More Xanderisms

I am so sad to report that life has taken over and kept me from keeping up on the blog. However, as my son approaches turning 4 years old, his imagination surpasses all expectations. The following are a few of the little Xanderisms that have kept me in stitches...
Xander:"Mom, I am going to the backyard to play!!"
Mom: "Ok lovey have fun!"
Xander: "I am just going to go play God!!"
Mom: "Why do you want to play God?"
Xander: "'Cause whatever God says happens!"

Xander: "Nanny, my listening ears fell off. All that is left are batteries and wires. The repair man would have to put me under water and squish me and that is bad!"

Let me set the next scene up for you. It is early morning and I hear Xander's bedroom door pop open and as I sleepily try to scoot over in anticipation of my little boy bounding into my bed with me, I am surprised to hear the bathroom door click shut. He went potty and then I hear him trot back down the hallway to his room. I am thinking to myself ,"Hot Dog I Get To Sleep For A Little Bit Longer!!" After a few minutes I realize it is a bit too quiet for anything good to be going on and I fall out of bed to go see what I need to clean up. Upon opening the bedroom door, I see Xander flailing his arms and wiggling his legs, STARK NAKED, in front of his mirror. Stifling my laugh, I ask my little babe what he is doing. He responds very matter of factly, "Mommy, I am doing naked exercises for good nutrition!" I then ask who could have taught him such a remarkable thing. Without even a blink of an eye he says "Poppi!!"
*Disclaimer: Poppi has become the culprit of most new and interesting things that Xander's mind comes up with. However, Poppi has no knowledge or recollection of the things Xander is coming up with. Bottom line...Poppi is the scape goat for all of Xander's naughty ideas.*

Xander to Mommy: "Guess what?
Mommy: "What?"
Xander: "Poppi already told me that when it is dark outside you get naked." (Please see above disclaimer)

Jaws...part 2

When you are three and half years old there are boundaries in your life that your parents set to try to keep you safe and to raise you to be a respectful, polite child. However one thing that parents cannot set any boundaries on is imagination. For my son, his imagination seems to get even bigger when he is asked to explain why he did something. Usually that something that he has to explain is something naughty. As any of my loyal blog followers know, my precious little Alexander found his inner "Jaws" a few weeks ago and bit his sister. After I dealt with disciplining him for that incident I had hoped that my little shark was a one trick pony and would not reappear. I was sorely mistaken. He has made a few special appearances since...biting his sister again (apparently the second time he wasn't biting, he was "tasting" sissy), biting mommy, and biting random toys. the latest sighting of Jaws Brody was at Nana's house this week...

Xander had been having an excellent week behaving splendidly during the mornings he had spent with Nana. He had amazing listening ears, a cooperative little spirit, a playful imagination, and wonderful attention span during school time. However, the last day of the work week when I picked him up, Nana met me at the front door and told me Alexander needed to tell me something. I naturally assumed that he had had a potty accident or something of that nature, not a naughty outburst...not my son. But as I met Xander at the top of the stairs, I looked down and was caught off guard when the normally impeccably painted railings at Nana's were VERY scuffed up at the end. (And by scuffed up I mean, the paint was completely ripped off in perfect bite size imprints.) I asked Xander what happened and his honest little self informed me that he bit Nanny's railing and made her sad. I made sure he apologized to his Nana and headed for the door. Only, baby Jaws did not tell me the whole story...

Nana had to fill in a few blanks. Xander had indeed bitten the railing, but he had done it sometime throughout the day when Nana had not been around. When she finally noticed it, it was after my Xander had time to concoct a story. He very plainly explained to Nana when asked what happened, that he was pretending to be a shark and the shark was hungry. It only made perfect sense. Everyone knows that when sharks get hungry, they eat wood railings. But Nana asked Xander where sharks live and if they live in Nanny's entry way? Xander responded in an exasperated little way, (almost as if to say "Ummmm somebody needs to catch up on their shark National Geographics) "Nanny, sharks live in oceans and seas." I think it was then that he realized that he was neither in an ocean nor a sea and Nanny was not into pretending to be hungry sharks that eat railings.

Well, at least he was not pretending to be King Kong on top of the roof at Nana's. Oh dear, I better be careful what I wish for.

Xanderisms

Mommy to Xander: "Xander, watch your mouth!!!"
Xander: "Mommy, I can't see my Mouth!!!!!!!!'

Abby to Xander when he was waiting impatiently to go into the hot tub with Auntie: "Xander, hold your horses!"
Xander: "But Auntie I am holding my whales!"

Mommy to Xander when I found him in the bathtub cupping his weenie with his hands: "Baby bear what are you doing with your hands?"
Xander: "Making a house for weenie to keep him safe!!"

Xander when he saw it snowing outside: "Mommy, look at all the tiny, icey comets falling down!!"

I love that boy and his imagination!!

Four months

Today marks Cally Boo's four month birthday and there is lots and lots to celebrate(...besides the fact that she survived an attack by Jaws,aka her brother).

I am still savoring every moment of cuddling with my little bird. She loves to be held and snuggled and loved and cuddled and loved and snuggled...you get the idea.

Cally's most sought after talent is her new found ability to laugh. For a while only Nanny could get her to laugh, but now she is starting to discover what a gift it is. She consistently laughs whenever you play peek-a-boo with her. Except, she doesn't like you to say peek-a-boo, she likes it when you say PEEKERS!! She has the most petite, girlie little giggle. If I closed my eyes and imagined what a baby fairy would sound like giggling, it would be how Cally sounds. Cally's giggle makes your tummy feel warm.

Smiling is another gift little miss gives to us every day. Her toothless grin is amazing and if she is not nursing, she can usually be found smiling. Her loving, tender spirit shines through her gummy smile.

Some new things we are doing...we started brushing her gums and she loves it. She chews on my little finger brush as I attempt to clean her gums. Cally gets her hair brushed every night after her tubby and it is so relaxing to her. She also loves getting her little piggies massaged after bath time. Whenever I rub her feet, she just smiles, no noises, just smiles.

Her new favorite activity is playing in her jumperoo. Even though her tippy toes barely reach the ground she loves to sit in her activity center. She loves it so much, she even takes naps in it.

My little bird surprises us with new noises every day and has taken up her brother's affection for talking and has started even making noises in her sleep. SOOOOOO precious.

Xander continues to be her favorite despite him trying to bite off one of her phalanges...now that is TRUE love. I can't wait for her to laugh at him for the first time. He will think she is even more fantastic!!

She is spending lots of time on her tummy and enjoys it even more if you put a mirror in front of her. I mean really, what girl of her caliber wouldn't want to stare at themselves and all her beauty.

My little girl is growing up quickly, but her strength, not only physical, but emotional strength amazes me every day. She makes me want to be a better person and seek after my own inner beauty so that she will have someone to look up to. My prayers for her seem to still be the same...for a peaceful rest, a brighter tomorrow, a healthy spirit, a strong soul, a tender touch, and an understanding of the extent of her mother's love for her.

Firsts

Lots of new things happen in a household with a new little person. Most the time they are exciting, grab the camera for a Kodak moment types of times, but sometimes they are grab a pillow so the neighbors don't hear you yelling the special kinds of words one would yell when they hear a shrill cry come from the bathroom that their 4 month old daughter is in with her 3 year old older brother. *DISCLAIMER: NO CHILD WAS LEFT UNATTENDED. ADULT SUPERVISION WAS PROVIDED AT ALL TIMES BESIDES THE 2 SECONDS DADDY'S BACK WAS TURNED TO GET A TOWEL. CHILD SERVICES NEED NOT BE CALLED.*
It is quite amazing the chain of events that can happen in a two second flash. Picture this if you will...Handsome boy Xander (Rudy, Finder Fander, etc) in the tub taking a bath with his adorable, tolerant sister in her tub chair watching his every move with amazement. Mommy is in the bathroom soaping up Cally Boo's head and body when all of the sudden the phone rings. Daddy stays in the bathroom with the kiddles and Mommy runs to catch the phone. After a very brief conversation Mommy starts to head back to the bathroom. When all of a sudden to what do my wandering eyes should appear... a screaming, crying, I'm so mad I am shaking with my hands in fists little baby girl and a brother cowering in the corner of the bathtub refusing to make eye contact with me. Gee, wonder what happened.
Mommy: "Xander did you bite Sissie??!!!!!!!"
Xander: "Yes I did."
Well at least the boy was honest.
To put your minds at ease, Xander bit Cally's little fingers, but she seems to be fully recovered this morning and only slightly scarred from the experience. (And by scarred, I mean that the teeth imprints are almost all faded from her little fingers.) I think Xander's pride was hurt more than baby girl's fingers.
I think the thing that was hardest about the whole scenario was that I had to realize that Xander wasn't the perfect boy I thought he was. He does have a bit of a malicious, see how far I can take this spirit and he is capable of doing very naughty things. Through it all though, I still think he is mostly perfect and it does warm my heart that he came and apologized to his Sissie and told her that he would never hurt her. He also told her to be happy and then promptly asked me if I was happy. To which I replied, "Xander, you always make my heart happy and I love you. But I don't love when you make bad decisions, especially ones that hurt other people." Then he said "Mommy, I love you SOOOOOOO much." And all was right with the world again.

Cally Boo and a tooth too

I cannot believe it and a bit saddened that Cally is growing up so quickly, but tonight, after a very fussy day, I discovered what I think might be the beginnings of a tooth. I did not think anything of it when she was constantly chewing on her hand or when she began drooling so much I was confusing her with a St. Bernard because I thought 3 and 1/2 months was too soon to be teething. I am hoping I am wrong and it is just a sharp little piece of her gums. Oh my stars...nursing ought to be super fun now. I feel a bit like I am taking my life into my own hands with her teething and nursing. I think I might deserve a super hero cape if we make it through this. However, she will be the cutest and smallest little person with a toothie. hehe Maybe I could continue my tradition of dressing the kids up and dress her up like the tooth fairy. OK maybe I am getting a bit ahead of myself.

Rudy

Dear World...if you happen to run into my son and he doesn't respond to you calling him Alexander, Xander, Xinder Xander Finder Fander, Xandy Man or Boo Bear, just call him Rudy. This is his new alter ego he came up with after his shower tonight. He put on his hooded green dinosaur towel and said "Mommy, I am Green Dinosaur Rudy!!!"
I have no idea where he heard the name Rudy or how he came up with it, but he responds to it now and is especially proud of his name while wearing his towel.

Roll this way and then that!

My little Cally is growing up so quickly. Yesterday, she rolled over from her tummy to her back 4 times. she can go both to her left side and to her right. Oh my stars what a big doodle bug!! I love watching her discover her world and what she is capable of doing!!

I walk into Xander's room to get him into his jammies and ready for bed and this is what is happening:
Xander on his bed naked curled over in a very awkward position.
Mommy: "Xander Finder Fander, what are you doing?:
Xander: "I am hugging my weenie!! I love weenie!!"
...The next night...
Xander is in the tubby and we are talking about beginning sounds of letters.
Xander: "Mommy what does weenie start with?"
Mommy: "Weenie starts with a W."
Xander: "W is for weenie!! W is for weenie!!"

Nanny made it snow!!

Snow, snow, go away!! Come again...in NOVEMBER!! This was the tune that I seemed to be hearing in my head, but Alexander had a different tune stuck in his today...Jingle Bells. He woke up this morning and said "Mommy, look at all the snow!! It is Christmas time!!" He was so excited and I hated being the one to tell him that we were not going to be bringing the Christmas tree out any time soon. However, Nanny made it much easier to accept that it was not Christmas time with her brilliant idea of making snow castles in the tub!!! After dinner, Nana went out to the driveway and scooped up a bowl full of snow to bring into the bathtub for Xander to play with. It was yet another time when my son looked at me in disbelief that he was going to be able to actually build snow castles INSIDE!!! Well, needless to say, he had a ball in the bathtub with his snow. He threw snowballs up against the walls and scooped snow from one end of the tub to another. He also gave his sissie her first experience with snow as she watched with bated breath at what her brother was going to do next. She was perched on Nana's lap at the edge of the tub to see the winter wonderland firsthand. Thanks Nana for the great idea and fun night!!!

This is Sissie...She is delicate

There are some days when a mother truly wonders if what she says either sinks in or goes in one ear and out the other. It seems as if on a daily basis I tell Alexander to be gentle with his sister, not to be rough, and to remember that Sissie is a delicate little girl and we have to protect her.
Xander always responds to me and tells me that it is ok and Sissie likes it, whatever he may be doing to her. This made me question whether he really understood the meaning of being gentle and that Cally was delicate. Well no longer do I wonder if Alexander comprehends the meaning of words and no longer am I curious if he knows how to be delicate.
Sunday night we were at Barnes and Noble picking out new books to read for bed time. Xander picked out a very nice book for his sister called Priscilla and the Pink Planet and for himself he got a new Richard Scarry and also a book all about tractors. (Aunt Abby, you should be proud because when he reads his tractor book he points to all the tractors that he went on when he was at the "show" with you. I think he is talking about MAGGIE.) When we went up to the cash register to wait in line to pay, there were two little girls in line ahead of us. The one girl was maybe 18 months and her sister was probably 8 years old. The littlest one run raced up to Cally's car seat and wanted to touch the baby. Xander quickly zoomed in and assumed his position as Sissie's guard and very sternly said to the little girl "This is my sister Cally. Don't touch her she is delicate." To which he promptly followed up with " You may not touch her, but do you want me to read to you?" He knelt in front of his sister's car seat to make sure that no one could get to her and promptly began reading his book about tractors to the girls. So right then and there Xander became the teacher and anyone of the girls that would listen became his pupils.

Good Night Car

There are some days that have come and gone that I am quite sure the devil has reincarnated himself into a three year old little boy and then there are days like yesterday that remind me that three year olds are just little angels trying to figure out their way. I have always known that where it truly matters, Xander is a tender, loving and compassionate little boy. However I did not know the extent of that compassion until recently. He loves his sister with his whole heart. Xander loves mommy "more than a rhinocerous." He loves Daddy "as big as this" (his arms stretched out tall). But not only does Xander love the big important things in his life, but he has enough love and concern for even the most inate things in his life. For instance, he loves his train table, he loves his tubby, he loves his satin blankie, and most recently, he loves our car. Now the Pontiac Vibe is a good family car. Pretty reliable, not super roomy but enough for the four of us, gets good gas mileage, and always gets us where we need to go. Apparently Xander has found a special spot in his heart for the Vibe and feels the car needs a bit extra TLC lately, not really sure why he thinks so, he just does. Now, every time we get out of the car and after Xander presses the button to close the garage door, he very gently bends over to gives the Vibe a kiss on the driver's side headlight and then hugs the Vibe and tells it good night. On some occassions, he even tells it to have a good rest. It is the sweetest, most innocent little act of kindness and I love that he even cares about the well being of our mode of transportation. hehe Every day my kids find a way to make my heart smile a bit wider than I thought it ever could. I will try to catch this on camara, so a picture to follow as soon as I can get one.

three months old

Today is Cally's 3 month birthday and I thought I might catch everyone up on what she is doing...

She still is our resident snuggle bug and will fall asleep on your chest over her cribby any day. She is so smiley and is our ray of sunshine to wake up to every morning as she has a little grin waiting for us as soon as we look at her.

Cally is becoming more and more social every day. She loves to babble with her mama and is consistently coming up with new little noises. My favorite is when she scares herself when a noise is too loud. Her little eyes get so huge!!

She has discovered her hands and is very interested in what they are capable of doing. Textures are VERY interesting to her. Her favorite toys are her texture dolly from Auntie Abby and her new snuggle bunny ( also from Auntie Abby).

She has great control of her head and is starting to really enjoy sitting up. Just yesterday we put her in the BEBE Pod for dinner with the rest of the family and I think she thought she was princess of dinner residing over us.

She loves music, but her favorite is when we sing to her. Her favorite musical artist...her brother. He sings beautiful renditions of twinkle twinkle little star, I'm A Little Tea Pot, and Jesus loves me. Xander is quite captivating with his musical abilities.

She is still nursing quite well. I think if she could be permanently attached to me that would be best. Cally is sometimes a bit of a snacker which can make for an exhausting day for mama, but in the end is well worth the effort.

Not only is Xander Cally's favorite musician, but also her favorite entertainer. She continues to be awed by everything he does. To his credit, Xander is a great teacher. He always tells her how many there is of something, what color something is, and also tries to teach her her letters and numbers.

Little Miss is not as big of a water bug as her brother, but she still enjoys it. She much prefers taking showers with mommy over tubbies, but if her tubby is with her brother, it is much more tolerable.

Cally has also just started to really enjoy being read to. We enjoy reading Pinkalicious, Purplicious, Fancy Nancy, and Princess Baby together.

All in all, Calista's first three months have flown by, but every day is such a treasure and we feel much more complete now that she is in our family. I never realized what a softie Dan is until Cally came around and Xander has risen to the challenge of being a VERY protective big brother. He is always there for her when she cries and he still tells her she is 'dorable all the time. She is my little love and my beautiful little birdie!! Happy three months Bird!!!

Playing catch up part two 3/28/10

Today was a very special celebration in the Brody household. Calista Danielle got dedicated at church today. Abby and Sten came down to Great Falls to be with us and Nana and Poppi also came to church to help us commemorate her dedication. She was dressed in her beautiful lavender silk dress with a little white sweater that had matching little lavender flowers on it. Of course she was accessorized with little tights that had lavender flowers at the ankles, a little headband with a lavender flower and beautiful, delicate, white silk booties that Nana sewed Swarovski crystal butterflies onto. She looked like a little angel and had the demeanor of one too that day. Xander and Dan and I also got into our "Sunday best" for the occasion, with Xander even wearing a tie "just like Poppi!"
Before Cally was dedicated, they put up a little slide show of Cally's first few months with pictures of her with her big brother, daddy and mama. It was very sweet and a special was to start her little ceremony. After the slide show, Pastor Bill talked about what a gift babies are and talked with Dan and I about how Cally was given especially to us. He then charged the church with helping us to raise her in a Godly environment and also to pray for her as she grows up. Last, Pastor Bill prayed not only for Cally, that she stay on a Godly path, but also for Dan and I and for Xander. It was a beautiful prayer and most needed and appropriate for us. Before sending us back down to our seats we received a precious little Bible for Cally's first bible from the church.
Even though the ceremony was short, it was very significant to me and to our family. It reminded me how delicate life is and how truly special it is to have Cally in our lives. I know that I was given a little girl for a purpose and a reason. My prayer for Calista is that she grows up to be strong, loving, caring, encouraging, sympathetic, trustworthy, honest, polite, and above all that she has an indescribable relationship with God and allows him to help her walk through life. She is a gift and a treasure and I pray for myself that I never take advantage of having her be a part of my life.

Playing a little catch up Saturday 3/27/10

Hello blog world..it has been a while and I have a lot to catch up on........

Two weeks ago Dan and I became parents of the universe for about an hour. To celebrate Poppi's birthday, we all went golfing. Braving the fierce winds, brown, barely there greens, and the cooler than anticipated weather, Nana, Poppi, Abby, Sten, Dan, me, Cally and Xander set out to conquer nine holes on the course. Cally snugged into her Moby wrap while Xander, Nana, and I assumed our positions on the "fun cart" to follow the hard core golfers through the rugged terrain. By the fourth hole and through chattering teeth, we realized that Xander was no longer moving to keep warm but was well into choreographing a new potty dance. Seeing as how Dan and I are so determined to help get this kid potty trained, we knew we had to something...AND QUICK!! Since there were no porta-potties around and we were a fair distance from the club house, we had no options other than to let Xander become one with nature and mark his territory. We let him pee on a tree for the first of many times.
My son, the king of facial expressions, once again looks at us with a glance of utter disbelief that we would let him pee on the tree. Quickly he realizes that he better take us up on this before we change our minds and he raced off towards the tree. One of Xander's quirks is that he has to take his pants and shoes off to go potty and today was no exception. So Dan quickly took Xander's pants and shoes off and after assuming the position, Xander peed for ten glorious seconds into the wind without a care in the world. After getting his attire back on he raced back up to the golf cart and made sure with everyone around that they knew that he not only just went pee pee, but that he went pee pee outside...ON A TREE!!!

The wonders of memory foam

Xander was being an amazing helper this afternoon and assisted his daddy in taking the sheets off of his bed. In doing so, he had to take the pillow case off of his memory foam pillow. Being the curious little boy that he is, he started making imprints of different things in his pillow and watched them fade away. "Oh look how creative my son is" I thought to myself as he made handprints and footprints in the pillow. Not two seconds after that thought crossed through my head I see his pull ups come flying over the breakfast bar. I thought once again "oh my son is so smart he is going potty without us even reminding him!" But instead of hearing "Mommy I made some pee pee!!" I hear "I can make butt prints and weenie prints!! I can make a weenie print!!" Oh the joys of being a mother to a boy!
PS Sorry I cannot post a picture with this one, no pictures were appropriate for internet posting. :)

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Cally got into the Irish spirit this morning at work at and broke into a little Irish jig while she was in her boppy. I think it might have been her fabulous gaelic dancing shoes, made by a very amazing shoe designer (aka NANNY) or it could have been her delightful Shamrock dress, provided by Calista's stylist (aka TITI BUG). Either way she was all smiles and in such a good mood full of holiday spirit for the day and she has asked me to pass along a little greeting...Happy St. Patrick's Day and may the Irish eyes always be smiling down on you!!

Oh Glory!!

I think of myself as someone pretty rooted in their faith in God. He seems to be a big part of my life and someone I lean on in my good times and bad. However, I never realized how much I truly needed Jesus until I started potty training my son. It seems as if every night I find myself saying something to the effect of "Sweet Jesus please help my son to poo!" or "Lord Almighty just sit on the little red potty!!" or "Dear Heaven above, get this boy to realize how fun peeing in the potty is!"

Well the good Lord came through BIG time for me tonight!! Xander was doing his typical potty dance, kicking one leg out and saying "Ouch! Oh nothing hurts and I am NOT going to go to the bathroom!!" I knew it was getting really bad when he could not stand in one place for more than two seconds for fear his poo might make an explosive entrance into this world. He finally went into the bathroom when his potty timer went off and shut the door so no one could come in with him. I began by sitting outside the door praying, VERY sincerely, that Xander would find "relief" in the bathroom tonight. Then I found myself just praying prayers of thanksgiving that he was actually in the bathroom. I couldn't handle it anymore, so I stood outside the door peeking throught the crack to make sure he would make it onto the potty and this is what I witnessed...

Xander: (dancing in front of his little red potty) "I am not going to the potty!! I don't have to poo! I am...Ouch, nothing hurts!! Ohhh...I am not going to go poo poo just pee pee!! I am not going to go poo poo!! (now sitting on the potty writhing around trying to hold his poo in and only make pee pee) "I am only goin' to go pee pee!! I am only goin'...Ohhh...I am only...OOOOOOO...I am..."(now complete silence, a very still little body with only his hands moving to hold onto the edges of his potty for leverage and his little eyes turning red and watering)...It stays very quiet for a few seconds and then I see him look between his little legs and whisper to himself "I am doing it!! I did it!!" At this point I could not be a prouder mommy and could not wait for him to open the door. I swung open the door with the biggest grin on my face and told him how proud I was of him. Then I quickly yelled out to Dan to get the frosting ready because we were going to have Lightening McQueen cake tonight. With a HUGE smile on his face, Xander and I headed out to the kitchen to greet Dan and eat cake.

So keep your hammer pants ready because when Xander is completely potty trained we are having a potty party. And by the looks of tonight that day is coming soon!!

Happy Easter!!

There may be only one Cadbury bunny, but the Cadbury Bunny doesn't even come close to being as cute as my Cally Boo Easter bunny!!

I'm a big girl now!!

Cally had her 2 month well check with Dr. Garrity yesterday and was a little show off. She weighed in at 9 pounds 10 1/2 oz and was 21 1/2 inches long!!! She is progressing as normal physically and is doing well socially too. She chatted a bit with her doctor and was not just handing out smiles, but did give a little pirate grin. Her big moment from the day was when Dr. Garrity asked if she was trying to roll over yet and I said yes she had rolled over once from her tummy to her back, but that was about two weeks ago. Not two seconds after I had finshed saying that did Miss Cally roll over on the exam table from her tummy to her back. It was like she heard me and thought to herself, "Oh, just like this Mommy?" She is such a big girl now!! We finished the appointment off by getting 3 horrible shots. The picture says it all on how Cally felt about that.

Dance, Dance, Dance

We are officially on to potty training day three and still doing the potty dance. Day one was not as overwhelming as we had anticipated, just time consuming. We are still taking Xander every 20 minutes and have only had one major accident. The potty dance is still going strong and Dan and I continue to burn lots of calories getting our son to use the toilet. All in all, keep your hammer pants at bay and be ready for your invitation to the potty party in the near future. A Mater cake is still calling our name.
One of the most memorable things from day one was car washing with daddy. Dan had put Xander in sweat pants for easy on and off at potty breaks. These sweat pants happened to also be the pants that fall down at random moments. Xander was very happily being an amazing helper by putting bubbles on the car with the wash cloth, but in the process began soaking his pants...WITH THE WASHCLOTH!!(I knew you were thinking soaking of a different sort since we are working on bladder control.) The pants were getting heavier and heavier and every time I glanced up Xander was doing a different move to keep his pants up. It went from kind of kicking his leg out to keep his pants up, to holding the waistband with one hand and washing the car with the other, and the final time I looked up at him he was standing over the car scrubbing with his pants around his ankles and his little tooshie hanging out with his Mater underpants staring back at me.
Being the kind of mother that I am, instead of running to pull his pants up, I ran to get the camara. I took many shots of his cute little self putting his heart and soul into the car washing...Working his pants off...literally.

And so it begins...

Earlier this week, Xander comes up and says this to me, "Mommy, I need my diaper changed." I quickly asked him if he had gone poopy and he replied, "No, I went pee pee and now it is dirty." He looked at me with such a glare of confusion as if to say "Of course I did not poop lady, you would smell it by now. Heck, you would have smelled it ten minutes ago in the hallway and the other side of the house if I would have pooped!" At that moment the thoughts started to go through my mind that my son is probably heading around that corner to be ready to be potty trained.
It all was solidified in my head today at church however. I told the lady in the nursery when we were checking in that Xander may have to go poopy and if he goes off into a corner and tells her not to look or to just go away to page me immediately and I will come change his diaper. I was hoping I gave her the warning signs to tell if he was going to go number two so she could notify me in the church service to come and do something about it before the other children would be knocked out from the overwhelming toxic fumes eminating from my son's hind end. So after we got done singing, I see Xander's number from the nursery pop over the screen. I immediately grab the diaper bag and bee line it to the nursery. Upon arriving at the nursery, the teacher came up to me and told me that Alexander had gone up to one of the other helpers and asked to be changed, so they quickly paged me. When I got to Alexander he greets me with a cheery smile and says "Oh Mommy!!!" I reached for his little hand to take him to change him and it suddenly hits me. No, it is not the smell of poo that suddenly hits me, but the lack of smell. I turn to Xander and ask him if he went poopy and he looks at me (with the same look of "What the heck crazy, are my eyes watering or am I walking like I have a load in the back? Sheesh!!) and says "No, Mommy. I just went pee pee and I need to be clean." And so it was determined, we were going to start potty training.
When Xander got up from his nap this afternoon and was ready for his diaper to be changed, we took it off and told him to try pee on the potty. He went right away, but had to be completely naked in order to go. Since he was already naked, Dan and I decided to leave him that way and start the tedious process of potty training. Dan quickly went to Xander's room and got the Lightening McQueen underwear and asked Xander if he wanted to wear a diaper or McQueen under-roos? Of course Lightening is much cooler than a plain white diaper tooshie!! We then grabbed the timer and every twenty minutes headed to the potty.
Nanny happened to be over this afternoon and was able to witness the beginning to our adventure and told Xander he should do a potty dance or something to let us know he had to go potty. This little suggestion inspired me to break into an impromptu potty dance accompanied by a potty theme song. Think MC Hammer Hammertime but replace the Hammertime with POTTYtime...Duh Duh Duh Duh, Duh Duh, Duh Duh, POTTY TIME!! Xander thought this was so fabulous that we had to dance and sing every twenty minutes to and from the potty. This could be a long few days of potty training, but at least I will get a great workout with the potty dance.
With that, I ask you for well wishes, thoughts and prayers, your fingers crossed and everything else crossed for tomorrow when we are expecting to encounter our first poopy in the potty. We promised the child if he went poopy in the potty that Daddy and I would make him a Mater cake (Mater from the movie Cars) and have a potty party. So, also stay tuned for an invitation to the potty party and come prepared with Hammer pants!!!

2 months old!!

My little girl is 2 months old today. She has become such a big girl in such a short amount of time. There are so many things I love her about her and all her little quirks. She definitely has a personality all her own.
Some of Cally's quirks... The closer you hold her and the more skin she can touch the better and happier she is. She loves to nurse and is quite the snacker. Apparently the mom buffet is always open in her little world. Her brother is her FAVORITE person ever as she will crane her neck to find him when she hears his voice. Calista is very tolerent of her brother, especially when he is a loud banchee running through our house or when he comes up and talks...er yells... in her face. She also loves, Loves, LOVES her green elephant painting in her nursery. Since her elephant hangs above her changing table, she has taken to talking to it whenever she gets her diaper changed (she even smiles for her elephant). One thing that is very apparent is that Calista makes her voice heard. Whenever she needs our attention or has an issue she lets out the girliest screech. Just one shrill screech to let us know to pull it together and help the poor girl out. Another thing that has developed in the past few weeks is her quiet time. She loves to be put on the floor at the end of the night, after big brother has gone to bed, and wiggle around and talk. She does not like the TV to be on or music, she just wants quiet. For about 15-20 minutes she spends time on the floor with me and we discuss the important things of her world, like how beautiful she is and what a strong little lady her mama thinks she is. I adore having a little girl and cannot wait for what is to come in the next month for my beautiful little treasure.

Cally Boo and Xander too

Cally is now 7 weeks old and weighs 8 lbs on the dot. Her newest trick is smiling. Of course this melts my heart and makes my day to know that she is happy to see me. It is funny because she has to take a few seconds to stare at my face before she will give me a big open mouth grin. However, her big brother makes her smile by just getting close to her. At the sound of his voice, her whole body gets excited. She will start to wiggle and dance in anticipation of him. She loves when he talks to her and when he lies down next to her and she is very very patient when he plays with her. She is very intent on taking in every word he says to her and I foresee him being her primary teacher.

A little Xander update...He is definitely 3 going on 30 and has the imagination to prove it. The things he comes up with astonish us on a daily basis. Xander's new favorite things are the Smithsonian magazine and learning about the ocean and everything in it. He informed me the other day that the cover of the newest Smithsonian magazine was a picture of the Great Sphinx and it was in the desert. He also let me know that the great, huge ocean liner crashed into an iceberg and fell to the bottom of the ocean. ( He had just been reading a National Geographic book about the Titanic.) Brilliant, I say, just Brilliant!!!!!

Cally's first day of work

Tuesday, March 2, marked Cally's first day on the job. She was and excellent addition to the office and worked very hard. She has amazing people skills as she can make everyone smile and loves to help whenever she can.
On a seperate note, Mommy had a bit of a hard time going back to work and leaving Xander, but he did great and was happy to be back on his routine of going to Nanny's. I feel so lucky to have such great accomodations for him and also the ability to take Cally to work with me. I don't know what I would have done if I would have had to leave her already.

Just another day

A Few moments from today

-Xander came up with a new title for himself..."Dr. Xander". He gave his sister a thorough examination to make her feel better and after checking her heart rate, blood pressure, giving her a shot, and testing her reflexes, she checked out alright. He even gave her a kiss to help her to get on the mend a bit quicker

-Cally's new favorite way to be held is in the Moby wrap. It keeps her snuggled very close to me and comfy cozy. I can only imagine that it feels a bit like being in the womb. Nonetheless, it is her happy spot right now.

Poppy...Grandpa of the World

Well, it was solidified tonight, Larry St. Lawrence is Poppy of the World. Not only has he maintained being a number person in Xander's life, but he is on a fast track to be being the same for Calista.

We stopped by Nana and Poppy's house tonight when we were finishing our walk to say a little hello and give snuggles. While Xander was distracted, Poppy was able to get a little undivided time with Cally and secured his spot as Captain Cool. He got her to talk to him, smile at him, copy him by sticking her tongue back out at him, and then coo some more. Cally never took her eyes off of her Poppy and thus began her relationship with her Poppy.

I am sure there will be many more moments for Poppy and Cally to share, but it was pretty special to watch her bond with him in such a short amount of time. Dad has always had the hearts of five girls, but now he will have a sixth one. Just watching Cally stare at him tonight, I saw such adoration in her for him. I couldn't ask for a better guy for one of Cally's first loves...her brother and daddy of course were her very firsts.

Nanny and Poppy

This is what I over heard this morning while working on the computer...

Xander to Cally: "I'm going to be Nanny and Poppy. Here I am Nanny and I'm giving you flowers. (hands Cally a pretend bouquet of flowers) Now I'm Poppy and I'm giving you things. (puts his bear and baby doll in the swing with her) I'm such a nice Nanny and Poppy. Love you!!" (runs away from swing)

Xander's nicknames

My son has become the king of nicknaming people/things lately. Mostly he has just come up with names for his sister, but there have been other things as well. Sometimes the names are in his own language, which has yet to be interpretted, and sometimes he uses real words. His latest interest has been names for himself. Whenever Cally cries, he comes tearing through the house to find where she is at yelling, "Xander Daddy is here, Xander Daddy is here!!!" However yesterday he changed and yelled, "Mommy Xander is here!! Mommy Xander is here!!" It is so endearing to watch Xander becoming such a caretaker. He becomes more and more interested in the well- being of his sister with every day.

Fears

There are a lot of fears that run through your head and heart once you have babies...Will I be a good mom? Will I know how to teach them the things they need to know? Will I be too strict? Will I not be strict enough? Will they know how much I love them...and on and on. One of my biggest fears has been that my babies will grow up not knowing and having a relationship with their relatives...specifically thier aunts and uncles. A while back I made a decision to not let that fear control me and I realized that I had the power to make sure that Cally and Xander would not only know their aunts and uncles but have a powerful relationship with each one. However, about two weeks ago that fear came flooding back with such force that I temporarily felt very powerless.

Uncle Jon and Titi Bug came up for a way too short visit in February and informed Dan and I that they were moving from Arizona to NYC. Yeah for them, not so much us. As soon as the words left their lips I felt like a freight train of emotions had made a permanent stop in my heart. I suddenly felt very alone, very discouraged, very lost. I had been spoiled having them in Arizona and being able to take the direct flight from here to there a couple of times a year and Nessa was able to do the same. Now I felt like we would never get the opportunity to see each other.I think the thing that was the hardest is that Jon and Vanessa have played such a big role in Xander's life that I am afraid that my daughter won't get to have the same experience.

All in all the news made me realize how important not only Jon and Vanessa were to me, but how important all my sisters are to me. It is the desire of my heart to see my sissies every day, but since that can't happen, I have to figure out a way to keep them in my heart and alive in my spirit. I have to develop a way to make sure that Cally has the opportunity to love her aunties as much as Xander does and that both my children develop stronger bonds with their aunts and uncles with every day that they get older. I am determined to not let my sisters just become cards in the mail for birthdays or simple calls at holidays. I love all 3 of you very much!!

Ralph...our other new addition

Alexander Lawrence Brody would like to announce (via Mommy) the newest addition to our family. Ralph Brody arrived at about 7:40pm on Wedneesday night by way of the Poppy Express to the Brody household. He is about 3 1/2-5 pounds and is roughly 3 feet tall. He has beautiful green fur with patches of orange hair and also splashes of purple and yellow. His eyes are a gorgeous shade of yellow with fabulous furry green eyelids. Ralph is excellent at eating the pretend cakes Xander bakes and also enjoys being carried/dragged around by his horns. He makes for an excellent sleeping buddy for Alexander. He also demands hugs and kisses before bed, just like Alexander.

Thank you Auntie Abba for providing such a fabulous new friend for Alexander's Valentine's Day gift. You always know just the right thing to get!!!!