, "Oh that's just great!" It's relayed dripping with sarcasm which could be my fault. If we're out of cookies, "Oh that's just great!" If he spills his drink, "Oh that's just great!" I don't normally like sarcasm in children but maybe since he's mine these phrases when used appropriately, make me laugh. And that IS, just great.

Wrongly Accused

2010-10-14T19:01:00.000-07:00

The middle of October was rough for Hooper. He had two problems that converged during one week. Number one: he wasn't taking naps at daycare. Number two: he wasn't getting a clean up treat at Rainbow Lane, his preschool. Of course Hooper's biggest problem is he is one gigantic tattle tale to the point that he rats himself out. He informed us that he had taken no nap on Monday nor had he received a clean up treat on Tuesday. So by Wednesday his Daddy and I were very upset with Hooper. We both had stern conversations about how it isn't nice to not help clean up. And yes, we (and when I say we I mean me) threatened to spank his rear if he didn't shape up.

Here's where I completely fail as a parent. I called our babysitter to make sure he was napping and found out he wasn't NOT taking a nap. There was another naughty boy there that was keeping him from napping by screaming and yelling. Hooper then commented that "he didn't get a treat" again. OH! Utter frustrations until I hear, "It' not my turn yet." Turn? Turn?! "Hooper, do you take turns cleaning up at school?" "Yeah, but it my turn soon again and I get treat."

Utter failure as a parent. With a little questioning we could have found out what was truly going on in both situations but we were so quick to assume our son was the naughty one. Hooper was wrongly accused on both counts. I'm just glad he doesn't listen to us most the time or all those lectures might have got that little fella down.

Ignoring the Obvious

2010-06-21T09:52:00.000-07:00

For any parent, one of the most ironic stages of a child's development is talking. You wait and wait to hear those first words. Every word is logged in a baby book somewhere with pride. Soon those words turn into short phrases and then to full sentences. Conversations between parent and child begin. Oh how wonderful it all is.

But then one day you are trying to perform some ordinary task such as paying bills or reading an important article or letter and it hits you. Your kid will not shut up! They never stop talking, not even for one minute.

Such a moment occurred in our house when Hooper was 3 1/2. Hooper wanted to talk ALL day long. He would ask questions about every topic and then once he had run out of genuine questions he would ask the ones he already knew the answer to. Shiloah would come home from work and while eating dinner he would see this behavior and look at me as if to say, "Does he do this all day long?" My answer would always be, "Welcome to my world."

The really annoying thing is that Hooper is smart enough to know when I was trying to ignore him. If he was talking to me and I wasn't participating in the conversation he would get right up in my face and say, "Mom! I'm talking to you!" If I replied in a slightly annoyed, "What?!", he would say, "Mom are you not happy? Are you cross?" Oh course I was always happy and that made him happy. It's what I deserve for ignoring the obvious, he was talking to me! I did my best to always talk back because I know some day he will stop talking to me and stop wanting my answers to the questions he has. Make no mistake, when he decides to stop talking to me I will be right up in HIS face saying, "Son! I'm talking to you!"

Holly's Cross

2010-04-30T17:44:00.000-07:00

Parents of young children all know who Thomas is. He's from a series of children's stories about a train engine named Thomas and all his engine friends. The series was created by a British minister for his son. My oldest son Hooper fell in love with Thomas at about the age of three. He didn't just like Thomas. He adored Thomas. He had all the engines and played with them every day while watching the cartoon.

After several months of this obsession he began using some of the British lingo. The most used word was cross. Instead of mad, Hooper would say someone is cross. One night we allowed Hooper to eat a candy bar, which was rare. Hooper devoured it and then requested M&M s. I told him, "No more candy!" very sternly. He walked into the other room where Shiloah was and said, "Holly is cross." Now using cross sounds snotty enough but add calling your mother by her first name, is a whole other category of snotty.

Are we playing games?

2010-02-15T19:48:00.000-08:00

This particular story took place when Hooper was 3 1/2 and Boston was six months old. At that age Hooper was asserting his independence in a big way. That is to say, he was a toot. No was his favorite word and he had lots of different ways of saying it. "I not!" "No way, Mommy!" "No I don't want to eat dinner!" These sayings made a daily appearance in our house at this time. When he was in a good mood, no might be followed by "Ah come on!". Bad moods meant you got an old fashioned foot stomping fit.

Boston on the other hand was just getting fun at six months. Colic was over. The first of teething was out of the way and he was very interested in all around him, especially his big brother. If Hooper was in the room, then Boston was happy. Thankfully most of the time Hooper didn't mind Boston and I following him around the house.

During February of 2010 Boston and I following Hooper wasn't just something to occupy time but a necessity. Boston was not only teething but he got RSV and a monster ear infection within two weeks. During the ear infection we did everything we could think of to keep him happy. Being around Hooper kept him happy the longest. One evening Boston and I were sitting on Hooper's bed with Hooper. Hooper was watching a video and playing, happily. Boston began reaching for Hooper so I held him up and leaned him into his brother so he could grab his shirt. Boston wasn't hurting Hooper but of course as brothers do, Hooper refused to play along. He didn't want Boston to so much as lay a finger on him. Boston was laughing and obviously enjoying himself while Hooper whined and moaned every time Boston touched him. Finally, having taken all he could stomach, Hooper turned around and looked Boston straight in the eye and sternly cried, "No Brother! We NOT playin games!"

I laughed so hard, I cried. Of course it was so funny that it would have been wrong to allow it to happen only once. So I then continued to let Boston grab Hooper's shirt and Hooper continued to let us know, he was not playing games. At one point I thought, "is this really why I had kids? To play puppet master in my own comedy show?" My answer: A little bit, yeah.

Let's Count Them!

2009-12-28T21:01:00.000-08:00

Potty training Hooper has been one of the most difficult things I've ever attempted to do. Hooper quickly got the peeing part of it down but continued to struggle with the pooping part. Together my husband and I tried every method under the sun. We bribed him to poop on the potty. We tried to guilt him to poop in the potty. I'm sorry to say we even resorted to punishment. In our defense, Hooper was content with pooping everywhere BUT the potty. Underwear, floors, nothing was sacred to this boy. As all the experts said he would, one day it just clicked with him. It was ALL his idea and it didn't take long before he was pooping like a champ.

One of the first days he decided to poop in the potty I was home with him for Christmas break. Hooper asked to go poop early that morning and I thought, "Wonderful! Check that off my to do list!" An hour later he asked to go again and still I thought, "Look how good he's doing. Maybe shouldn't put quite so much fiber in his diet." Then not thirty minutes later I hear those words again, "Mom! I gotta go poop!" So once again we march in the bathroom and prepare to use the potty. I leave Hooper (the child likes his privacy) and when I check on him again he's done and staring into the potty.

I asked Hooper, "Are you done?"

He replies, "Yes! Look at all the poops! Let's count them! One, two, three, four, five, six!

I have never had such a mixture of pride and revulsion in all my life. The thought of standing over a used toilet and analyzing feces was somewhat gross to me. But pride is often the downfall of any parent and I was proud that my son had finally conquered potty training. And darn it, I was proud that he could count his poops.

Monster Baby

2009-12-11T18:35:00.000-08:00

As I go travel down the road of mother-hood I have noticed that I can do a lot of things I never thought I could. For instance, I never thought I would be able to entertain two young boys at the same time...until I invented "Monster Baby". While waiting at the doctor's office one day I held Boston up and chased Hooper around the small exam room saying, "Monster Baby! He's gonna get you!" Hooper of course screamed and laughed. Over the next few weeks I often did that to him while we were waiting somewhere or needed a little entertainment.

This particular day I was picking up the boys from Linda. Let me just say here and now that Linda is the boys "daycare provider". However, I do not feel comfortable calling her their "daycare provider" because she is so much more than that. She is the sweetest woman who I know loves and cares for my boys. I feel as comfortable leaving the boys with her as with their own grandmothers, but I digress. This day while picking up the boys I performed the "Monster Baby" trick, expecting a short laugh from Hooper and a smile from Boston. But instead I got from Hooper,

"Ahhh, Monster Baby! He's so fat, he eat me!"

Shiloah and I obviously needed to broaden our vocabulary and use words such as chubby, full or healthy. Fat, just wasn't working anymore.

The Cute Spot

2009-11-27T20:15:00.000-08:00

All of Hooper's life I have pinched his little cheeks and said, "Chubby cheeks, chubby cheeks." They are so cute and probably my favorite feature of his face. A couple of days ago, Boston was in his little bouncy chair, Hooper and I were playing on the floor. Boston began to ooh and goo at us, trying to get our attention. I said,"Hooper, look! Brother is trying to get our attention." Hooper bent over Boston, pinched his cheeks and said, "Chubby cheeks, chubby cheeks." It was so obvious that it was a gesture of love and one of the sweetest things I've ever seen. I wondered why we pinch the cheeks when someone is so cute you can't stand it, but we do. The cheeks are our designated cute spot. What made it sweeter was Boston smiling back at his big brother.

I've heard stories from Shiloah about him and his brother as teenagers. They would steal each others clothes. Punch holes in walls instead of punching faces. Yell, scream, the whole bit. I'm wondering when Bo and Hooper are teenagers if they will remember their cute spots and pinch each other's cheeks. Probably not, but I will remind them of the moment when Hooper found Boston's chubby cheeks and Boston looked lovingly at his big brother as if he had hung the moon. Think it will work? Nah...me either.

Eating Piles of Dirt

2009-11-12T18:35:00.000-08:00

In order to teach Hooper to eat what is given to him at dinner, Shiloah and I had imposed a policy of no desert unless dinner is eaten. Sometimes Hooper eats and other times he goes about his business. This night was one of those nights when Hooper chose to eat very little on his plate and then called it a day despite warning of no desert.

Later that evening Shiloah and I were enjoying a brownie and ice cream. Hooper came into the living room and saw the bowl of delicious goodness. He asked me, "What's that?" In a vain attempt of diverting his interest in my desert, I told him the brownie was dirt. He looked long and hard at that brownie, then back at me again.

"I want dirt."

Hooper had a big fat brownie that night.

Expert Prodding

2009-11-01T15:33:00.000-08:00

The weekend of Halloween, Hooper was sick. This was no snotty nose or little cough. This was S-I-C-K, sick. He felt so bad that we called Dr. Firth at home and went over so he could give Hooper the once over. Turns out Hooper had walking pneumonia. He had a horrible cough and was having trouble breathing. Needless to say Shiloah and I were very worried.

The first night was very long. Hooper was hurting and coughing all night long. No one got a good night's sleep. The next morning Hooper seemed to be feeling better. We knew this because we had to keep him settled down all morning. "No running, Hooper!" "Settle down, Hooper!" It was like herding cats.

After lunch I was sitting in the living room with Boston in my lap and Hooper really wanted to play "catch". His version of catch is bumping the ball with his chest and head, which leads Shiloah and I into prayer every day that he will not play soccer. Anyway I figured what could it hurt to stand still and play catch? Of course Hooper was diving and bumping the ball everywhere, even into picture frames and lamps. I finally told him no more unless he actually would catch the ball. After the third "no" he received, he threw his hands up in the air and said, "Ah come on! Come on Mommy!" I'm a sucker for expert prodding such as this. I can always buy new picture frames.

Snubbed by a 3-year Old

2009-10-29T20:29:00.000-07:00

Tonight I was giving Boston a bath and Hooper was trying to "help" me. He was climbing all over me trying to get a good look at brother and spicing up his bath with a few toys he threw in. After about the fifth time I told Hooper to get off my back Shiloah tried to lure him into the living room.

"Hooper, want to come in here and play with Daddy?" cried Shiloah.

"Um...no thanks." replied Hooper

Snubbed by a three-year old.

Hooper the flying Penguin

2009-10-24T13:23:00.000-07:00

This year for Halloween we allowed Hooper to choose what he wanted to dress up as for Halloween. He's really been interested in dinosaurs and all things that roar for some time now so we thought a t-rex or lion would be something he'd like.

Shiloah sat with Hooper one night and showed him pictures of all sorts of lion, tiger and dinosaur costumes. He showed mild interest until he saw a penguin costume. He jumped up and down crying "A penguin! A penguin!" Shiloah continued to show him tigers and things that roar hoping to distract him but the penguin won out.

When we got the penguin costume we still weren't sure whether or not Hooper would wear it but he quickly tried it on and began flapping his wings. We actually had to make him take it off that first night.

Soon after this I noticed that Hooper was jumping off of things more than usual. His bed, our bed, the couch, chairs anything that would give him a little height. One day I asked him what he was doing and he put his chin to his chest and very quietly said, "I can't fly." Then he began flapping his wings like he did in the penguin suit. It was then it hit me all this jumping was an attempt to fly like a penguin. He was so disappointed that I didn't have the heart to tell him penguins don't fly either. A kid needs goals in life.

Choosing Treats

2009-10-23T19:58:00.001-07:00

While at my mom's house tonight I thought of another Hooperism that I never want to forget. Hooper spends alot of time with my mom while I'm in softball season. She picks him up from the babysitter and they go home, get a snack and play until Shiloah gets off work. Around 2 years old Hooper was really putting sentences together. We soon realized how much he listened to and how much time he was spending with Nanny.

One weekend afternoon Hooper wanted a snack. I went back to the pantry to get some crackers. Before I knew it he was in front of me tapping his index finger to his mouth saying, "Wet's see...we wike QUACKERS!" (translation:" Let's see...we like CRACKERS!") Very funny. At three years old he still does this when picking snacks and I of course continue to laugh.

The cow says_____________________?

2009-10-23T15:36:00.000-07:00

Around 2/2 1/2 years, Hooper began figuring out animal sounds. We would do the typical, "The cow says..." and Hooper would enthusiastically reply, "Mooooo!" We have since added a snake, horse, lion, tiger, bear, whale, elephant, chicken...you get the idea.

My husband thought it would be cute to tell my son things that people say. For instance, "Mommy says...." and Hooper replys "No, no, no!" Soon the whole family had a saying and I wanted to make sure we never forgot them.

Daddy says- "Seriously?!" With his hand held out, palm up.
Nanny says- "Cookie?" As in "Want a cookie?" My mom makes wonderful cookies and is always willing to share, God bless her.

Brother says- "Whaaa, whaa!" Hooper does not enjoy Bo's crying.
Grandad says- "Ah, Babe!" As in, trying to talk my mom into something.
Grandpa says- "Vroom, vroom." Grandpa and Hooper share a love of cars.

Looking back, turning Hooper into a puppet for our amusement may not have been the right thing to do, but it sure was the funny thing to do.