Chicken pops

Austin's cousin, Ella, has a small case of the chicken pox. We discussed this at dinner tonight. Austin said, "Why Ella have the chicken pops?" I thought this was so cute that I kept asking him to repeat it.

Stage 1 peas

We just keep moving through the stage 1 foods! Andrew tried peas today. He wasn't completely sure about them, but ate them anyway. He's getting the hang of this solid food thing.

Football game

I let Austin watch some of the Alabama/Georgia game last night. I explained to him that Alabama was in the white shirts, Georgia was in the black shirts. This was his explanation of out of bounds: "They have to stay in the green and not go into the white part."

The dreaded phone call

On Friday, my work phone rang. Unfortunately, it was the school calling about Austin. He was waking his friends up from their naps. I told the teacher I would be right there and I got in my car.

When I walked into the class, Austin was hiding under a table. Not sure if he even knew I was coming. I pulled him out of class, took him to the bathroom, and spanked him. I hated to do it but it had to be done. We sat in the floor and I asked him why he was waking his friends up. He said "I don't know." I told him that we'd sit there until he told me why. He said he wanted his snack. I explained that it wasn't snack time, it was nap time and that he waking up his friends was not acceptable. I told him that we'd go back into his room and find his napper and he was going to lay down and be quiet.

On the way home, I also told him that he'd be spending the afternoon in his room that I didn't want to even see the door open until I called him for dinner. When Gene got home, he went upstairs to talk to him. He told Austin that I said that if he misbehaved I would come down there to handle it. He said, "Did you not believe that she'd come down there?" Austin said no.

It's all about the follow through, I guess. For the most part, the weekend was uneventful with a more behaved Austin. I guess the spanking did the trick...for now...

What are you doing here?

Every day (or most every day) since Andrew started at the day care I go down there at lunch to give him his bottle or feed him his baby food. To get to Andrew's room, I have to walk past Austin's class. Most of the time he doesn't see me or if he does he doesn't acknowledge that I exist in that moment. On Thursday, Austin was outside on the playground and saw me park, get out, and start walking to the front door. He ran over to the fence and said "What are you doing here Mommy?" I told him that I was there to check in on him, make sure he was behaving. He said "I behaving, Mommy." I think he was surprised to see me during the day. I hoped that this Mommy sighting would deter the bad behavior. No such luck.

I'm going to wipe my boogers on you!

Seriously? Did my sweet Austin say this? Of course he did. Gene has said that just as we think we have one thing handled (i.e. potty words) something else comes up out of nowhere. And he's completely right.

It's never good when the teacher follows Austin to the door to greet me. This means there's been trouble and Austin's been in it. Today, sadly, Ms. Jennifer met me at the door with Austin. When Austin gets in trouble, we give him a chance to tell me what happened and of course he says "I don't know." So, Jennifer tells me that today Austin told her that he didn't have to listen to her or any other teacher or Mommy or Daddy or Dede or Nea or Nonna or Papa. And, after blowing his nose, chased her holding the snotty tissue saying "I'm going to wipe my boogers on you!"

I was at a loss of words. Of course, there's the usual "we use our listening ears," "we don't disrespect our teachers," etc. This time, I told the teacher and Austin too that the next time he disrespected any of the teachers they were going to call me at work and I was going to come down there and he DID NOT want me to come to his school in the middle of the day. And he will receive immediate punishment from me.

I swear. If anyone has any advice, please contact me in some way. These are trying times in the Fambrough household.

Stage 1 sweet potatoes

Andrew tried stage 1 sweet potatoes tonight. This was after his cereal and bananas but just before sucking down a 6-7 ounce bottle and nursing. This child was hungry tonight! He truly enjoys his new solid food. No surprise there since the boy loves to eat.

The day after

Not much mention today of the soap incident of yesterday. However, yesterday afternoon we went outside to play with all the other kids on the street. Austin said to me, "He said a potty word." And I told him "Well, you don't say it because you know what happens when you say potty words." And Austin said, "Yeah. You have to get soap in your mouth." This is one of the few bad things about Austin playing with older kids on the street. You never know what he's going to pick up. And the other parents either don't care or if they do care they don't address the problem. I could go on and on about the lack of discipline of other parents, but would rather not today. I'm just too tired.

Stage 1 squash

Andrew tried stage 1 squash today for lunch. He tollerated them a lot better than the carrots of a week ago. He got better with the carrots as the week went on, but the squash is a little thicker which I think he prefers. No pic today. I have my hands full with both boys. UAB has a football game today so Gene's out of pocket. Ah, the double edged sword of football season. One one hand, totally LOVE college football (for me Alabama, for Gene UGA). On the other hand, many Saturdays alone with the kids.

Strike three...you're out!

Upon picking Austin up from school today, I asked his teacher if he had a good day. She said that he did, for the most part. But that he'd been saying poop all day and laughed when he said it. This was the third time. I warned Austin the last time about what would happen if he said it one more time. I told Austin that when we got home, he'd have to pick out the bar of soap.

The ride home was quiet to say the least. No request for a happy story today. We pulled into the garage and Austin said, calmly, "I'll go pick out my soap." I thought "This is way too easy." We grabbed a zip loc (my mother's suggestion) on the way upstairs to save Austin's special bar of soap for the next time (which I'm sure will be sooner than I think).

We headed upstairs. Austin went into his bathroom and I told him that we were going into my bathroom to get a brand new bar of soap. We went into my bathroom, I opened the drawer, and pulled out a new bar of Safeguard. Austin, naively, held open the zip loc bag thinking that we were just going to put the bar of soap into the bag. I told him to sit on the toilet and open his mouth. By this time, Austin had figured it out, that this wasn't going to end well for him. The tears started flowing and cries of "No" rang out. Hands over his mouth.

I held his hands away from his mouth and told him to open. He said "I don't want to." I told him that I didn't want to do this either, that he'd said potty words, that I told him the last time he said those words that he'd have to wash his mouth out with soap. The soap was only in his mouth for a second or two but it felt like forever for Austin and for me.

After the wash out, we placed Austin's soap in the zip loc and placed the bag in a drawer in my bathroom. I hope this is the only time I have to do this, but I have a feeling that this is just the beginning.

Austin versus Andrew

Based on the results of Andrew's 4 month checkup yesterday, I began wondering about Austin's stats when he was 4 months old.

Austin
15 pounds, 8 1/2 ounces
27 1/2 inches long

Andrew
17 pounds, 1 ounce
28 inches long

Andrew's not too much longer than Austin was at his age. But, every 1/2 inch counts in the "I'm taller than you!" race.

Open mouth, insert foot

FINALLY! Andrew has managed to put his foot in his mouth. Not that I'm all excited about his sweaty little toes and feet being shoved into his mouth. But, this is a very important milestone is his young life. I captured the essence of his pleasure with making the discovery that, yes, these weird looking things reach my mouth.

Check out the look on his face. I can't tell if he's upset that I caught him or if he's just so ravenous for the feet.

Strike 2

The second offense has occurred against our "No potty words" rule. And Austin was just distraught by the thought of soap in his mouth. So, I gave him one more chance before the bar of soap would be inserted into his mouth for what will be the longest second of his life. I know it's coming and I really don't want to do that to him. I know he probably didn't mean to say the words. They probably just slipped out and when he realized what he'd said, got really upset because I had already warned him about the soap.

It reminds me of the scene in the movie A Christmas Story where Ralphie is blinded because his mouth was washed out with soap after he said a word much worse than what Austin has said. I'm sure I'll scar him for life with this if it comes down to the soap in the mouth which, I'm afraid to say, it probably will.

Something, something, poop and pee

Austin started Sunday school on Sunday. He's in a new room with new teachers and new friends. We drop him off and everything was fine. I pick him up and, of course, he's had issues. The teachers said he was using the words poop and pee in regular conversation. Not in reference to "I need to go poo poo" or "I need to go pee pee." Just hanging out talking.

"No David No" is a set of books that Austin reads at Nonna and Papa's house. It's about all the things that the author's mother told him "No" about. One such thing was using potty words. The illustration shows David sitting with a bar of soap in his mouth. We read this book on Saturday and Austin made the comment about how David had used potty words and had to wash his mouth out with soap.

After Sunday's incident, I informed him that if he did it again he'd be like "No David No" and have his mouth washed out with soap and that soap doesn't taste good. Monday and today I was greeted with "I didn't use potty words, Mommy" when I picked him up from school. I know the threat of soap will only last for so long. Eventually, I'll have to follow through and pull out a brand new bar of soap especially for Austin.

He's a whopper

Andrew had his 4 month checkup today. We all knew that he was big, but WOW! He weighed in at a whopping 17 pounds, 1 ounce (between the 90th and 95th percentile). But, the biggest shocker was his length. Andrew is 28 inches long! The pediatrician showed us where Andrew fell on the "curve." He's well above the curve, staring down at all the other little boys his age. He's well over the 100th percentile in height, probably more like 110 or 115.

Dr. Hamm said that it's poetic justice when the little brother turns out to be the younger brother. Watch out Austin.

The sweet sound of laughter

Andrew is such a happy baby (NOW that is). He loves to laugh...at anything and everything. A couple of weeks ago Austin was outside running and jumping into his little kiddie pool and Andrew thought he was so funny.

On the way home this afternoon, I heard all sorts of laughter in the backseat. Austin was making Andrew laugh and it went on like that for a few minutes. Austin laughing and Andrew laughing. It was perhaps the sweetest thing in the world.

Stage 1 carrots

Andrew tried stage 1 carrots tonight. I think he was confused both by the color and the texture of them. After a few attempts at getting them into his mouth and not on his hands, arms, legs, belly, chin, and any other place where there is skin, we put the bowl and spoon down. Can't you tell his totally thrilled?

A moon race

What is a moon race?

It's where you bring your best moon to race.

Per Austin

The strangest phrase

I never thought I would say this:

Austin, don't wipe that banana on your face.

Sneaking out

The other night, Austin was opposed to going to bed (what else is new). This particular night he said that he wanted to go outside in the dark. It was time for bed and Gene said no. He then told Gene that he was going to sneak outside in the dark.

If the boy wants to sneak out at 4 years old, what will life be like when he's a teenager? Lord help us!

Wrestling match

My cousin, Rachel, was nice enough to bring gifts from TX for the boys and for Gene and me. Included in the gifts were two Nacho Libre wresting masks, one for Gene and one for Austin. Today, it was like WWE in the house. Gene "lost" the match.

Finding feet

Andrew has found his feet. He is fascinated by them and just stares at them. He hasn't figured out that he can actually put his toes in his mouth yet. Plus, I think his thighs are just a little too big for that.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Goodnight, Coco Man

So, every child has some random language that they speak. For us, it's the language of the 4 year old boy who is influenced by other 4 year old boys with whom he is friends.

Recently, Austin's favorite is Coco Man. Everyone is Coco Man. Gene and I have even started saying it ourselves. In fact, the other night while putting dishes away, Gene hit something (his foot, his hand, whatever) and said, "Ah, Coco Man" to which Austin laughed hysterically.

Tonight, Gene was saying goodnight to Austin and sweet dreams. Gene said, "Goodnight, Austin." Austin replied, "Goodnight, Coco Man."

Ready for some sun

Or at least to sit under an umbrella for about 15 minutes until the baby is so hot that we have to go inside for the rest of the day. At least we made an appearance in a hat given by Ellen, the accessory queen.

Portrait of Mommy

by Austin Fambrough

How proud am I of my little artist? Even though my head is huge, my hair is flat, and it seems I have two noses one of which is massive.

The ice cream man

Every kid is just obsessed with the ice cream man, right? Austin is no different. Our ice cream man is inconsistent at best. He comes to our street when he feels like it and flies down the street in a big hurry. We have finally gotten smart and have Austin's wallet by the front door with a few dollars inside. We are prepared for when we hear the music.

Austin's favorite ice cream from the ice cream man? The blue raspberry Two Ball Screw Ball. It has two gum balls in the bottom.

I have no idea...

what happened here. All that I know is Austin's shirt was on his legs and shorts were on his head and apparently a sock ended up on one arm.

Long, long weekend

My cousin from TX, Rachel, came to town on Friday. And the Fambrough family has been at my dad's house pretty much for 4 days swimming, eating, and visiting.

Rachel has been christened with spit up, forced to swim with Austin, give bottles, change diapers, etc. Forced is probably too strong of a word. She and Austin (and Andrew too) have become fast friends with Rachel laying down with Austin in the vein attempt at a nap.

Tomorrow, the return to work and school. Tragic...