important definition you must know before the story…

“butt-butt”(noun) – a word used in affectionate teasing between the Peel brothers.

JJ’s 7th birthday is today and we went to Steak and Shake for dinner and then onto the Boy Scout Talent Show.  As we were on our way to the talent show we passed our street and Henry whined, “Where are we going again????”

John: “To the Boy Scout talent show.”

Henry complained: “Why are we all going to the Boy Scout talent show??”

George says, “Because we are a family,  butt-butt.”

Seriously, where did he get that from?!? It was totally unexpected and hysterical -preach it brother George.

Batman (George) came to sit car side if he needed assistance.

It’s been a while since we have done any sort of Tot School!  Now we are slowly coming out of the Emma transition and have been enjoying trying to enjoy the snow and being cooped up inside.  Here’s a little peek at what we’ve been up too…

Playing outside…

Making snowflakes out of popsicle sticks, glitter and buttons…

Henry was all about sorting the buttons.  We used all white ones and he picked them out with tweezers mind you – I needed him to be occupied for 5 minutes and by golly it worked.  And he loved it so much that he mixed them up again did it all over again!

“Glitter is totally manly mom” – George…no he didn’t really say that.

JJ moved on to cutting paper snowflakes…

We made edible snowmen out of fruits and veges (for directions click here).

However, George never got any on his stick, they went right in his mouth.

The first is when I am feeding Emma, he will hand me my breast pad and say, “Here’s your cap mommy, put your cap back on.”  I never thought of them as caps…maybe someone should contact the marketing department of Johnson and Johnson.

The second is when he wants to be held, he says, “Mommy, I want to hold you, I want to hold you.” This is way more refreshing than the demanding “Mommy hold me, hold me”  And I like it when he “does the holding” cause what mom doesn’t want to be held?

Right now, we are going cold turkey with George’s pacifier.  He only takes one for nap and bedtime but JJ and Henry never used one,  so I don’t really know how to master this transition. George only started to use one when he turned one-year-old, a little weird, but all his teeth came in at once and it seemed to help him in his state of misery.

So here we are 6 weeks before Emma is to be born and I am thinking the time is now for the pacifier to go.  Although, it may not be enough time before she is born to enter this transition with him, I’m calling it now. We are trying it for a week and if it’s a fluke, then we’ll try again in February.

Last night was the first night, and like other transitions it went better than feared expected. He cried a little but went to sleep and didn’t even wake up during the night. Nap today was fine again. We have been praising his all day for being such a “big boy” like his brothers and not using a pacifier.

Tonight, he cried for a bit longer, but then was quiet enough I thought he fell asleep…then I heard the thump-thump-thump down the hall that only George’s feet could make.  Sure enough, proud as ever, he comes out to the living room and says “Mommy?!?! Daddy?!?!”. He totally climbed out of his crib. Not the transition I was hoping to overcome before Emma was born.  I’ll keep you posted…