Mind of His Own

Alexander got in big trouble the other day. The incident involved a parking lot, running away, and his little sister following him. Oh, and a bunch of yelling on my part.

Later, when we talked about it, he admitted that he shouldn't have run away, but he was angry because he wanted to get to the car a different way than I did. The conversation was going along fine until...

...I tried to get him to acknowledge that he should listen to his parents (and do what we say) even when he disagrees. I said that we can always discuss things later but if I yell to him, "Come back here right now!" he needs to do it.

It took quite a bit of talking and over an hour of sitting in a chair and thinking, but finally he managed to repeat after me: "I will listen to my parents, even if I think differently."

I could tell he didn't mean it. I felt dubious about the good of making him say it, but at least I could pretend to call it good, as if I had won. Ha.

A couple of days later, we were reading Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume and came to this part just after Peter promises his mother he won't call his little brother "Fang" anymore:

"But secretly, whenever I look at him, I think it. My brother, Fang Hatcher! Nobody can stop me from thinking. My mind is my own."

When I read that line, Alexander got an evil little grin on his face, and I knew he was remembering our earlier conversation. I knew he was thinking, "They can make me say it, but they can't make me think it."

Isn't he supposed to be a bit older before figuring that out?

First Poop...

...in the potty, that is. And it's not actually the first. She's had little plops here and there that made it into the potty, mostly by accident. This was the first time that she came running down the hall yelling, "Poop! Poop!"

"Do you have a poopy diaper?" I ask.

"Poop! Potty!"

"Quick!" I say. "Let's go to the bathroom."

Off we rush, down the hall. But she stops suddenly.

"Book!" she says and runs back to the living room to grab her favorite potty book, Everyone Poops. (For the record, her favorite potty books are In a People House, Goodnight Moon, Mi Amor Por Ti, and Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?)

Back in the bathroom, we get halfway through the second book before I realize she's done it. She's pooped in the potty!

We'll see how quickly it progresses from here, but I'm betting she'll be out of her night diaper before her brother.

A Lovely Visit Comes to an End

Jeanni and Carel flew back to the Netherlands today, and it was a sad sad time--walking out of the airport and driving back home. We stopped at IKEA for a little fun, but my heart wasn't in it. I just needed to be sad for a while.

But it was a lovely visit. They stayed with us for a week, went off for 3 weeks to tour the amazing sights of the western US, then returned to spend the last week with us.

We spent lots of normal time together. Carel would bike with Alexander to school in the morning. We took walks around the neighborhood. And of course, there was lots and lots of playing with the kids.

We even got to share some special occasions. We went to Bauman's Farm to experience the crazy American harvest festival celebration. (Carel is pretty handy with an apple slingshot.) And they were here for Halloween too. Annabel wore a flamenco outfit they brought from Barcelona and Alexander went as a kangaroo.

As you can see, Alexander ate a lot of candy:

And of course, there were pannekoeken dinners, and lovely clothes for the kids from Jeanni, and books galore! I am so happy to have so many Dutch books in the house. Most of them I can actually read aloud without sounding like I'm in elementary school.

And what will the kids hang on to? Annabel will no doubt keep asking us for a certain fingerplay that begins: "Daar komt een muisje aangelopen..."

And she now knows the Dutch word "botsing," which means collision. She'll be bumping and crashing into things for months to come, always ending with a gleeful, "botsing!"

As for Alexander, he got heaps of attention from his oma and opa. He'll remember sleeping in the motor home with them, reading lots of stories, and playing trains. He's already talking about how "next time, when I go to visit my oma and opa, we're going to...."

He's got big plans, big plans. They involve the ballenbak, a certain boat, feeding ducks, sleeping in his own room, and of course, snoep (candy).

Jeanni and Carel, we miss you!

Fall Traditions

There is nothing like an apple pressing party in the Fall. I remember making cider in our backyard when I was a kid. In college, I used to head out to a friend's family orchard for a day of food, drink and dips in the hot-tub. Oh, and cider too. I remember the old cranky press at Innisfree that managed to spit out gallons of pear and apple cider each year.

And now, back in Silverton, we finally managed to make it to Dale Coleman's cider pressing party. Sausage, cider, sledding down a grassy hillside--what more do you need?

And for our second Fall in a row, we headed out to Bauman's Farm for their Harvest festivities.

Hay bale maze. Obstacle course. Animal barn. The nut house. The tire castle. This year we went on a Sunday, and it was crazy madness. Too many people. Long lines. We still had fun, but next year I think we'll stick to a weekday visit.

The Magic If

I just found a post-it note with a quote from Alexander scrawled on it. It was from a few months ago when he was helping me carry gallons of milk into the house. I was surprised that he could manage two.

"I could carry one more if I had three hands."

Pause.

"And what if I had three eyes?"

Pause.

"Then I could carry three more if my eyes had grabbers!"

Music Lovers

Alexander never danced much when he was really little. We would always try to get him to dance when we played fun music, but he rarely would.

Annabel is our dancer. It doesn't take much to get her out there stomping her feet and shaking her big-diaper booty.

But Alexander loves music and delights in having his own CD's that he plays at every opportunity. Recently, he has discovered the wonder of headphones and the Zune. His latest faves? Elvis Presley. The Guano Apes. And the other day he came to me with Zune in hand saying, "Mom, I'm looking for the roses and the guns, but I can't find it."

Welcome to the Jungle, baby.

If we let him, he could probably sit for hours flipping through songs. Already he's figured out how to use the thing better than I can.

I know that as I get older I'm going to get more and more crotchety about new technology. My children are going to get so impatient with me.

"Now, which button do I press?" I'll ask.

They'll roll their eyes.

I'll throw my hands up in despair. "I just don't know how to work these things!"

"You have to turn it on, Mom."

New Phase?

I feel like we are entering a new phase in parenthood. Shhh, don't tell the kids or they might catch on and regress.

Today, Alexander played with his trains in his room, BY HIMSELF, for about 40 minutes. And Annabel flitted around from stringing wooden beads on a shoelace, to doing a puzzle, to pulling all of her stuffed animals out of the basket. Her concentration only lasted about 15 minutes, but I was stunned that for 15 glorious minutes, neither of my kids needed me for anything!

I hardly knew what to do with myself. I wanted to take that lovely moment and stopper it in a bottle to take out later to sniff and savor.

The shift is subtle, but for the last two days we have felt like a family where everyone is getting what they need. The kids are getting enough attention, and Michiel and I are getting a little space.

Not that it has been bad up until now. But Annabel is a very clingy child. Normally, I am not able to walk down the hall to the bathroom without her running after me yelling, "Mama! Mama!" and clinging to my legs. Likewise when trying to put the laundry away or open the windows in the house. I've had to wait until she's occupied and sneak to another room or try to carry on cheerfully through the whining and clinging.

I am taking a deep breath and holding it lightly. This new phase may not last. But I am grateful for it and will enjoy every minute of it.