Big Brother, Little Brother

 

Its hard to keep Jamesie away from Sean these days.  Whatever Sean is doing, Jamesie is trying to do it. Sometimes this creates severe conflict, like when Sean is playing with a specific toy and Jamesie has to have it too.  But most of the time its just so cute, seeing Little follow Big around the house.  Jamesie still doesn't have many (any?) spoken words, but when Sean gets on a roll yelling about something (a squirrel out the window, Daddy's home, etc), James will mimic the tone and inflection of the sound, just without the words.  If Jamesie happens to wake up from nap before Sean does, I have to keep bring him downstairs and keep the baby gates locked to keep him from barging into Sean's room on his own.  Meanwhile, he does the sign for "brother" about 5000 times before Sean wakes up.  

Then, we get this upon Sean waking from his nap: 

My Dream Job

I have a dream job, but I will get to that in a moment.  First, let me preface this thought with a portrait of my childhood home:  My dad was our youth soccer coach, back when Goalie was a coveted position because you got to wear a special shirt.  At practices my dad would ask "who wants to play goalie?" and while 10 other little girls bounced up and down yelling "me, me, me!" Mary Beth (who lived across the street and was used to my dad's quirks) and I waited patiently and then confidently said "I do."  The red shirt was ours to split.  A good lesson that good grammar can get you what you want.

When I was 10 my mom told me she would pay me a dollar if I ever caught her in a written or spoken grammatical error.  When I was 23 she had enjoyed a glass or two of wine while watching the World Series and commented that the Tigers were playing "real good."  I put out my hand and demanded my dollar.  13 years I waited for it.  A good lesson that good grammar can be lucrative.  My parents put a premium on good grammar growing up. It might sound like a strange or demanding way to grow up, but my sister is now earning her PhD in English and I make a living by writing on behalf of other people.  Good grammar can be lucrative.  So, when I began to ask a certain little boy of ours how he slept last night and he answered "good," I had to take action.  Every morning at breakfast I would make him repeat "I slept very well," until that became the stock answer.  While there are a lot of things I like about living in the south, the repetitive abuse of the adverb is not one of them, and my children will not fall victim to it. 

Back to my dream job.  I would love to run a company where I am hired by small businesses to come in and just take a quick grammatical look around their operations.  My insides cringe when I see unnecessary apostrophes and nonsensical quotation marks in public places.  My chiropractor closes early on Friday's.  Tip's are welcome at the local coffee shop (although they won't be getting any from me until they change the sign).  They're There and Their on a menu.  Or, my recent favorite, the park vendor serving "Beef" Hot Dogs and Chees Pizza.  AH!  I'm not saying my grammar or even spelling is always perfect.  I get into a rhythm especially when typing online, like we all do, and I miss things here and there.  But this is not my livelihood.  If you are running your own business, please, do the grammarfreaks like my family and me (yes, it is "me," you wouldn't say "like I") a favor and quickly scan the published word which you are presenting to the world as a reflection of your trade.  Or, hire someone, LIKE ME!, to do it for you.   Hourly rate is negotiable.  I can work on site or you can send me a draft of your menu/publication over email.  I guarantee you will have more business from people like my parents. 

Sorry for the Delay...

....we've been swamped around here with travelling for thanksgiving, getting new wood floors (awesome), a little extra work for me and a trial for Cody.  Survival mode.  Here's a little tidbit to get my creativity flowing again and sate your need for cute Sean quotes. 

Today at lunch:

Sean:  Mommy, why is your brain in your head?
Erin: That's the center of everything you do and think.  Your brain is what tells your body to do everything, and your brain is where you think about stuff.
Sean: Well I think about Greta.

Tonsil Recap

A little run-down of our day, this time in pictures:

9:00 a.m., arrive at the surgery center, Thomas and Percy in hand.  Wearing lucky shirt saved for special occassions. 

9:30 a.m.: check in-- receive wristband for Sean, one for Beth and one for Oli.  Beth and Oli were even allowed to go back in the O.R. with Sean, so its a good thing they had wristbands, so the doctors knew which person to operate on.

10:00 a.m., head back to surgery. 

11:00 a.m., wake up--scared, confused, sad. We only stayed in the recovery room for about 15 minutes before they let us go home. Sean then fell asleep on the 4 minute drive home.

And fell asleep again on the couch as soon as we got inside.  I sort of loved it b/c he was so baby-ish again and I just got to hold him for an hour. I may have even taken a little rest myself with him while Cody and Jamesie picked up meds at the drug store.

Meanwhile, Jamesie was extremely curious about what was going on and why Seannie looked so strange.  He kept trying to walk to him, talk to him, poke him, get him to jump on the couch....and Sean slept.

12:30 p.m. wake up, have some apple juice with Dad, then ask to go have a nap at 1:00 p.m.  Before his nap though, Cody gave him a new Berenstain Bears book and a new water-color Thomas book.  Cody said we could read the B.B. today and then maybe if Sean felt better tomorrow or the next day he could do the painting book.  When I put him to bed he said, "Mommy, I'm feeling better now....I think I can do painting after nap."

3:30 p.m., Dad wakes Sean up from nap and the first thing Sean says is, "I'm all better now, Dad.  I can do some painting."  Meanwhile, Jamesie remains curious.

5:00 p.m., discover that the nurse gave Mom a whole sheet of Thomas stickers!  Decorating himself with all but two of them--one for Mom and one for Jamesie.

6:00: Dinner: oatmeal.  We're on a soft-food diet (nothing that has to be chewed) for 2 full weeks!  Any ideas?  We did a smoothie and oatmeal today--but that just about covers all of my ideas...with 13 days to go.

7:00: Bath, apply new Notre Dame tattoo to hand, and bed. 

So far, so good--he even talked to both of his grandmothers on the phone today, and they were both amazed at how good he sounded.  The Doc warned us that some kids seem to do extremely well the first couple of days though and then hit a wall a few days in, so we'll keep you updated how the rest of the recovery goes. Thanks again for all your prayers!

Update on Seannie

Sean made it through the surgery very well and we are already at home!  Sean is in and out of naps on the couch, and currently listening to Cody read Pinnocchio to him.  The nurses all said he was very brave and did extremely well.  He was very confused and sad when he woke up, but seems to be coming around now-- enough to try to some ice cream for lunch at least :).  We'll keep you updated with more later...thank you for all your prayers!

Goodbye (and Good Riddance) Tonsils!

Sean's tonsils have about 12 hours left in their current home, then we say goodbye for good!  If you've been anywhere near Sean while he sleeps you'll know that he snores like an old man.  This summer on vacation Cody had to sleep on the couch because our 3 years old's snoring was keeping him up.  The real problem, however, is that he has been having apnea episodes as he snores, which make for a very bad night sleep and a tired little boy for the rest of the day.  At nearly 3 1/2 he still indulges in a 2-3 hour nap most afternoons. 

The Big Event will happen tomorrow morning at 9:30, and we would all appreciate prayers at that time for a safe and successful operation and recovery!  Thank you in advance!

To get ready for the big day tomorrow Seannie and I made a cake (he requested blue cake with blue writing) this afternoon to wish his tonsils good luck on their new voyage.  Sean got to pick what he had for dinner (he chose a hot dog) and have as much of the cake and ice cream as he wanted as he won't be able to eat in the morning.  Here are some sweet pics of our celebratory dinner:

Showning his tonsils.  If you ask him about his tonsils or say "wow, they look big," he'll correct you and say "oh no, no, no, they're nasty."  He told the ENT they're nasty when the doc first looked at them.

Blue cake, blue writing and a blue candle.  We all sang "goodbye tonsils for you..." to the tune of Happy Birthday--it was pretty silly.

Digging in!  Notice Jamesie's prefered way of getting cake.

Close up.

Mmmm. 

Jamesie with his old-man muffin-top-belly after all that cake!

So, goodbye tonsils!  We hope to never hear from you again!

Nifty Nicknames

So the other day after school Sean said the following to me:

"Mommy, my children (he refers to the children in his class as "my children") don't know how to say "-eee."  Because they can't say my whole name, they just call me 'Sean.'"

That is to say, they don't call him "Seannie" at school, and he was upset by this.  He then asked me to have a talk with his teacher about calling him Seannie instead of Sean (because its his whole name).  I had the requested talk, and he came home and reported that the teacher did just fine, except she forgot one time at lunch and called him "Sean." 

This got me thinking about how fun nicknames are-- they give you a special connection with your child/spouse/friend that makes that person feel special and worthy of your creative thoughts.  My dad calls my sister's husband (Michael Crews) M.C. Hammer.  My uncles regularly call Cody "Code Red" or "Zippy" (short for Zip Code) or "Agent Cody Banks."  Our Cousin Brendan has gone by "Soup" for years, which is short for Super Man, just because his parents think he's super. 

While Seannie usually just goes by Seannie (or, when he was talking in 3rd person, he would go by "SeannieSeannie" which we still like to use), Jamesie's names around this house have gotten pretty creative. For posterity sake, here's a list of all the names you are likely to hear him called on any given day around our house:

Jamesie (duh)
Mames (this is how Sean pronounced his name when he was a baby)
Mamesie (see above)
Mimzy
Mimzer
Jimmer (developed during last year's March Madness tournament)

We love our little Seannie and Mimzy!

Mames, Coburg and Seannie Seannie.

De-Caffing My Life: Week 1 Update

Thank you to everyone who left comments, emailed, facebooked, etc to help me start the process of getting of the caffeinated wagon.  A week into it and I am proudly (albeit groggily) making progress.  I haven't had an afternoon pick-me-up in about 10 days now (record), and the morning juice is cut down to about 1/2-1 small cup of coffee.  This weekend I even went de-caf on the morning cup (and took 2 naps that day). 

I'm feeling really ambitious, but I think I might finish out this week with my regular small cup, and then try to step down even further next week. I don't want to do anything foolish.  I can't say I feel "good" and full of "natual energy" yet, but I'm hoping it will come...right? 

Tiffany's Table Manners for Three-Year-Olds...

In the car today...

Sean: "Another kick....Another kick...Another kick...Mommy, what's that thing again...Another kick? 
Erin: I'm not sure what you're talking about.  You want to do another kick? 
Sean: No no no.  Like what Mama Peggy said about when you toot at the dinner table or when you don't walk across another person's tennis court.  What's that thing called? 
Erin: Etiquette!
Sean: Yeah yeah yeah... Mama Peggy says its good to say "I tooted!" when you're at the table.
Erin: I think she said its good etiquette not to tell everyone you tooted when you're at the table.
Sean:  No, its good to tell. 

Not our particular conversation today, but here we are in the middle of another deep conversation last weekend, likely dominated by the word WHY?

Yes, sean is wearing a US flag-type patch on his ND jersey...because he wanted to.  3 year olds are fun and funny and whimsical and just neat to be around.  We really like our's.

I Need Help

I somehow got through college without caffeine.  Of course I'd have the occassional Mountain Dew (Code Red) here and there during finals or before a big night out, but as for the daily cup of joe-- I totally did without.  HOWEVER, for about the last 7 years, I have been in a major battle with caffeine.  I started drinking coffee when I started dating Cody (to be honest, I usually enjoyed a cup a day when I worked at Wachovia before law school) because he did, and it smelled really good, and we walked by Starbucks every day on the way to school.  Then it was fun having a warm cup of coffee with him in the cold, snowy South Bend afternoons when you had nothing but pages of reading to look forward to for the rest of the day.

Coffee (and caffeine in other forms) became like a drug to me.  Oh wait, it is a drug.  And I am addicted.  Cody always tells me to just accept it, yet I've never been comfortable with such a needy dependance on it (or anything for that matter).  So, for the last 7 years or so, I have been an addict, but an uncomfortable one.  Every few months I vow I'm going to kick the habit, but then I get a headache and Cody rolls his eyes and brews me another cup or hands me a Diet Coke.  I'm serious now though, I'm going to do it.  I'm healthy, I don't have to be at work early in the morning, and have the afternoon to take a power nap if needed.  Now is my time...I know it. I don't have to be a slave to this drug for the rest of my life--now is my chance to get out!

But, HOW?  HOW DO YOU GET OFF OF CAFFEINE?!!!  PLEASE---If you have done this---please give me some advice.  Leave a comment, email, call, whatever... what can I do?   Right now I'm on about 1-2 cups in the morning plus a caffeinated soda (or tea) in the afternoon.  More if I have a headache. How do I stop? 

Montessori Education at Work

The other day Sean asked to help me vacuum.  I discovered that is not a chore that lends itself to helping hands.  Either you do it or you don't---its really hard to "help" vacuuming.  So, a few days later when he asked to help again, I found this smaller sized vacuum in the garage and let him have a go at it himself.  He loved it.  Practical "work" learning.  I love it.

In underpants...even better.

After the carpet was clean he asked how the vacuum worked....

And spent a good 10-15 minutes like this. 

Happy All-Hallow's Eve

A very scary-looking jack-o-lantern adorning our front door, courtesy of Sean.

You might know that I love Halloween.  No "Fall Festivals" over here-- we LOVE dressing up.  As a kid my mom and sister and I often worked on creating the perfect costume for weeks.  In my school days I proudly dressed as the Statue of Liberty, a full-sized teddy bear, Raggedy Anne and Andy, Pippi Longstockings, an Indian Maiden with full leather fringe and baby-carrying papoose, the Notre Dame Leprachaun....the list goes on. In college I once went to a party dressed as Mary Catherine Gallagher, but the real feat was staying in character the entire night.  For the last two or three years I have thought about and worked on the kids' costumes for about a good month before the big day.  I will say, we don't do gruesome or creepy, just good, creative costumes.  I love creating, I appreciate a good pun, and I love getting reactions to some good costumes (you'll remember last year Sean was the Pope... he is still known around town for that one)

This year, we are living it up--- today will be our third day wearing costumes, and I couldn't be happier with so much wear.  So, without further delay, enjoy Groeber Halloween 2011....

Can you guess?

Sean is "An Ingenious Scientist."  (He asked me if Papa wore his hair like this, I said, sort of, yeah.)

And Jamesie, his lab rat.  Poor taste?  We think its kind of funny.  We just hope Jamesie thinks so too in a few years.  We love you.  (pictured here enduring his own experiment....what will happen if I pull off my own tail?)

Eh, I don't know if you want to do that, Jamesie.

Sean showing off his "experiements" (olive oil and colored water), before we went downtown for a city-wide Halloween Party at Hampton Park on Friday.

A few hours later, here are my boys showing off their First Prize Pumpkin for "Cutest Costume(s)" !  The park officials actually added a "most creative" category at the last minute, and I thought we might have a shot at that one (given the judges weren't memers of PETA), but I was actually so much happier with "Cutest Costumes" because its a reflection of the boys, not just my handiwork. There were at least 150 kids at this thing.  Yes, Jamesie is holding an actual rat-feeder from my dad's lab, along with his milk.  

And the next day, this is what Sean wanted to turn his prize-pumpkin into.  He recently watched Fantasia for the first time (he is very into "classical music" and Mickey Mouse, so I thought he would like it, which he did....he LOVED it), so he requested a Mickey Mouse with stars and a moon, and a broom. 

Our other pumpkin.

And just for kicks, Mom and Daddy got to go to an adult Halloween Party for the first time...ever... Can you guess who we are?  Hint, a fashion dream come true for me :). Don't mind the HUGE scary zomby in the back.  Its not our house, i promise.

Thanks to my dad for the scientific inspiration, as well as a number of real-lab props like the lab coat, test tubes and rat feeder (but not the lab rat).

Tree Frog or Spider Monkey....

I can't tell which creature he reminds me of here....

Either way, he's looooong. 

Welcome Fall!

Thanks, Sean.

Twice in the last few weeks Sean has said the following statement to me, in a public place, while pointing at Jamesie:

"Mommy, don't forget your little buddy." 

Once at the doctor and once at pre-school--- as if I regularly forget "my little buddy" when I'm getting ready to leave a public place when we're out running errands!  Both times were in clear earshot of the doctor/teacher, whom,  I might add are under mandatory-reporting statutes if they suspect child abuse or neglect.

Dressing for Dinner

In Jane Austen novels the characters always have to "dress for dinner," as if the full-length gown they've been wearing all day isn't nice enough to sit and eat in and then sit and cross-stitch in the drawing room for an hour.  I always sort of chuckled at that, but then I started to notice, that a lot of times we do the same thing... we've been at the beach or on the boat all day on vacation, and even though we're only having pizza or burgers outside for dinner, I go put on cute shorts and a sweater or tank top.  Maybe throw on some earrings or a necklace. 

Two days ago it was pretty humid here, and I was cooking dinner with Sean in a plain cotton skirt and t-shirt.  Cody called to say he was on his way home.  After Sean and I tidied up the family room I told him I was going to run upstairs and put my jeans on "so I can look cute for Daddy."  I also put a little make up on and brushed my hair. 

Yesterday we had friends from the neighborhood over for dinner, who have two sweet daughter, MK (4) and Vivi (1.5).  Sean LOVES MK, and tried to have Meg name her baby after her.  The night before they came over as I was putting Sean to bed he told me, "I have to wear my jeans for dinner tomorrow when MK comes over."  Completely forgetting my earlier statements, I had no clue why he was talking about what he would wear for dinner the next night.  After he told me about 2 or 3 more times, it clicked, and I said, "Oh, you want to wear a special outfit for dinner so you can look cute for MK?"  he said, "yeah, yeah yeah.  Oh, I know, maybe my jeans and my Mickey Mouse tank top." Sure, I said, do you want me to lay out your outfit for you to put on after nap tomorrow?  "yeah yeah yeah." 

So, sure enough the next day (yesterday), Sean didn't ask to wear his jeans and mickey mouse cank-top when he woke up, but he did ask to lay it out before nap so he could "change into it."  I was laughing to myself the whole time.  I actually had to run downtown to the office before he woke up from nap, and when I came home, he was decked out "looking cute" for MK. 

MK and Sean then enjoyed a romantic (LED) candle-lit (per sean's request) dinner at the picnic table in the family room.  We can consider it their first date, so I'm very glad Sean changed into his dinner clothes to "look cute" for it.

How Was Your Day?

Sean spends a lot of time listening to us, even when we don't know it.  Recently, he's starting asking at dinner, "Cody, how was your day?"  Cody will answer, then Sean will say something like, "ask me how my day was," or he'll just wait for the return question.  He usually says "good," but here are some of the other answers we've heard over the last few weeks: 

Cody: "Sean, how was your day?"
Sean: "Crazy."

Cody: "Sean, how was your day?"
Sean: "Long."

Cody: "Sean, how was your day?"
Sean: "Busy." 

I can't help but laugh when I hear this.  Its been a long, crazy, busy day of naps, puzzles, books, mickey mouse and watching mom vacuum.  Oh, we did go to the grocery store, so maybe that's what put the day over the edge. 

Sean has also been asking a lot about babies in the belly recently.  Today he said,

"Mommy, are you and Daddy going to have another baby?"
"Hopefully we will one day, but not now."
"Why not?"
"Well, we have to wait for God to put another baby in my belly."
"But, when will you and Daddy get married again for that to happen?"

I guess he's gotten the message that you get married then have a baby.  I just failed to explain that doesn't happen every time.  At least he's got the order down. 

These pictures have nothing to do with this post, but I thought they were funny.  Above, Jamesie trying to read a book on Sean's bed.

Maybe it will go better if I wear Sean's glasses.

Forget it, I'll just snuggle with Sean in his bed! (This scene happens most morning and after naps in the afternoon.  Next, Jamesie will get off the bed, toddle into his room, get Frogger out of his crib, toddle back into Sean's room, climb back on the bed and lay down and suck his thumb with Frogger while Sean sucks his thumb with Oli.)