Thursday, March 22, 2007

Growing Up!




My BIG 3 year old boy had a sleepover at his friends' house last night - without mommy! He didn't cry for me (though he says he missed me), he was a good listener and slept as well as he does at home. And of course he had lots of fun!!! Apparently they played alot of "David and Goliath"! Esther was disappointed not to see Sim when she woke up this morning, but boy did she get excited when he came home! Lots of kisses and hugs for "Bubbie" (brother).

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Fun with Friends!









I haven't had a chance to write about our weekend away with our dear friends Jocelyn and Sherwood and their sweet boys Isaiah and Luke. I've been busy helping a mom bring her new son into the world...but here's the scoop!

Some time ago (I think I was pregnant with Esther) we went to the country to spend an evening with these friends. We had a great dinner and played a fun game of Settlers after our kids went to sleep. They lived out there at the time and we were planning to pack Sim up and put him in the carseat around midnight for our drive home when an INCREDIBLE summer storm hit! I've never seen wind like that or heard the rain falling so intensely! And the thunder and lightning - it was as if the whole sky was lit up for hours on end! We decided it would be very unsafe to drive home so we stayed the night! We ended up having an awesome weekend relaxing together while our kids were hanging out...sort of (they were only 1 and 2!) We've often talked about this great weekend together and when the opportunity arose, we were invited back - but this time it was for a winter getaway!

Our boys are older now and have a great time playing together. Esther tries to keep up with them and they tolerate her...mostly! We share great food, have great conversations, play fun games, get some fresh air, learn from each other's parenting challenges, etc. I am so grateful for friends who are like family in a province where I have very little actual family! Thank you Armbrusters for your hospitality and your welcoming hearts! :)

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Thursday, March 08, 2007

Tag, you're it!

So here's a fun TAG game:

Instructions are as follows:

1. Go into your archive.
2. Find your 23rd post.
3. Find the fifth sentence (or closest to).
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions.

Here's mine:

In fact, last night I had alot of contractions and even had the "nesting urge"!

Written on Nov 4th - 2 days before Esther was born! Boy was I ready for her to come out!

Now it's your turn! Don't forget to post your sentence in my comments too! :)

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Friday, March 02, 2007

Anatomy 101

Simeon is very curious about body parts these days, particularly the ones we don't see as often! A few weeks ago he asked me what was on Esther's bum. After several moments of confusion, I realized he was wondering why she looked different than he did. I've always had full intention to use proper terms when talking to my kids about their bodies, so I told him what it was. The rest of the conversation went something like this:

Sim - "When I was a baby, did I have an angina too?"
Me (laughing at his pronunciation) - "No, Simeon, you're a boy like daddy and Esther is a girl, like mommy."
Sim - "But when Esther gets bigger she'll have a penis like me, right?"

I tried explaining things as best I could, but I wasn't convinced he understood. Oh well, he's only 3 after all! There is plenty of time, especially if we keep these lines of communication open and not make a big deal about conversations like this.

Fast forward to last week. I had a friend here for lunch with her 3 year old daughter. (*name changed to protect her identity*) The 2 kids were having such a cute conversation as they ate. Anytime I tried to interpret for them, Simeon would say, "Mom, I'm just talking to *Sally." Sally's mom and I were listening in every so often, remarking how great it was that our kids are now old enough to chat with each other. The next thing we knew, this is what we heard:

Sim - "You have a bagina?" (he's getting better at his pronunciation!)
Sally - "What?"
Sim - "You have a bagina, right?"
Sally - "I'm Sally!"
Sim - "But you're a girl so you have a bagina and I'm a boy so I have a..."
Me - "Yes, Simeon you're a boy and Sally's a girl."

So, other than thinking this is really funny, how do I avoid more embarassing situations? Yesterday he started making up a story about "Esther going to the doctor when she was born so she could get a bagina". He frequently reminds Deyan or I that we are a boy/girl and what parts we have! He has also discovered more parts on himself and is asking what they are called! I know it's pretty normal for kids to be curious, but he seems quite fascinated! Any advice? :)

PS - I had to switch my blog to the new format. It doesn't affect anything, but if you subscribe to my blog, you'll probably have to resubscribe or something.