Everything in the Brueseke household has been going really well. We’re approaching somewhat of a routine, and things are normalizing. It helps that the girls are really good. They are both fairly laid back, although Lucy requires more attention and Zoe is just pretty darn snuggly. The wackiest thing is that we put Zoe down in her crib the normal way, parallel with the long sides of the crib and she wakes up parallel with the short ends. I don't know how she does it.

Now, both girls are swaddled in the wraps, and don’t have their arms out so how she does this is a mystery, but it’s almost a nightly occurrence. Both girls are also batting at toys, and I’m on a mission to find a toy that spins when you hit it that doesn’t play music. Why does everything have to make music or annoying noises when you hit it or play with it? I did find some, but they were $10 for the pack of two. In hindsight I should have just bought them regardless of the price. Now I have to back track and search for them. If anyone has any ideas for spinny type toys, I’d be glad to welcome suggestions.

Both girls staring at the Ocean Wonder Aquarium. It’s in Zoe’s bed. I secretly think that Lucy is jealous because it has the rolling toy that you hit and it spins.
Both girls also love laying on their tummies and would happily sleep that way were it acceptable.
We do let them nap like that for short periods of time….shhh don’t tell anyone!

Che is doing really well as a big brother. He hasn’t asked for them to leave, and generally loves having Lucy and Zoe around. He is helpful and always willing to feed them, or stick a pacifier back in.

This is Che and his cousin feeding the girls on a Friday when my Mom comes and watches them.
Of course not all of Che’s time is spent on baby care…



These are Che’s roller skates that he got for Christmas. We’ve been waiting that long to try them out. He was a pro. He even let go of my hand and skated on his own with no help. He only fell one time, after making it all the way from the back door to the mailbox across the street and then back.

Too smart

for his own good.

Yesterday, Sunday, my family had it's big Christmas. It's an annual event, and given that most of us live in town there are usually near or over 50 people that attend. We all bring a dish to share, play some games, and Santa makes an appearance to hand out gifts to the kids. This has been going on for quite some time, originally starting at my Great-Grandmother's home, where she sat everyone down in her very small living room and dining room, and then it moved to her basement as the family grew. Eventually, after she passed away, it was traded around to different family member's homes, until it got so large that no one could host it anymore. Now we rent the hall of our family church, where there is much more room, and no one has to worry about readying their house for such an event.

Yesterday, Ché was super excited to go to the party. He really likes to play with his cousins and was eager to see Santa. (We haven't ventured to the mall yet.) So, he ate a pretty good lunch, and then we sat and waited for Santa, singing carols. Santa used to be played by someone in the family, but the older kids could always figure it out, and would blurt out who it was, thoroughly confusing the little ones that for the most part really thought that Santa was coming to their party. So in recent years whomever is hosting has to find a Santa outside of the family. This year, it was a lady. We all knew it before she came, but thought nothing of it. Ché was so excited when she walked in the door, that he ran off of my lap to give "Santa" a big leg hug. He came and sat back down. Santa passed out presents, did his/her thing, and then was gone.

The rest of the afternoon was fine, Ché played bingo, ate more cookies, and then it was time to go. On the way home however Ché says out of the blue, "Santa was a lady." Before I had time to respond, he continued by saying, "I think it was his Mama, helping him out." So we agreed, saying that Santa is busy this time of year, and that he has to have helpers since he can't do everything himself, and that Ché was probably right, his Mama was helping him out. Because after all, what mother wouldn't help their son?

He does listen!

Without trying to sound like the typical biased parent, Ché is smart. He knows a lot of things, songs, ABC's, numbers, math skills, people's real names, his own long name (and he can say it almost correctly!) and much more.

The problem? He won't share the information. With anyone.

I've been working with Ché recently on writing his name, and learning his address. The address is 2nd to the name. He can recognize his name in print, and sign it using American Sign Language. (which Mike thinks is confusing, I don't but whatever...)



He is really stubborn about writing his name though so I gave up for a bit, thinking that it was alright that he wants to just play and be a little boy, and that there was plenty of time to get to writing and all those other learning things later. I figured in a few months we could revisit.



However, yesterday at a playgroup apple orchard outing the owner asked if any of the kids could write their names on the chalkboard. Guess who did it? Of course, the child that won't share anything with me, actually does listen to me. Now, he wrote the "C" backwards and struggled with the "h" before finally writing it backwards, but guess what, one perfect "e."

So, thanks for making me look like a liar Ché!

Because a new school wasn't enough

We also moved Che upstairs to his new big boy room.
Our house is a 1 1/2 story, with just one room upstairs and a hallway off of the stairway. He picked the color on the walls, yellow of course, and then he and Nana put up tons of the re-stickable stickers on the walls. We didn't want to paint any murals and stuff on the walls because I'm sure he's going to change his mind within the next couple years what he'd like his room to be.

The first night that he spent in his room, he went to sleep with no fuss. He woke up the next morning with no wakings in the night, and stated that he "loved it up here" and that he liked his new room. He had a few rough times at nap times, however I think that was due to him being very tired and needing the nap.

I'll take some pictures soon and get them up here to show you his new room. He's so proud of it and gladly gives tours to anyone willing to be entertained!

On the school front:
We thought Thursday would be rough, being that it was the 2nd day for the week. He was so excited to go, and when my mom picked him up that afternoon, he told her that he was going to go all 5 days next week because he liked it so much.

We've noticed a definite change in his behavior and speech. His speech is clearer, and slower, and he's more bubbly and outgoing. This was the behavior we saw at home, but not when out and about with other people. I'm excited to see him this way, saying Hello and Good-bye to people without being prompted, excited to be going to school.

I'll admit though, that it does make me a bit sad because he's growing up and the fact that he's going to be 4 soon doesn't help that.

Where does the time go?

A few updates

Ché Updates:



We took Ché to the annual FTIA picnic this year (We missed last year due to a wedding), and he had a great time. Still thought nothing of all the kids looking like him. The only thing he cared about was riding the carousel. Of course, we forgot the camera, and the bag with the snacks, and extra clothes. Oh well. He also had a great time playing on the different playgrounds, and looking at the train that kept passing by. We stayed a few hours, then headed home, where Che after a lot of comments like, "I'm not tired," and "I don't need a rest," feel asleep for most of the ride home.



We are also in the mode of getting Ché ready to move upstairs to his big boy room. We have a 1 and a 1/2 story house, and there is only 1 bedroom on the 2nd floor. It's very large, and he'll have plenty of room for sleeping and playing. At this point he's really excited about it, and wants to paint the room yellow and pink. Last night we took down my bedroom set from home, and sent it back to my mom's house. Underneath the bed was a bunch of stuff left over from teaching, mostly bulletin board things, so Ché spent some time picking out the things he wants on his walls. On of which is a giraffe growth chart that goes floor to ceiling. He's pretty excited about it.



Babies Update:


We're now in the last week of the first trimester. It's pretty exciting, and I'm amazed at how fast this is all going. I've transitioned to some maternity clothes and some regular clothes and getting dressed is more and more of a challenge every day. Sunday, as I'm sure Mike will attest to was not a great day for dressing, and I changed outfits several times before finally just giving up.



This is the last week of your first trimester, and your risk of miscarriage is now much lower than earlier in pregnancy. Next week marks the beginning of your second trimester, a time of relative comfort for many women who see early pregnancy symptoms such as morning sickness and fatigue subside. More good news: Many couples also notice a distinct libido lift around this time. Birth is still months away, but your breasts may have already started making colostrum, the nutrient-rich fluid that feeds your baby for the first few days after birth, before your milk starts to flow.

Your baby has reached the size of a medium shrimp and weighs nearly an ounce. (Length: almost 3 inches, head to bottom.)

The name debate has cooled, it's just a subject we don't talk about at this point. I think that we've found a changing table solution, and we have two cribs ready to go. We're going to talk with Ché about whether or not he wants his siblings to have the fishies in his current room, or if they should get something new. We're really trying hard not to make it seem as though we're "Pushing" him out of his room, and making him give up all his things for the babies. In fact I was thinking of letting him decide which blankets out of the thousands he has to keep and which to give up for the babies. He's also very protective of the babies, and their things. He spent 7 minutes going through a grocery bag of baby clothes my SIL had sent over, "sorting" them out and making sure everything was alright for "his babies."

Other than that, life around our house is pretty normal, same stuff, different day, and I couldn't be happier with it that way.

My Blood Hurts.

Yesterday we topped the list on ways to torture Ché. He's been having leg pain at night, always in the same leg, and always at night. For awhile it was happening a couple times a week. Since it was only one leg, and he's generally not a complainer we thought it was something that we should have checked out. The other thing that tipped us to have it checked out is that the leg that is sore all the time isn't the one that was broken prior to us adopting Ché.

So we did. We took him to our family doctor, who said he had good range of motion and that everything looked fine. I asked if it was because he might be him overcompensating for his short leg. We were told it was a possibility, but that the Dr. wanted to run some tests to check it out. He started to say, "If it were my son..." but he stopped. I know this meant that he thought we shouldn't worry about it, but it causes pain which usually ends up in a dose of Tylenol and 20 or more minutes of rubbing and sometimes an ice pack in order to get him to go back to sleep, so it really is a big deal. So, Dr. ordered an x-ray and a blood test.

The x-ray was no big deal, in fact the x-ray tech even showed Ché the pictures, so he got to see his own bones. Interestingly enough though, kids that age don't have kneecaps.

Then there was blood test, which we did yesterday. When we went to the lab we did our best to keep Ché updated on what was going to happen. We were honest that it was going to hurt a little bit, but that the pain would go away. So he was alright. Climbed up into the chair, got his arms out, let the lady do the tourniquet, the alcohol wipe, she had the needle ready to go, and not a peep out of him. Then the insert. And the crying, although I have to say not bad at all. He even held still for her because she asked him too. He stopped crying before it was done, and then was so excited to get the big blue band-aid.

He wouldn't give her a high-five, but did take the stickers from her and tell her thank you, so he must not have had to much animosity towards her.

He was good, we congratulated him on being so well behaved, rewarded him with fruit snacks and a trip to the park and he was fine. But on the way out the door, to leave the lab, the comment was made, and Mike and I just had to stop from rolling on the floor:

"My blood hurts, Mama."

This wait...

is killing me. I think we've just stopped talking about it at home.

On other notes, Ché is becoming quite the little boy. No longer a baby, and quickly leaving toddlerhood. He is now dressing himself quite frequently, and I'm happy to say potty trained! Yippee!
In the past month we've had 2 accidents, one of which was yesterday when he couldn't open the door from outside and couldn't make it in the house. (that doesn't count as an "accident" in my book anyway. He was trying.)

He is also becoming very talkative, and likes telling stories. On of my favorite phrases that we hear quite often is, "like that you know." It's a very serious part of any conversation. Che is also big into making plans right now, as in "Here's the plan... I'm going to take a nap."

Mike will be leaving for Michigan to attend NABS, sadly not this NABS. hehe. He will be gone about a week, so we'll see if there is a return of toddler depression. We've been telling Che that Daddy will be gone, and he seems to understand, but we'll see what really happens come next Sunday. Last time when Mike came home Ché wouldn't talk to him.

Other than that though life's been normal, going to work, playing at home, going to bed, knitting, watching too much basketball (I'm glad that's almost over...)

The Santa Picture!

Last year, Santa got a hi-five, this year, it was a race to see if he could get there faster than lightening. Ché was very excited to hand Santa his letter, and tell him that he wanted "toys and trucks, and cars too!"

We then had to explain that Santa doesn't give you those things right then! haha!

Toddler Musings

Every Monday Ché attends "school." Mike and I switch off taking Ché to school every week so that it isn't a burden on one of us, and we both get the joy of picking him up at the end of the day. I believe we both take different routes to get to school, and the route that I take, leads us down a very busy residential area with a lot of kids. Being that we're traveling around 8 o'clock makes it so that there are a lot of buses out in the morning. One thing that I have been amazed at is the differences in the conversations now involving the buses vs. a year ago. A year ago at best we got a "BUS!" shouted excitedly from the back seat, but now, it's much more involved.

On our way to school this morning (10.13.08) we took our normal route, since driving down Portage usually heeds 6 or more buses.
We (Ché and I) were counting buses and I was explaining the difference between the school bus and the city bus.

(Can you tell the difference?)

Well, luckily the city bus in front of us dropped a lady off with her groceries, and he saw it, promptly telling me “Momma, that bus dropped that lady off.”

So then Ché continued to tell me that he would like to ride a bus too. I told him that he was not old enough to ride the school bus, however that anyone could ride the city bus. I asked him where the bus would take him and he told me that it would take him to school, then pick him up at school and then drop him off at home where Momma and Daddy and Candy are.

This alone was a great conversation but it didn't stop there!

So Ché continues talking about when he’s bigger he’s going to ride the bus to work. (What an environmentalist we're raising!) I ask him where he works, and he told me at a hotel. I asked him what he did for his job at a hotel and he told me that he ate and swam in the swimming pool, then he changed his mind and said that he swam in two pools. He also went on to tell me that sometimes he feeds the bird at the hotel where he works, eating and swimming. (Some of this comes from our trip to Indy where the hotel had a parrot in a cage that of course was fascinating)

I then asked Ché what he wants to be when he’s bigger, and he told me, “A lobster.” I confirmed what he said and he further explained that he wants to be a lobster so he can “pinch, pinch, pinch.”

(Perhaps this is what he has in mind?)

Fascinating. Utterly fascinating that we have moved from "BUS!" to whole conversations with context and meaning, and free thinking. Sigh, I guess he really is growing up even though we still wear 18 mo. pants...

Our first not nice thing to say.

Ché said his first not nice thing this morning. Sure he's said other words, but not with the point of saying it. Just repeated, but this morning, when Daddy asked Ché to eat his breakfast (I know how dare he.) Ché looked at him and said "Kiss my butt."

We cannot for the life of us figure out who has said this. Ché tried to pawn it off on Grandma, but we know better. For some reason I just can't picture Grandma taunting a toddler with "Kiss my butt." throughout the day.

The Indoctrination

Is strong in Ché.
On Saturday, Ché woke up asking for socks. I give him credit, it was chilly. However, he cared what socks. What kind did he want? Bears socks.

When I informed him that they were in the wash and not clean, he sighed, then very nicely said:

"I want Bears sheets"

The indoctrination has not only started in our house, but it is strong in our house.

It's been a while...

Boy, it's been a while since I've put anything up here...


So what's new?

• September 5th I had surgery to explore and poke around my uterus. That was fun...What was fun though was that we stayed at the Embassy Suites in Caramel, Indiana, which was about 6 blocks from the hospital (rather convenient) and it had a parrot. That's right a parrot. My mom had gone with us so that Ché could go to, and I don't think there is anything more exciting than having breakfast with a parrot.On another note, I did have a *tiny* bit of endometriosis, a flap of hanging tissue, and some ovarian drilling done. I was sore for about a week and a half, and the worst part was not being able to lift Ché. I had a 10 lb. weight limit, which just wasn't fun.But I feel great now, and I have noticed a difference. The ovarian drilling (This link is a picture, you must be very brave to click on it...)lowers testosterone levels, and I think I've noticed a difference in the way I've been acting and feeling. Mike was a tremendous help during that week and a half. He took care of Ché, and made sure that I wasn't doing things I shouldn't be, as well as doing some extra things around the house.
  
• September 21 -- Go Bears! Even though they lost, it was well worth the trip! The seats were great, we didn't get any sun, thanks to the structure holding the big TV. We also got a great souvenir for Ché...

Given his great love of Daddy's Bears and Halloween this year, it's been a great thing.

• Ché's been talking up a storm, with his new favorite things being: "Mama said I could," and "I'm just teasin'." It really makes for some interesting conversations, but not as good as the one last night where he wanted me to help him hold himself down so that he didn't spray all over the bathroom. There was a lot of "You tuck it Mama" going on, which was hard to explain why that was not my job.
• We still have not moved Ché to a big boy bed. He will climb over the railing but only if it is down and if one of us is around to supervise. I have to admit, I'm glad he's not in a big boy bed, it really saves us sometimes in regards to not having a little person in our bed, or one staring at you at 5 in the morning. Not that Ché is a bad sleeper, I just don't want the possibility of that.

Other than that, life's been fairly boring. How about you?

Whatever you do, don't let a 2 year old name a child or From the Mouths of Babes

We've been talking a lot about babies in our house. Mike's brother is going to be a daddy soon, and so we discuss babies, and that Matt and Emily are going to be a Mommy and Daddy, and that Grandma is going to have another grandbaby like Ché.

Even though they live in Kansas, we thought it would be nice to keep Ché updated. Ché constantly wants to buy things for the Uncle Matt and Uncle Emily's baby. (Yes, Uncle Emily, not aunt) He's picked up bottles, wipes, diapers, and recently was fascinated with a pair of hot pink "baby" boots with black fringe. (see Uncle Matt and Aunt Emily, we could have let him buy those!)

So we talk often, and we let Ché wager on whether it's a boy or girl. Last night he decided that Uncle Emily was going to have a boy. We curiously asked him what he would name a baby if he had a little brother. The answer: Juice.

After Mike and I came up for air after laughing so hard, we poised the same question only about a girl. The answer: Choo Choo Train.

So if you are struggling with the name game, and would like something totally unique, Ché's naming skills are for hire.

A few weekend pictures

We went to Lowe's on Saturday for some building. We were supposed to make a tape measure, but the shipment didn't come in. So every kid got something different.
Ché was patiently waiting with his hammer for the kits to come out. What would we get?

Why a toolbox! Ché was very excited. We had to hide the stickers till the end.

And a proud Ché all finished. We told him if he was good in the store, then he could get a new tool for his box. He was very very good while we looked at grills.

I cut off his head, because he didn't get the point of holding the tool box at chest height. It was either in front of his face, or down low. Taking pictures in the middle of the light bulb aisle also does not give you a lot of time to adjust for these sorts of things. At the end of the trip, Ché did get his tool. He was very adamant about getting a hammer. So we came home with a Kobalt hammer.

On Father's Day, Ché and I went to church, and then brought Daddy home a bagel breakfast. Mike then continued going through his t-shirts, making cut-offs of the ones with pit rot so bad they stand up on their own. I turned around from working in the kitchen to see this:

Because of course, a t-shirt sleeve makes a great headband. Note the tightness on Daddy's head...

Friday also brought some freaky storms. We got rain, thunder, and hail. We were both stunned at the hail. It did wake Ché from his nap as it hit the windows, and he asked if it was raining. We told him yes, and he went back to sleep.

The black pole is our lampost. It continued for quite awhile, and luckily there was no damage to either of our cars. A friend from work though does have $500 worth of damage and she was just 3 streets over.

Heh

I was in the kitchen doing something, cooking, dishes, who knows, when Mike came in and said, "You have to see this, it's adorable," I stopped whatever I was doing, and this is what I found:

Ché was determined to get my shoes on. Even though he could have slipped his feet right in, he felt the need to undo and then do up the Velcro. He got the first shoe on just fine, but the second for some reason was a bit more difficult. Ché eventually gave up, but after about 10 minutes or so of trying. Still, very cute.

Conversations With Ché Part II

I can't really say that this was an outright conversation, but hilarious nonetheless.

Scene: Eating Port-a-Pit Chicken for dinner around the dining room table

"It never has enough breasts," Daddy, said with straight face, meaning white part of the chicken of course.

"bwhahahahahahaha," Ché

No joke, Mike really said that with a straight face, and didn't mean it any other way than white meat. Ché laughed hysterically. I guess I know that my son pry won't be a leg man.

Aye, Mateys!

The Guatemalan Pirate be afoot!

No, don't be alarmed rape, and plunder of passing ships hasn't been an issue, but what has it the ever popular "aye"

You see, Ché has taken to answering every affirmative answer with "aye" not yes. Try as we might to correct this slightly annoying, but hilariously funny quirk, nothing works. We continuously repeat "yes" every time we hear "aye," and Ché will then say "yesh," however his first instict is "aye."

We don't know who taught him this, however we do know who's encouraging it... ahem, ND Bio friends...

So, beware of the Guatemalan Pirate and the true possibilty that he may turn to plundering juice and cookies if you come too close! And if you don't comply, you are subject to Pirate Commandment #3: The plank is your law! Obey the plank! Never question the plank!

Frère Jacques

Yes. The old song that we all know that gets stuck in our heads.
We don't really know how it started. Presumably someone in our house, Mike or I most likely started singing this one day with Ché. Bad idea.
Ché really likes music. He sings alot, plays the piano(as best a 2 year old can) but very gently, never banging on the keys, and he has his own basket full of music toys that he uses almost on a daily basis. He can clap, pat, or whatever to any rhythm that he hears, and if you ask him to repeat a clapped or patted rhythm he can do that too. He is constantly finding the beat in songs, and sometimes even does the counter beat, or syncopates the rhythm. It's quite disturbing sometimes.
We also take Ché to a music class. Miss Paulina used to run the class right in her living room, but is moving it to a local church because of the amount of people that have been signing up. Ché sings the songs from music class which range from traditional, to folk, to originals by Miss Paulina. He truly loves it and often sings bits and pieces at home.
So, because he loves music so much, someone had to go and buy him a drumset for Christmas. We knew it was coming and it was practicaly ineveitable. So, we now have a drum set and of course what song and beat do we play most often: Frère Jacques

Feel free to listen to 46 seconds of my kid rockin' it out to Frère Jacques, and applauding himself at the end.


As Mike said: "He's been singing this song a lot, but geez, he just demands an audience when he takes over the drum kit (thanks a lot Nana ;P). A rare day indeed when he doesn't rock out on the cymbals, usually that's his first destination. His coordination on the bass drum is improving."

At the end of the clip, Ché puts the drumsticks in the bassdrum. It's hollow in the front, much like any drum, and doesn't yet have a towel in it, but soon will. He had to learn, or yet, we had to teach him very early on that drumsticks are not for anything but drums, and ever since then he has taken to putting the sticks inside the bass drum. It's quite hilarious to watch the determination on his face as he "bows out" for the evening with the drums.