The microwave has been discovered

Baby Plum and Little Elvis couldn't be more different. Little Elvis, while he loves to make a mess, doesn't really mess with things in the kitchen. He prefers to strew toys and pillows everywhere.

Baby Plum loves the kitchen. Loves it! My shower time is his happy, fun, raid the kitchen time. It's always something different. One day he took all of the silverware out of the drawer and took it to the playroom. He usually takes the melamine stacking bowls out and lays them in different formations. If I've left a box of cereal in his reach, he'll pour cereal in each bowl.

If I've left the cat gate open, then his real fun begins. The cat's food and litter is also located near our pantry. The cat gate doesn't keep Baby Plum from the cat stuff -- he doesn't care about that. It's the goodies in the pantry that he loves.

Last week, I got out of the shower and the kitchen smelled strongly of honey. I sniffed and searched all over, but couldn't find any sticky surprises. Then, I noticed the microwave blinking. Apparently, Baby Plum took our huge Sam's jug of honey and defrosted it in the microwave. I'm not sure how long he defrosted it, but the bottle is about one-half to one-third it's original size. Somehow, it managed to not melt and spread sticky honey all over the microwave.

I told Baby Plum not to play with the microwave, but it's too strong of a temptation.

Today, I decided to put off my shower until naptime. But I still needed to change out of my pajamas. Baby Plum thought I was taking a shower. I heard the pitter patter of little feet and the beeping of the microwave and ran out telling him NOT to touch the microwave.

So glad I skipped the morning shower, because he had put a box of Jell-o in the microwave for 20 minutes! I stopped it 10 seconds in.

I went ahead and took my shower this evening. I'll just have to grow out the bangs I guess.

The thing is, that although Baby Plum enjoys making huge messes in my absence, he's also more than willing to help me pick up the mess.

No pictures. I should have documented these messes, but it's kind of getting old at this point. A video would be much better, I think.

He's 60 and he knows it

I heard on the radio the other day that a reality show mom is suing some tabloid for showing video of her young daughter singing and dancing to "I'm Sexy and I Know It" by LMFAO.

The day before, on the drive home from school, that song came on the radio. Little Elvis (and I) loved the "Party Rock Anthem" song. This one's not as good, but it's still fun. Both boys bop their heads to it. And I don't change the channel.

That day, when it got to the chorus, Little Elvis started singing, "I'm 60 and I know it!" and I laughed. So, he kept doing it.

Bob kind of laughed when I told him about it. Not because of the content of the song, but because he's a music snob, and LMFAO is definitely not on his playlist. (Although the next time we get a free download, I may get the "Party Rock Anthem" song for Little Elvis. He requests something different every day.)

Stay in there

Cheese Puff is due in 24 days. My main goal is still to make it past Valentine's Day. I'm aiming for 15 more days. I think he can make it.

This baby feels so huge! He's cramped. And I'm fairly certain he's not happy about it. He kicks under my ribs, pokes my bladder and who knows what else in there. He really seems not to like it when I bend over, rock Baby Plum, pick up Baby Plum, etc.

Tonight I wanted to get Bob to feel what I think might have been Cheese Puff's knee. I was trying to show him where the knee was (near my rib) and Bob scolded me about pressing too hard. He didn't want to hurt the baby. I told him the baby had no problem hurting me. Kind of kidding. Kind of.

I've been co-leading some workshops as part of a program I signed up for this summer. They end on Valentine's Day. That's my main reason for wanting to make it past that day. My co-leader didn't even bother to read the stuff tonight, and then she left early. Good news? I was able to get the rest of us out on time.

The people in the class are also super nice, and that's good. The final session, on Valentine's Day evening, is a celebration. Bob and the boys get to come along. I'm planning to bring leftover cake from Little Elvis' birthday party (maybe.) Little Elvis is thrilled. Tonight was the first night that he didn't want me to go "teach," but hearing that he'd get to go to a party in 2 weeks sounded like a good idea to him.

That's where we are tonight.

How to make our boys smile

We're still at the stage where simple things make for the happiest little boys. Our grocery store had some chocolate pudding on sale the other day. As a treat for finishing supper, both boys got some that night.

"Ahhh, that hits the spot!" He had to make sure the bowl was licked clean, but forgot to get all of the chocolate off his face.
Even his big brother forgot to lick the evidence from his face. I don't think Little Elvis shared any of his pudding with Buzz. That's pretty big, since Little Elvis doesn't have as much of a sweet tooth anymore, and he prefers vanilla (plain) to chocolate.

FYI, that was not inherited from me. I love sweets and prefer chocolate above all else. Baby Plum's chocolate face? That comes from me.

He still loves Buzz

Little Elvis' 5th birthday is coming up. We've sent out invitations to 6 friends. Normally, we do one friend for each year, but since I don't know most of these kids, I figure some might not show up.

He's excited about his birthday party and has been offering lots of suggestions. People used to ask me what to get him, but they don't anymore. Which, judging by the turn of events this week, is just fine.

His party will be held at the fire station here in town. Up until recently, he was very into smoke detectors, fire extinguishers, fire exits and the like. But that is waning. He still likes smoke detectors and fire extinguishers, and is excited about having a party anywhere buy his home.

He did say he still wanted the tin "FIRE EXTINGUISHER" sign to hang up in his room. (Yay, my grandmother is getting him that.) But he's decided that he doesn't need CAUTION tape anymore. (I'm fine with this, because I had no idea where we were going to hang up a whole spool's worth of caution tape.) Or any other street signs. He's got a couple, and says he might want them for his birthday next year.

Transformers are not even mentioned anymore. That's also fine.

What is mentioned? Toy Story. He's been dressing as Buzz most days. His little costume is almost too small and is definitely super-stained. But Bob says he thinks we shouldn't waste our time looking for a costume in a bigger size.

He told us he wanted Zurg -- that's the bad guy in Toy Story 2. He said he wanted the one that shot balls. That one doesn't exist. Luckily, he saw one in Wal-Mart that he loved. It's not as big, doesn't shoot balls, but he swore that was the one he wanted. It was the last one, and I snuck back to get it. Thankfully, it wasn't huge.

Now, he wants a glow in the dark Buzz. His very beloved Spanish-speaking Buzz doesn't glow in the dark. The one he saw at Wal-Mart doesn't glow in the dark either. It flashes bright green when you press a button. It's $40. Other than the green lights, it's just like his current Buzz. He had to count all of his money when we got home after viewing this new Buzz. He doesn't have enough. I told him he'd get birthday money in a couple of weeks, but that didn't help. In his mind, his birthday is 2 months away, since it's still January. And months are long!

I'm attempting to find a just plain glow in the dark Buzz on ebay. Not much luck yet, but I will hold out hope. I told him that it might be cheaper if I find it online. He was intrigued.

If anyone RSVPs and asks, I think I'll tell them green Army men. He loves those little plastic guys, and we've stepped on and destroyed most of the ones he had. Baby Plum accidentally destroyed Little Elvis' much-loved helicopter last night. I keep telling him that he if he leaves those things out on the floor, in the middle of a doorway, that's what will happen.

The other item he's told me he wants for his birthday? An iPad. I just laughed. He definitely won't be getting that.

What about Mommy?

Little Elvis spends as much of his weekend with my parents as possible. Today, he got out of school early for teacher workshops. I took the boys out to eat at Sam's, and then dropped some eggs off for my mother.

I should have known better. Once we got there, Little Elvis refused to leave.

It hurt my feelings, because I was excited about an afternoon alone with him while Baby Plum napped. Little Elvis and I don't get much alone time anymore, and I feel like all I ever do is fuss at him.

This morning, he'd been planning fun stuff for us to do, and he seemed to really love a little book I made him last night.

But once he got to Gram's, he decided he would rather do anything than be forced to spend time with me.

It's the same way once Bob gets home from school. Usually, I'm ok with this. I have to get supper cooked, or some other chore done.

But today, I just wanted to play with him.

A future in music?

Sweet Baby Plum is feeling better. Here he is playing my parents' piano. He was singing along with the banging today, which is really cute. He actually picked out a tune on one of our little keyboards the other day.

His love for music continues to grow. He's figured out how to get into our spare guitar closet (Doesn't everyone have one of those? To hold spare guitars, banjos, cases and accordions?) so he can access the soccer ball guitar Bob bought when I was pregnant with Little Elvis. Baby Plum can get the guitar out, and even manages to put the strap around his neck. He can strum, and tries to carry it around while playing.

It's funny how different the boys are. Little Elvis hated music at this point in his life. (He still doesn't like monotonous noises, and has taken the batteries out of several of Baby Plum's toys.)

Little Elvis also has no interest in practicing. If he's not automatically good at something, then he doesn't want to do it. We think Baby Plum will be a practicer. He seems to like monotony.

Most nights, Bob will pick out the same notes on the mandolin, banjo or guitar. I think Baby Plum will be like that. Little Elvis gets the no-like-to-practice gene from me.

Bob is still hoping for a family band. If their personalities continue at this rate, we think Little Elvis will be the lead singer (wow, does he love an audience) and Baby Plum will be the lead guitarist. Cheese Puff is a mover and a shaker. Maybe he'll be the drummer?