20 Sisters??

I don't claim to be a very good planner, but at least I am getting better at it with age. My husband, on the other hand, seems to be getting worse. Our tenants of three years moved out on Saturday night and Carlos agreed to let the new tenants move in on Sunday morning. We had plans for Saturday night so Sandra saved the day yet again by babysitting for us AND cleaning the apartment once the kids went to bed. Unfortunately we were still up until 4 in the morning doing maintenance and touch-ups. I don't think I've ever been so annoyed with Carlos as I was between 12 and 4am Saturday.

Of course the kids were up at 7am and Charlie doesn't nap so it was a long Sunday. Charlie and I have been using Diego's naptime to go out and do stuff together. On Saturday we saw Muts Gone Nuts which was a lot of fun. Charlie loved seeing dogs do tricks and then we enjoyed a post-theater snack. Here he is on stage with one of the dogs.

This weekend Charlie informed me that he would like baby sisters - 20 of them to be exact. He reduced that down to 5 and even helped out by naming them. Here are his proposed names....I don't think they'll be feature as one of 2012's Most Popular Names.....

Diego has developed an attitude if he doesn't get his way. And 5-7pm is usually a grumpy time overall for him. He seems to be absolutely exhausted by 7pm which makes me think we should put him to bed even earlier, but I'm petrified of him waking up any earlier. We had a playdate at a friends house on Sunday afternoon and by 5pm Diego pulled me over to the door and said "Go, Go, Go." Subtle hint.... Yes "GO" is part of his limited vocabulary. He seems to say thank you too though it sounds more like 'danku.' Here is my little man in a cute shirt that his uncle Seth sent.

On Sunday morning we had a playdate with Charlie's whole class which was really nice until a mom approached me to say that her son comes home everyday saying that Charlie kicks him. WHAT?! I was absolutely mortified. Could my son really be a closet bully? After all our main concern was that he only likes to hang out wiht girls. I talked to the teacher and it turns out that it was one pushing match during my long work trip and that has resulted in weeks of 3 year old fabrication. It was an interesting test of how defensive/protective I can be of my child. I don't like it when moms assume their kids can do no wrong but on the other hand I felt like he was being unfairly accused and immediately wanted to deny that it was even possible. I'm guessing that in another decade I'll look back and wish that the issues I face with kids are as simple as pushing matches....Here he is getting lunch after the playdate with his best school friend Cici.

On the Road

I signed Charlie up for ballet class and I'm pretty sure the teacher thinks I'm crazy. Not only is he the only boy in the class, but I forgot to take off the red nail polish that we put on for the chinese new year party. So there was my son with bright red nail polish surrounded by girls in leotards and ballet shoes! I actually wasn't sure which was more strange - Charlie's toes or the fact that 3 year old girls already have real ballet gear. Despite my initial horror Charlie loved the class.

I was in Atlanta this week and things seemed a little bumpy. Carlos forgot to take Diego back to the doctor to have them read the TB test, he forgot to take Charlie to his dance class, they ran out of milk and I'm pretty sure Charlie didn't take a bath. The most distressing news was that Charlie's teacher emailed to say that he acted agressive one day - he is never agressive or mean in school (he saves that for Diego). I'm wondering if his behaviour had something to do with my absence and so of course I feel terrible. I went on a field trip the day after I got back to try and make up for it, but I'm not sure it worked. Here are the kids on the metro.

We went to Philly for the weekend to see my mom and aunt Mary and the kids had a lot of fun. Diego loved playing with the outdoor toys and refused to come in despite the cold. We came home in time for the Disney on Ice show which was pretty funny. Charlie and I are both so Disney illiterate that we didn't know most of the movie references. Nevertheless it was really fun to go on a date with Charlie and I hope to make it a regular thing.

Diego went in for his 18 month appointment last week and he seems perfectly healthy. He is only in the 30th percentile for weight but at least he is staying consistent....The doctor said we'll start worrying at age 2 if he still doesn't talk.

Elizabeth and I did a painting class where we all painted the same scene while drinking wine. The fact that they felt the need to remind us to drink our wine and not the dirty paintbrush water is probably indicative of the quality of the work.... I'm not about to hang it in my house but we had fun.

Car Bumpers

The boys survived their first week together in the same room. It hasn't been totally smooth and they wake each other up earlier than before, but I'm glad that we made the move. Charlie was initially opposed to the idea and kept asking "what is THAT crib doing in my room?" He seems to have accepted it and even started looking forward to getting a bunkbed someday. One very negative outcome seems to be regressing on nighttime accidents.

Here are Charlie and Diego working on various packages we received this week. Please note the tool Charlie is using to open the package - his plastic wrench with eyeballs!

We've been getting a lot of packages recently because Carlos' random schemes are in full swing....The packages are mainly car parts and many of them are HUGE. In fact a bumper arrived at 419 New Jersey instead of 419 1st st so a santa-claus-looking gentleman came over to ask us to come and get it...from the Amway lobbyist house! A huge car bumper arriving at the Amway really makes me chuckle. What did not make me chuckle was the appearance of one of the car projects Carlos took on. Look at this piece of burned-out crap!

In other news, last week was Museum night at Charlie's school. Charlie's class did a winter scene and hibernation exhibit. Diego loved the fake snow and held his own by elbowing the bigger kids who tried to push him out of the way. I went with the goal of judging PK4 teachers based on their exhibit. I'm so terrible. But both were impressive and very different so it didn't work. This week we had parent-teacher conference which is so fun, except that it means that Charlie didn't have school. Charlie staying home all day with Sandra now is a disaster - he clearly needs structure and activities and soon I think he is going to need a cell phone! The whole day he kept asking me to call Cici and ask if she wanted to meet him at the playground or to come over...he even offered to go over to her house.