William has a rough time with getting rid of anything he grows attached to his/our stuff… Even Capri Sun packets… I took the boys with me to drop it off because we were going to get a treat on the way home.

To distract the boys from what I was doing I had them look for shapes in the clouds out the front window, while I dropped off the stereo out the back of the car.

When I got back in and we started to drive Will and I had this conversation:

Will: “Do you know what I see in the clouds?”

Me: “What?”

Will: “Jesus.”

Me: “huh?”

Will: “yeah Jesus, Jesus Christ.”

Me: “oh”

Will: “Yeah he has a beard.”

Me: “What color is his beard?”

Will: “Daaaad, He’s a cloud…!”

yup…

Turns out Walker caught a bit of a stomach flu bug. Nasty stuff. Monday was a rough day. We thought he was past it yesterday – he was even riding his bike around outside! Early this morning when he crawled in our bed we were told otherwise. We weren’t really told…but you can paint the picture yourself.

Today he’s been pretty mellow, which if you know his you know isn’t normal. One good part is that he is extra cuddly.

Another good thing is that potty time with Walker is like taxi-cab confessional. He sits and tells fables of his day, and every once and a while he admits to something he has done in the past day or two. Today he was full of confessions.

“Um Mama. Yesterday Weeyam (that’s what William sounds like) and I. Um. Um. Weeyam said poopoo. That’s a bathroom word.”

“Mama. Mama. Mama. I took your camera. I took pictures”

“One day Weeyam, he said no to me”

And the list goes on. It was hilarious!

This afternoon, before ‘rest’ time, he asked if he could take a bath. He was so incredibly tired that he laid down in the bathtub.

And, as the water was draining, he fell asleep. Glad I was in there!

Walker’s language is just developing at an awesome rate so not one day goes by that he hasn’t picked up some choice words or phrases. The word ‘no’ is a big, well no-no, for him right now and he can tell you who told him no, when and why.

Never one to be short of words Will has us trying not to laugh most days. Kind of hard to discipline when your three year-old is making a good point! Today he had a time-out at preschool and when I asked him why he said ‘Because Mrs. Jackson wasn’t listening to me.’ I said, well were you listening to her? He remarked, ‘No because she wasn’t listening to me and I was telling her I wasn’t ready to leave the playground yet.’

Here are some more funnies from this week:

Will: ‘You just do that KK!’ (In response to some idle threat she made while in the car)

Walker: ‘You are trouble Mom!’

(At Sea World)
Me: ‘Wow Will. Look at that walrus swimming.’
Will: ‘Shhh Mom. I’m looking for his penis.’

Walker: ‘You said no to me Mom. That’s not very good.’ (While fake crying)

Will singing only the chorus to Jingle Bells 33 times in a row.

Walker: ‘I’m not Shamu. You’re Shamu.’ (I’ll try not to take it personally)

Will: ‘Are you listening to me Mom? Are you? Are you? I’m not sure you are!”

Will & Walker asking, insistently, to have the Jimmy Buffett edition of Jingle Bells played. They especially love when he asks, ‘Hey Santa, what you got in that big burlap sack for me? A present?’. (Thank heaven for childhood naivete!)

Grandma KK: ‘Will, what was your favorite part of Sea World?’ (We went yesterday – pics to come!)
Will: ‘The fans.’

Patti (his great-aunt): ‘You and Walker need to come and visit. Get your cute buns over to my house this week.”
Will: ‘Pat, don’t you have your own buns? You need to buy your own hot dog buns for your house. We’re not going to bring ours over.’

And of course this episode with a Lego chair:

Fortunately they have second cousins!! Especially ones like Liza and Landon. Liza and Landon are the children of my cousin Sarah and her hubby Tyler.

We have had a picture of Liza on our fridge for most of the boys’ lives. When Will was learning how to talk he would talk to Liza on our fridge…and up until a week ago he still thought Liza was a cute 1 year-old in her pink dress. Well she is still very much cute – but no longer one and no longer in a pink dress…at least not this day!

Sarah and her kids were in town for the Thanksgiving holiday. We took advantage of them being here to do some much needed bonding. Sarah and I have always (well, I’ll speak for myself) been fond of each other, but never close. We are both at new, and similar chapters, in our lives and have found a new kinship. I cannot even say how excited I was to see her and chatting and let the kids play.

It was a hoot! The kids played like they always do – with one eye on the toys they were playing with and the other eye on the other kids. It took Will and Liza a little bit of time to warm up – pretty normal – but I suspect that given even more time they’d have been best friends. Sarah, in her ever-creative-mommy role, got them playing a game outside. What fun to see our children play together. Not to mention to see Sarah as a mom.

Liza is a vivacious little girl! She wanted me to notice her Princess Aurora hair (I had to ask who that was!), she put on a little modeling show, and cracked me up with her conversation! I could have a whole afternoon with Miss Liza and no doubt be smiling the whole time.

Landon was so refreshing! He is a happy-go-lucky little man. And he really is a little man. He looks so much like his Dad that it took me back a couple of times. He toddled around the house. It wasn’t until 1/2 way through the visit that Sarah mentioned he did not feel good – you could have fooled me! Wish that everyone could have such a good-natured one.

Sarah and I got to sit (mostly) and chat, and finally catch up on some of the things we’ve missed out on, the life lessons we are both learning, and the myriad of parenting experiences we have had in just four years!

After lunch we headed outside to let the kids have a popsicle. Liza decided to show will ‘Bert’. Bert is the pool cleaner, who to Liza (and now Will), is actually alive and lives on the bottom of the pool. She and Will had a great time watching it swim around the pool. She told me everything that he eats and even when he sleeps.

Spending time with their family just made me so grateful that as adults we understand that we can change dynamics. Certainly Sarah and I, and our kids, could live life without a relationship with one another. I am grateful that she and I made the time to change that.

I am working on a letter for friends and family – but until all of the services for my Grandpa are over I am focused on other things.

However, a friend sent me the link for a video on YouTube. Can I just say…I LOVE YouTube! I mean, there are even videos of people cooking gluten-free food! There is a great one for Thanksgiving stuffing! You know what I’ll be watching as we near the holidays!

This video is a clip from the TV show The View. One of the hosts, Elizabeth, has Celiac Disease and brought one of the leading Celiac medical professionals, Dr. Peter Green.

If you really want to understand Celiac – watch the entire thing. Otherwise, just watch the first two minutes for a good introduction!

I am SO glad that we caught this with Will so early!!

This is for you Goosey! We miss you – we love you – and we’ll see you soon!

Will: “Mom I need to go poop!”
Me: “Ok Will, you can go all by yourself.”
Will: “No, I need your help.”
Me: “Ok, I’m coming.”
(the event occurs…I don’t like to talk about it)
Will: “Mom, I told you the poop was coming. I squeezed my bum cheeks to hold it in, and then I did a poop. And it’s a daddy-size poop.”
Me: no words…just smiling and trying not to laugh.
Will: “See Mom, no accidents!” ~ smiling with absolute pride

Walker: “Fix this Momma” (as he comes up to me with Mr. Potato Head)
Me: “What happened to him?” (holding the body, in tact, of Mr. Potato Head)
Walker: “His bum fell off” (referring to the back slat of Mr. Potato Head which is in his hands)

(in his room playing with a truck)
Will: ” Now make sure you wipe your penis.”
Will (as the truck): “I don’t have a penis.”
Will: “Yes you do.”
Will (as the truck): “No I don’t. I have a foob.” (not quite sure what that is exactly)
Will: “Oh yeah. Well make sure to wipe your foob.”