name that tune!

I told Nate that I'm adding "dictionary" to my resume, since he asks me to define something every other sentence, to which he of course replied, "What's resume mean?" Nate then decided that his resume would include:
Baker
Pours ingredients
Not a good waffle cooker
Sings
Draws
Plays with trucks
Can do experiments
I cut things

On a related note, Nate keeps requesting the same artist on my ipod these days, and it has resulted in some tricky defining for me. Can you figure out who we're listening to these days? Here are some of the terms he's asked about from his new favorite artists' greatest hits:
slander
libel
The Bible
the law
confidence
mumbles

Bonus hint: Nate correctly stated that many of the songs "sound a little bid sad." He also asked in humorous disbelief, "Did he say 'cupcakes'?!"

my boy wants to potty all the time

We have had an uphill battle over potty training, to say the least, but I am finally comfortable reporting that Nate is doing a FANTASTIC job using the potty. Sure, we still have the occasional accident here and there, but he has reached the point where we can say that he is potty trained. And although our lives still revolve around bathrooms (and strategically placed trees) Nate can wear his fancy "Lightening The Queen" undies all day long. He has become something of an exhibitionist outdoors, though, and will drop his pants pretty much anywhere to pee in the grass. I think our next step is to instill some modesty, or at least faux modesty, when he has no other choice but to pee in public. Another point near the top of our peeing etiquette to-do list is learning how to aim. Nate almost peed on his good friend Dev at the park the other day because he doesn't seem to have much control over, uh, it.

boston marathon

We took Nate to see part of the Boston Marathon this year, and he found it more entertaining than we'd expected. Frankly, my expectations were pretty low. I enjoyed watching the race as a kid, but I was much older than three. And standing on a corner watching people run by isn't high on the average three-year-old's to-do list. That said, we lasted a good 45-minutes or so before Nate melted down.

He has no concept or understanding about what running one mile means, let along 26.2 of them. And he also didn't have the attention span to pay attention to how far a mile was while we were driving (how ridiculous - I'd say, "the mile starts now!" and then drive until we'd gone a mile. Then I'd try to tell him how far we'd gone but he'd have moved onto another subject about .9 miles earlier). He did, however, ask some very good questions about the marathon-watching experience. Here are some highlights:

"Why are they running?"
"Why are we clapping?"
"Why are they throwing cups on the ground?"

And this, my friends, brings us to the heart of Nate's marathon. The cups. He kept commenting on all the cups. "Look at the cups on the ground. There are SO many cups! Look at all those cups!" So, if you are looking to impress a small child, no need to run from Hopkinton to Boston in just over two hours (crazy!) Instead, just dump a bunch of cups on the ground. But be sure to clean up after yourself. This blog does not promote littering.

a good use for little sisters

springtime

Happy birthday Gramma Shirley! And happy birthday month to so many of the other Carlson's: The Next Generation - Lidia, Freya, Annika...

Spring has sprung in Arlington. Construction abounds. And we finally can get out of the house again. Hooray!

more signs of spring

My nemesis has returned. No, not the diaper rash (thankfully), but the ice cream truck. And winning the Quote of the Day Award once again was Nate, who asked in all sincerity, "Why are you not particularly good at getting me ice cream from the ice cream truck?"

here we go again

Spring has sprung, and with it come the sounds of birds and jackhammers. Ah, yes, it seems that as of this morning, I am back to living a (literal) stone's throw from a construction site. My hell. Nate's heaven.

As I mentioned, Anja had her four-month doctor's appointment yesterday. Overall, she's in good health, although she doesn't seem to be gaining weight well. We've also been having issues with Anja not sleeping well and being unusually cranky recently (I won't bore you with the whiny details) that could be related to Anja being hungry. They could be related to Anja being four months old, too. Or Anja being tired. Or Anja being Anja. Who really knows? Although babies are endearing in their innocent helplessness, there are times when I really wish she could just say, "Hey, Mom, I'm hungry." I'm having flashbacks to Nate at this age, which is when the nursing took a big dive and he wasn't eating enough. Although this isn't nearly as difficult, it's still mildly frustrating. In the end, all I really care about is that my kids eat and grow. How we achieve that is still TBD.

Also, tomorrow is the three year anniversary of Nate's broken head incident, and I realized that although it was still one of my worst days ever, I'm finally at the point where I can joke about it without pangs of guilt and horror rushing through my system. During our check-up, our pediatrician was holding Anja somewhat close to the edge of the examining table, so I mentioned that she can now roll from back to front in that paranoid mom kind of way. He assured me that she was fine and he hasn't dropped one yet, to which I replied that I had and didn't recommend it. He then kindly moved Anja, who stayed firmly on the table the entire appointment.

my goofy kids

How could I have forgotten to post these ridiculous pictures?






























Anja (or Naja, as Nate likes to spell it) had her four month doctor's appointment this morning. She got a clean bill of health, although the doctor suggested she might need a V8.

papa's got a brand new bag

Thad started his new job yesterday, and lived to tell about it! So far, so good, although he had nothing interesting to report as he spent the day trying to get his computer to work and filling out paperwork. Let's hope things get more exciting soon.

The kids don't seem to have their priorities straight and are not cooperating with my blogging, so that is all for now.

here comes peter cottontail

This is not my childhood Easter. Perhaps Nate just hasn't caught on to the candy bonanza that awaits him Easter morning, but today when he woke up he insisted on shaving before heading downstairs to check out his basket. Weird kid. But with a very smooth shave!

For some reason, when we were decorating eggs, Nate insisted we put the little Paas stickers on our thumbs. I still don't get it, but he seemed pleased.

Anja seems to time her major baby events around the sporting calendar, and since today was the start of the baseball season (with a game between the Sox and Yankees, just to make it extra exciting) she rolled over from her back to front for the first time. Go baby!