Dry All Night

Vincent has been asking us to let him sleep in his underwear for a couple of months now. The agreement was that if he can go 5 nights straight with a dry pull-up, then we'll try out underwear. 

Things weren't going too well, until he learned that his friend, Julian, had gone 2 nights in a row with underwear on. That really made him want to wear big boy pants to bed. We held our ground and said he needed to have those 5 straight nights, but we moved the potty chair into the boys' room, right next to his bed. 

The first 2 nights, he must've gotten up in the middle of the night, because neither of us heard him, but there was pee in the potty two mornings in a row. The next 2 nights, nothing in the potty, no wake ups & a dry bed. The 5th night, he woke up a couple of times, upset, but dry, and made it to the morning without a drop. That was 5 nights in a row!

Last night, he went to bed with big boy pants on. This morning, he woke up dry and there was no pee in the potty. Woohoo! Such a big boy. I'll let you know how successful we are with this in a few days.

Speaking of big boy, right now, he's sitting on the floor doing an activity book with a pencil. Practicing writing his name and drawing straight & curvy lines.

Fantastic Life

Yesterday morning, two friends and I were discussing how much I feel like a dud these days. It has to do with me not working (outside the house, that is). And, the truth is, I really do want to be a stay-at-home-mom, and it's not really about staying at home with my boys. It's the fear that I won't be able to do anymore than what I'm doing now someday. This feeling has come and gone many times since Vincent was born. I struggle with it, because I hear of how difficult it is for people with no gaps in their resume trying to find a job. Or, how I should try to do something, even volunteering, to put on my resume. When do I do all this? I barely get a break to go sit and do nothing. By the time I am ready to go back to work, even on a part-time basis, years and years will have passed. Will I be able to do anything? And, really, isn't it enough to be the General Manager of our Hunt Household? 

Just as we were having this discussion, I received a text message from another friend, commenting on this blog, and my "fantastic life." My initial reaction was, "Fantastic? How about boring?" 

Truth is, I'm not bored. And, not because I'm busy chasing little boys around, trying to get them dressed, or brush their teeth, or getting them to use the potty, etc. There's the day-to-day busy work of being a mom that keeps me from being bored, but there's the simple fact that I'm enjoying my children and having fun with them. So, I guess I say, "boring" because I blog daily as a way to keep track of things I don't want to forget next year, or next week, or even tomorrow. There isn't a whole lot here that's superstar exciting to many people. The pictures are for the family and friends who love seeing the boys grow. And, I don't detail the major challenges we have each day. 

I should thank my friend (Thanks. You know who you are.), for pointing out my fantastic life. And, I thank those two friends and their insight on all this. Because, when I step back and look at the whole picture, it truly is a fantastic life. I'm not saying I'm just going to stop feeling like a dud with a snap of my fingers. I just think, like it has in the past, this feeling will subside, and allow me to just be.

The Pool

The boys were all wound up and crazy after naptime today. So, we got online to see if the indoor pool has open swim today, which they did, 4pm-5pm!! Sweet!

We got there just in time. The water wasn't super warm, so both boys were a bit cold. Vincent seemed to warm up after a while of swimming, but Tyler was off and on cold. Ty was really stuck on David to start, but then I took him and we really started to swim around. I put one of those floating noodle things around his body and we swished around in the pool. Both boys did great.

After swimming, they were hungry. David had the idea to go to Cheeky Cafe, somewhere we've been wanting to try out for a while. What an eclectic menu.

We had Cheeky Chicken Wings, Sweet Potato Tempura, Yaki Udon, Brian's Meatloaf, and a kid's Grilled Cheese. Vincent ate almost all of the tempura, then just about finished his grilled cheese, and ate the little twisty cookie that came with his meal. Tyler ate the chicken wings, which were a little spicy, like nobody's business. He wanted to hold on to the little drummettes. It was super cute. He also had some tempura, udon, and white rice. He picked the cheese of his part of the grilled cheese, and ate the mini banana that also came with the kids' meal. The yaki udon was okay. I have to admit that the one at Boom Noodle is better, but they're pretty different. It was spicier than I would've liked - I'm a whimp. And, David enjoyed his meatloaf. It came with some sauteed vegetables and white rice. He cleaned his plate.

For dessert, they sent us out a taste of their lavendar marshmallow with raspberry sauce. It was tasty, and interesting.

Turns out, I left our camera at home, and both David and I left our cellphones at home. So, no pictures.

Preparing for Chinese New Year

This coming Thursday is Chinese New Year. Vincent's Chinese school will have a celebration next Saturday, with a dragon, performances from the different classes, and a potluck. Lots of hustle and bustle at the school today. Each class had a chance to get up on the stage to rehearse their number for the festival. When I see the kids all lined up like this, it's a reminder of how small they still are, even when they act so big all the time.

They are supposed to be doing a routine together, though it seems they each have a different part...

After Chinese school, Vincent and I picked up Taiwanese food to bring home to share with David and Tyler. Tyler fell asleep on the bus on their way home from their class. You know the saying, "You snooze, you lose." Sorry, TyTy.

Columbia Tower

A new thing for us is Vincent and I have Friday afternoons together by ourselves, about 4 hours. This morning, we made plans to have lunch with David at his work...

 ...in Columbia Tower, and to go up to the top! What a view!

Unfortunately, this was the face Vincent posed with...

 Looking out to Elliot Bay

Nice. Even on a cloudy day

I Can't Really Remember

Isn't that sad? I can't really remember what all we did today. Wait, I remember taking Vincent to drama class, then Tyler to the science center, then going home for lunch. Vincent didn't nap, then woke Tyler up, but I was able to get him back down to nap. Then, we met up for a Mandarin playdate, and rushed home to make dinner.

This is what my boys ate:

Baked salmon, broccoli, brown rice, and nori. I think Vincent may have eaten some sauteed spinach, too. David and I had some potatoes as well. This was one of those simple dinners that made kind of made me proud. We were eating well and healthy. So we ended our meal with these.

Enjoying our new neighborhood

Today, after naptime, the boys and I went for a walk to our nearby playground. It was our first time walking from our new house, and it was pretty close! Not as close as Miller was to our old place, but the boys were able to make it just fine. I suppose they were pretty excited to be going to a playground, though.

While there, we ran into our neighbors next door and across the street. I loved it when that happened back in Capitol Hill, so it's great to have that sense of community back in Montlake.

 

 

 

Closed!!

This morning, the boys and I met up with my friend, Jen, and one of her boys, Julian, at the Science Center, only to find out that they are closed on Tuesdays! WHAT?! (the IMAX was open, but still...) Be warned, don't plan a Tuesday outing to the science center.

Kinda hard to switch plans on the fly when two four year olds and one soon-to-be-2 year old are expecting something specific. Actually, Tyler couldn't care less exactly what we did, as long as we did something. But, what to do?

Turns out, they were perfectly content to have a snack and play in the tiny playroom at the Center House. Then, we headed back to our house for a little more playing. Whew! No tantrums to be had over a change in plans.

Tonight, David and I had a date. Yay! We met for $1 Taco Tuesday at Licorous and had, well, tacos. They are so darn good, I dream of them sometimes. I had 3, David had 5, and we shared a plate of Pretzel Dots (one each), which are mini pretzel sandwiches with prosciutto, cheese, and sauerkraut. Yum. And, since we were there for happy hour, our cocktails were half priced.

When we got home, we were greeted by two very happy boys, who just finished a huge dinner. Audrey said that Vincent ate for about an hour and a half. Not because he was eating slowly, but because he kept asking for more food. Amazing.

Vincent the Horse

Apparently, that's what Tyler decided to make Vincent into tonight after dinner. At first he was just sort of hanging on his back. Then he decided to go for a ride.

    

Pop Rocks!

On Friday, when Vincent and I went to the candy store, we bought a variety pack of mini candies. In that pack was Pop Rocks. He was allowed to pick one item out of the bag that day. It wasn't the Pop Rocks, which was what I wanted him to pick.

Today, on our way to the Pacific Science Center I gave them to him.

It was mini-sized, but it took him a very long time to eat. He was picking out each little piece, one at a time, to eat. It started getting clumpy, so I finally dumped the whole thing in his mouth, which he loved.

This afternoon, David took the boys to the elementary school up the street to ride their scooters and play with the r/c car. I met up with them a little while later. This is what I saw:

 Vincent wanted to race the r/c

Tyler scooting away

Smiles, Stars and Frowns

It's so nice to have David back. But, we wouldn't be a family without a little bit of conflict. Yes, David and I disagree and argue from time to time. Althought I'm not fond of it, I'm glad we use these events in our relationship to check in with each other and refocus on things. And, most of the time, it's just miscommunication between us.

We had such a thing happen today. I think part of the challenge was the kids readjusting to having him back. It's harder for Vincent to make the shift to changes than Tyler, although, according to David, he was a bit out of sorts in their class this morning. And, in general, the boys are different on the weekends when we are both present. Eventually, it gets to us grown-ups, and we take it out on each other, usually in the form of snapping at each other over little things.

But, after a good nap from both boys, the second half of our day was smoother.

Oh, this morning, I took Vincent to Chinese school and David took Tyler to Seattle Central. Vincent requested that we go to Canton Noodle House again, so he and I picked them up from SCCC, and headed to the I.D. for lunch. They did well, even though Vincent ate much slower today than on Tuesday. While there, a family with 5 children came in. When they left, the owners of the restuarant had this look of, "Whoah, what just happened??" Yeah, those kids were more active than ours, but there were FIVE of them. Still, I felt just a tiny bit smug that mine were calm.

We hung out at home the rest of the day. The boys watched the second half of "Toy Story" while I made dinner. I decided to give Vincent his own mini portion of salad, since he's been eating it lately. He finished everything on his plate for dinner!

From left to right: Baby greens salad with balsamic vinaigrette, breaded and baked panko talapia fish (from Costco), ketchup, sauteed kale. In the bowl is roasted sunchoke soup. 

He ate everything on the plate and about two spoonsful of soup. He said he didn't like the soup. WHAT?! Not like sunchoke soup? David finished it for him, but he missed out.

Tyler was given everything except the salad. In its place, he had avocados. He rejected the kale, of course, played with the soup, and ate everything else.

After dinner, David played with the kids while I deep cleaned the bathroom. We put Tyler to bed and let Vincent stay up for "Movie Night." The three of us watched "Toy Story 2" and ate lots of popcorn. He was so giddy after the movie, it was very cute.

I almost forgot to mention the smiles, stars and frowns...Vincent has a reward chart now. If he feeds the kitties 3 times a day (or at least checks on their food), he gets a smiley face at the end of the day. If he behaves himself (this is the part where we use to our advantage - don't look down on us!), he gets a star at the end of the day. If he fails to do either of those, he receives a sad face. We're actually pretty relaxed about this system. If he gets a smiley face all week, he receives a weekly allowence. We remind him to feed the cats, so he basically gets a smile each day. If he gets 5 stars in a row, he gets a movie night on the weekend. It's our first week implementing, and we want it to be successful, so we aren't too strict with him. He got his movie night, and tomorrow he will receive his allowance.

TGIF

Not that I haven't enjoyed the past 5 days with my boys all on my own with barely a break to catch my breath, but I am so looking forward to having David's help around here tomorrow. He's in the air right now, but won't really be of any help until the morning.

I am exhausted, and I don't even have to go to a paid job while being a mom at the same time, so it's not like I truely know what it's like to be a single parent. I do have tons for respect for those who do it. But, I will say that I now know I can do more than I think, even if I do lose my patience in the process. Nevermind that I have three laundry baskets full for clean clothes to fold, a sink full of dirty dishes because I haven't emptied the clean ones out of the machine, and cat hair all over our rugs. The garbage, etc., did make it out to the street for collection and I scrubbed the kids' bathroom toilet and sink tonight.

I did get a very short break today, though. Tyler started a daycare this morning. It's huge for us. Okay, it's huge for me. I have not left him, without Vincent, in the care of someone who's not a blood relative for more than a few hours at a time. Today, he stayed at the daycare for 6 hours. Heck, I've barely done that with Vincent. I felt sick to my stomach when I left and he was crying. But, when I picked him up, he barely blinked after seeing me, stopping only to bring me something he had been pretend cooking just as I walked in.

Why daycare? Well, they speak Mandarin. And, she happened to have one spot open, just one day a week. And, the price is right. And, it will give me some alone time with Vincent. As far as alone time for myself, I'll get about 2 hours of it, which I plan to do what I would've been doing if I had Tyler anyway, which is go to the gym. It's just that now he'll have the language exposure, with peers, and I have to option NOT to go exercise, in case I really need to get something done without children around.

Yeah, so Tyler did good, I think. I had prepared to have him bring a comfort object (but not his NuNu) along for his nap, but he really wanted to take it with him when we dropped Vincent off at school, and he left it there. So instead, all I had to comfort him was his favorite sleep sack, with a tag on the side that he enjoys rubbing, and this tiny Hello Kitty doll that he sometimes plays with in the car. He ended up taking only a 45 minute nap, but at least he napped. He was the first child up, cried a little, but once he started playing again, he was happy.

I sure missed him today.

Vincent and I went to lunch at Blue C Sushi and then got a treat at the candy store across the street. I really wanted him to try out Pop Rocks, but he got this 'Razzles' thing instead. We came home and worked on his Chinese school "homework" together, then picked up Tyler.

I have eaten out with the boys so much this week. I have major guilt. We had dinner at home three times, but one night dinner was made for us. And, there was only one lunch we had that I made. I'm so lucky.

Oy!

We did not have dinner at Local 360 tonight. Parking in Belltown's a bit of a nightmare. I was sort of nervous about it, so when Sheila called and said she'd been circling the neighborhood, I was happy to come up with an alternative. Tutta Bella for pizza. Three words: FREE COVERED PARKING.

But, first, the accident...

Yup, this is my little buddy, Vincent. He was hopping down the steps in front of our house on our way to the car, on our way to dinner, when he lost his balance. Sigh. It wasn't as bad as it sounds, but he did get scraped up, and he did cry (or shall I say scream?) dramatically. As upset as I was about how it happened, I couldn't get angry with him. All I could do was rush over, pick him up and hug him. As I was cleaning him up, I did ask him if he could tell me why he thinks he fell. He knew the reason, and said, "Mommy, I'm sorry I was jumping on the steps," all teary-eyed and wheepy. I assured him that I was not angry, but that he needs to remember that we don't play on stairs. And, I told him that even though it hurts, it's not very bad and it could have been worse, so I'm thankful that he's okay. And, as you can see from his picture, he's totally okay.

The boys shared a pizza with Sheila's boy, but I think all of them would've eaten another. Unfortunately, the service at Tutta Bella tonight was painfully slow, and our children were not holding up. We rushed them out, and when the boys and I got home, I made them boxed mac 'n' cheese with broccoli, which they gobbled down.

It seems like we're always eating.  What can I say? I love food.

Drama Class and Expensive PJs

Vincent had his first drama class this morning. It turns out that we knew one other family so that was a nice surprise. The great the children at the door and do a little activity with them outside the classroom that involves the topic of the story they will learn about and then they're lead inside. At the end of the class, when parents pick up, the kids pretend to be statues and parents are given a line that we must say to them and they respond with something, too. When Tyler and I walked in, Vincent was not frozen and said, "I don't want to be a statue." He was asked to sit down and wait for me, which he did, but when I said my line, he refused to respond. Oh well. I told him after class that part of the learning process for this class is to do that closing activity. Hopefully next week he'll feel up for it. But, all-in-all, he seemed to enjoy it.

Tyler and I went to the Center House to pass the time. He ate a light snack and played in the playroom. I've only been up there one other time, which was when Vincent was a baby. It was exactly the same; small, with a few toys, clean, and with a huge TV with Sesame Street on. Hmmmm. Tyler only sort of payed attention to the TV. Oh, there's a slide in there, which I don't remember from before. It was free and he enjoyed himself.

After Vincent's class, he practically begged to eat in the Center House. I told him just this week. Sheesh, it can get to be an expensive class when all is said and done with keeping Tyler entertained and lunchtime. I'm gonna have to start packing a lunch for us all, or enforce eating at home. Probably the latter, since it was my original plan. Plus, if I keep buying expensive pajamas like I did after lunch...

I hadn't intended on them being so pricey. In the last couple of days, I realized that the boys don't have any matching pajamas. I know, for shame, Mommy. Yes, it's a little frivolous of me to want them to have matching PJs, but it's so cute. Anyway, the Cotton Caboodle outlet is just down the street from the Seattle Center. They make super comfy clothes. I haven't been there in years, so I thought I'd see if they had something. They don't actually have pajamas, but they have separates that can be used as so. Not only did I find matching tops and bottoms for the boys, I found a set for myself. Sorry, David, not men's clothing there. But, yeah, they weren't cheap, since I bought the pieces separately. Apparently, though, Fred Segal sells the pants the kids got for about double the price. And, I'm wearing mine right now and they really are so super comfortable.

Oh yeah, they're wearing theirs, too.

We're having dinner with our friends at Local 360 in Belltown tonight. I'm hungry just thinking about it.

Highlights

It's late. I just now have a chance to post, and my brains a little mushy. It's been a good day, but busy. Not busy in the "I got so much accomplished" sort of way. Unless, of course, you count getting your children to all the necessary places at the necessary times, feeding them 3 meals a day with a snack or two in between, and getting them to bed without any meltdowns as accomplishing a lot. Oh, and getting both of them to take an afternoon nap. These simple tasks keep a mom busy, I tell you. 

Today's highlights:
-The boys and I all wearing puffy vests.

-Tyler making it through most of circletime at our tots class.
-My friend, Robin, calling Vincent mellow. I think he's got her fooled, but I was flattered.
-Learning that Tyler doesn't like just any kind of noodles...soft and mushy are not okay by him.

-Vincent running out of preschool screaming, "Mommy!" with a huge smile on his face and so excited to show me his art project. Then, his teacher telling me he had a really good day at school.

-Seeing the boys run up and down the sidewalk holding hands after picking Vincent up.

-Napping in a chair with Tyler napping in my arms for an hour. Sounds uncomfortable, but we haven't done that in months, and it was so sweet to hold him and watch him sleep.
-Vincent eating all the meals I fed him.

-Vincent taking kale off my plate tonight and asking if he can have some, then asking for more.

-The boys calmly playing Legos together in the living room while I cooked dinner.

-Eating Red Mango frozen yogurt while watching an episode of Garfield for dessert.

-Vincent and Tyler following simple dance steps of the bunny-hop instructed by yours truly.

-Sunshine.

-Hearing David tell me about his day at the office. I love knowing he is so happy in his new job.

-Roasted sunchokes.

-My amazing children.

**Not a highlight: getting a whiff of my cat's bad breath as he yawned just now. Pew.

Growing a Farmer, Growing Foodies

Have you noticed a trend in my posts? Usually, I post once during the kids' resting time, and again after we've put them to bed for the night. It's pretty much how our day is broken up; first half and second half. Usually, the first part of the day is more adventuresome than the second, but there's always something more to share.

Today's second half, in my opinion, was more exciting than the first (not to discount part 1 in anyway, because it was good, too). 

Okay, okay, I'll get on with it. But, first I have to preface it with what happened first thing this morning. Just as Tyler was waking up, my phone rang, and it was our Tuesday sitter who was very sick and had to cancel. My plans for my alone time was to meet a friend for coffee, then head to Elliot Bay bookstore to use my laptop, before going to a book reading. Change of plans...

But, I think it ended up better! Kate came over to our house with coffee at 3:30pm. The kids were up so they got to see her, too.

After her visit, we had a light snack, then headed to Capitol Hill for dinner at Odd Fellows. We shared the salt cod fritters, beet salad, and beef shortribs. Yeah, what a meal, huh? They tried all of it, too. Uh, except the braised greens, and Tyler didn't try the arugula or beets from the salad. Tyler ended up not liking the goat cheese or pistachios from the salad, couldn't seem to decide on the salt cod, was okay with the potatoes with the shortribs, and LOVED the beef. I'd say he ate half the huge chunk we got. Vincent loved the salad, though he didn't seem to like his arugula. He tried the salt cod and didn't like it. Was okay with the shortribs, and LOVED the potatoes. Funny boys. Oh, yeah, I also had a champagne cocktail.

 

The next thing on my plan was to take them next door to Elliot Bay and pick up a copy of the book being read, Growing a Farmer: How I Learned to Live Off the Land, by Kurt Timmermeister. I figured I would buy it, hang around a few minutes to see Kurt, congratulate him on the book, and scoot home.

Once there, Vincent asked if we can stay so that he can "listen to the story." It was so sweet and cute. I told him we could for just a few minutes, but as soon as Tyler starts to squirm, we'd have to leave. He agreed. I was actually able to chat with Kurt briefly, apologizing to him, in advance, if we get up and leave minutes into his reading. He totally understood and was grateful we made it out. Just as I finished telling him that Vincent would prefer to stay, I found two friends.  Friends who needed seats. I provided just that...as long as one of them would have Vincent sit on her lap. Vincent last 45 minutes! I had to take Tyler upstairs to roam the children's section, but Vincent stayed there with Robin until he was ready to see me. He never ceases to amaze me.

Canton Noodle House

We tried out a new community center this morning. I had heard that it might be better for the younger kids, like Tyler's age, but I think Vincent enjoyed it just as much because it was different. He was excited to see that "they have three little bouncey houses!" I was amazed that Tyler did not immediately ask for a snack, and only did after Vincent said he was hungry.

After the community center, we had lunch at an old favorite spot of mine and David, Canton Noodle House. Gosh, we ate there so much the first few years we were together. I don't think we have been back since before I was pregnant with Tyler. The owner remembered me, though, and said, "You have two now."

Unfortunately, I forgot they are cash only until we started ordering. I had $6 and some change. That afforded us one small bowl of their regular noodle soup with vegetables, plus tax and tip. She was so nice and offered to give me an I.O.U. Thankfully, my children eat small portions. We split that bowl, and to my surprise, Tyler ate slowly, and Vincent chowed down and asked for more. He even ate the leafy greens I gave him. That earns him an X-Large photo on today's post.

After he was done he said, "Next time we come here, I want to eat the same thing again." I asked him if he'd like his own bowl next time, and he said yes.

Oh, okay, Tyler can have his picture here, too.  Just smaller.

Oh yeah, I stashed fruit leather in my purse this morning and gave it to them to tie them over until our food arrived. Vincent said, "Whoah, we get to have dessert before our lunch!" But, lucky them, they got dessert after, too. She gave them lollipops! I bet they'll be happy to return for sure now.

MLK Day

First, let's play *Guess which one of my kids said it.*

"I threw up because that's the kind of chicken I don't like."

Hint: he's wearing this rob because I had to give him a wash down halfway through dinner.

At least now that I'm looking at the picture, I think he's so stinkin' cute, I'm (almost) over the trauma he caused me.

Our day started off with two last minute playdate invites. First one was an invite to their house, which I said we'd do after we go to the gym. As we were walking down to the car, I got the second invite, which was to take Vincent to the zoo. So, that's where V went, and T went with me to the gym. Afterwards, Ty and I went to visit our friends and have lunch there. Vincent was dropped off there, since the other family lives nearby. I'd say it worked out nicely.

Seahawks, Sunshine, Sunday at Ikea

When Tyler wakes up in the morning, he usually snuggles in bed with us for another 10 minutes or so. When he's had enough, he ushers us out of bed (really, he does), goes potty & gets a fresh diaper. Before we can get that diaper on him, he's asking for breakfast. He loves his breakfast. This morning was no different, only he started off sitting at the little table in the kitchen. He looked so happy and cute eating his Z Bar, I just had to snap a shot.

Well, the Seahawks lost today. No Superbowl. But, it was a big game for them, and David wanted to watch it, so after breakfast the kids and I headed to U Village to exchange a shirt I have, and to use our LivingSocial coupon for a dozen cupcakes at Trophy. I can't believe I bought that deal almost a year ago. It expires next weekend. I had been waiting for some sort of celebration to bring cupcakes to, but kept forgetting about it or couldn't get over there to buy them. So, now we have about 8 cupcakes sitting in our freezer, waiting for me to get a sweet craving.

Vincent insisted on eating at Johnny Rockets as soon as we got there, at 10:15am. Weird. I got him to wait until about 11:30am. No surprise, he ate his ONE mini cheeseburger super slowly, as if he wasn't just whining about being hungry or waxing poetic about how much he loves JR. "Well, I haven't been there in so long." Silly kid. Anyway, he did finish that tiny little burger, so the boys and I shared a milkshake and took one home for David. BTW, one of their regular shakes divides up into three nicely.

After Vincent rested a little, he and David went outside and did yard work. Yeah, how about that? It had cleared up a bit and we even saw a bit of sunshine. When Tyler woke, he and I joined them. The kids ran around in our new backyard with the toy lawnmower and a plastic bat. They were so happy out there. It was so gratifying for us to see this kind of excitement for the yard.

Here's Vincent in the sunshine as we loaded them up to go to Ikea.

Okay, okay, you can't tell it's sunny, but I assure you it was.

And, sadly, I'll admit that we joined the masses at Ikea on a Sunday. Yes, there was a meltdown. Yes, David was about to give up and started carrying Vincent to the exit. I managed to stop him and calmed Vincent down, and we were able to *GASP!* have dinner there, and make it out the store with purchased items. Yes, we ate dinner there - it was free if we spent $100 or more, which we did.

Not our proudest feeding moment in parenting, but Tyler was super happy with his meal. Vincent did a replay of lunch, but managed to eat most of his food. I guess we have to be proud that they both ate & behaved well. On our way home, just 30 minutes later, Vincent said he was hungry and wanted to eat more food when we got home. Sorry, Kiddo, dinner's over.

By the way, Vincent picked out his whole outfit today. It was, well, he's done better. He had on an olive green longsleeve t-shirt with racing flames on the side, and on top of it, he put on a baby blue tank top. For pants, he wore green sweats. It would've been a decent outfit if he hadn't put the tank over his shirt. But, he said it's in case he gets hot.

And, today, we've started a weekly allowance with one chore for Vincent. He has a bank with three compartments: spend, share, and save. He is responsible for checking the cats' food & water levels 3 times a day, and refill as needed. We remind him, of course. He's able to do it all on his own. If he does this all week, he receives $1.00, broken down into loose change. I think he feels really proud of this. Tyler has seen Vincent feed the cats and actually wants to do it, too. He rush over to the basement door and says, "I get it!"

Boys' Morning, Sushi, & Birthday Party

Vincent did not have Chinese school this morning. David asked him last week if he would like to go to class with him & Tyler, to which he said, "yes." This morning, when asked again, he was very excited and still wanted to join them. So, I got a couple of hours to myself. Man, that time flew by fast!

I met up with my boys for lunch at our favorite Saturday lunch spot, Genki Sushi. A classmate, Finley, and her dad were there, too. Tyler was excited to see her, which was too cute. Then, one of the teachers from class showed up for lunch with a friend. Both boys were thrilled to see him. Vincent asked him a bunch of questions and told him a bunch of stuff. And, Tyler said his name, Daniel. In fact, Daniel and Finley are a couple of the handful of names he can say.

There was a de-rail of the sushi train, to which Tyler gestured, "What happened?"

Vincent enjoys eating string bean rolls, udon, and yogurt drinks when we're there.

After lunch, David dropped Vincent and I off at Rhys and Annika's Robot/Princess, or Princess/Robot, birthday party. We got there just as everyone was settling into a circle in various costumes and talking what they were pretending to be.

Vincent was the second boy to the right of the facilitator (with the gold headband), wearing a green cape. When asked who wanted to go first, he quickly raised his hand. He said his name and said he's a superhero, but didn't quite understand the part about what his power was. After a couple of other children had their turn, he raised his hand again, and patiently waited for the gal to call on him. The said, "Actually, my name is Robin, and my super power is flying." All the grown ups were so amazed at the children's listening skills and manners.

They all had a chance to make a wand & used them to do their super power.

After the party, Vincent and I walked back home, just a few blocks away.

While I made dinner, Vincent painted a wooden rocket ship, pretty much all on his own, Tyler played with play dough, and David chatted on the phone with his brother. We were all gathered in the kitchen together, but had our own thing going on. It was pretty neat.

A Sore Bodied, Proud Parent & Our Downtown Adventure

Yup, that's me. Sore. My body is achey from yesterday's workout, but I was relieved to find that it didn't bother me to jog on the treadmill at the gym. In fact, I almost felt stronger. And, I didn't realize I reserved a 2 hour spot for the boys in the daycare until we got there, so I had extra time to myself.

Before the gym, I had a parent/teachers conference for Vincent at his school. It was fun to hear about how they see & interact with him. The first thing one of his teachers said when I sat down was, "Of course, we love Vincent." Well, that just warms my heart. It sounds like he is doing very well in school. A little on the loud side (no surprise), and not that into art, even though he will participate. Very verbal, but has good listening skills. I'm proud of him.

I asked them for their opinion of him taking drama classes. They thought that it may be something he'd enjoy. I've been thinking about it for a while now, and after talking to them, I knew that I had to let him give it a try. So, just signed him up for the spring session of Creative Drama at the Seattle's Children's Theatre. I'm so excited for him! I hope he enjoys it, but if not, at least I gave him the opportunity.

After the gym, we came home for lunch, and then we had a friend, Will, over for a mini playdate. The boys tumbled around the living room, listening to Toy Story and then to some music. After the tumbling, they played hide and seek. None of them really played it the exact way, but they had fun. Tyler was right in there with them. He seemed to follow whatever Will was doing. It was really cute to watch them run around. We calmed down with a little video of Ni Hao Kai Lan.

So, it's 3pm, and I'm feeling that today is considerably better than yesterday. I'm not sure why, but I'll take it. Although, our cat, Stella, is frustrating me. She likes to hang out with Vincent when he's resting. I guess he was petting her and she decided to scratch him. She's my trouble-maker.

I also wanted to say something about yesterday. I was pretty wiped out by the end of the night when I posted. I didn't give the kids enough credit. We did have a lot of fun after their (shortened) rest/naptime, when we had a dance party in the living room. Vincent was singing a song from the movie, "Tangled," so I bought it off iTunes, and he was thrilled. He danced and danced, and then we listened to other songs, and got out the faux microphones and sang along and danced some more. So, I'm sorry I made them seem like total monsters yesterday...it's good to sleep off a bad day, huh?

**9:49pm - Post rest/naptime today, we had ourselves a little downtown adventure. Vincent didn't nap, again, and Tyler took a shorter nap, again. I already figured out dinner, which involved reheating of stuff, easy. So, we took the bus downtown. The adventure was supposed to only be the bus ride, and then we'd meet David down there and take a different bus home. But, our ride there was so long that I felt bad making them get back on a bus again after only 20 minutes.

That bus ride was pretty standard & uneventful (to me, at least) until a group of teenagers got on halfway through our trip. Two were eating Chinese food out of a box, which was apparently not tasty, and talking about how one couple among them was having a baby. They talked about the baby's name, and the baby shower, and how excited they were that she's having a baby. The most talkative of the bunch went on about how she can't wait to have one, and even got on the phone with her boyfriend & asked if they can have one soon. Then, there was some talk about meeting someone downtown, but "I'll tell 'em it's your weed, and you just need to tell them they can't smoke it all." I think she was referring to the preggers gal. It was all so surreal. And, I KNOW that Vincent was taking it all in, because they said something about getting off the bus, which happened to be the one we wanted, and Vincent excitedly said, "Mommy, they're getting off at the same stop as us!"

Nonetheless, the bus trip was worth it because after we got off, there was the sound of drums playing, and Vincent wanted to see where it was coming from. One man, several plastic buckets, and various cymbals and bells. He saw Vincent, pulled out two drumsticks and asked if he wanted to play along.

Yup, that's my boy: street performer. Someone walked by and dropped some change in a bucket, too.

While waiting for David, we ducked out of the rain and into See's Candies, where we got a free sample of chocolate and Vincent got a lollipop. Okay, I'll admit I bought that for him so that I could get the samples. Sneeky cheapskate.

We ate dinner at Il Fornaio's Risottoria, where the kids shared their mac 'n' cheese, and Vincent ate all his portion! Even more than Tyler ate. Check out his empty plate. And, yes, he was still working on that lolli after dinner.

Finally, we waited for the bus to take us home.

And Then There's Today...

I have nothing worth sharing about my boys today, aside from them driving me up the wall. It's best I just talk about me, so that I don't say anything more unpleasant about them.

Let's start with my circuit training workout at the gym. One hour long, and I thought I was going to die. I'm not sure that anything actually hurt that much, since I couldn't keep up enough to really get the full effect. I just felt completely exhausted. I'm going to be in pain tomorrow. It's good, though. I think I needed to change things up a bit.

After a hard work out like that, it's best I treat myself to a delicious meal of BLT+A and fries. But, I had water.

I also wanted to share what we had for dinner tonight. Take a look.

I cook a flat iron steak once a week. I order it from amazonfresh.com, it's an easy cut of meat to cook, it's big enough for the whole family with leftovers, it's pretty lean, and everyone likes it. But, it wasn't the inspiration for tonight's meal. That little cup of beans with kale was what started me thinking about everything else you see on this plate.

The soup: Apple and Bean Soup from Lidia Bastianich.

 http://lidiasitaly.com/recipes/detail/242

I bought David her book as a Christmas gift; not so much the book, but the meals I would be making us from this book. This was our first recipe to try out, and it was a success. I modified it ever so slightly by adding tiny torn up pieces of kale to it. And, I misread the recipe and put 1.5 tsp instead of .5 tsp of cinnamon in. Luckily, I just scoop everything out, dumped the liquid and added more. It may have taken some of the buttery goodness out, but it's finished with more butter, so no biggie.

We could've had just had the soup for dinner, or Lidia suggests it as a side as well. I had the steak, so I cooked it. And, I had one roma tomato left in-house, so I sliced that up. Ooh, and in the freezer, a par-baked loaf of rosemary bread from Essential Bakery. Super.

Lastly, that little white dollop on top of the steak is herbed goat cheese. I used plain Laura Chenel's chabis along with fresh chopped chives, thyme, basil, rosemary, and shallots, juice of half a lemon, about a 1/4 cup of cream, and salt to taste. Mix, mix, mix. Back in the fridge to set up. A hot spoon to scoop it is what makes that fun little football shape.

David said, "I love my Christmas present!"