Krazy Kids

Today is a yucky, cold, wet day in our little corner of paradise in NWA. Its the kind of day that makes you want to curl up on the couch with a warm blanket, a hot drink and a side table full of various snacks, put the phone on silent and watch 8 consecutive hours of sniffle-inducing chick flicks. Grey and dreary outside, making the day feel a bit sad.

So, to remedy this, I thought I'd brighten your day by regaling you with tales of my two little stand-up comedians. If this doesn't make you smile, well... you must not have a soul. Ha.

SILLY GIRLS! :)

Enamored with little bro :)

I've been home on maternity leave with Mr. Jackson for the past six weeks, so I've had an unlimited amount of time to witness my girls in all their wildness... The kind of wildness that, during our normal life routine of me being at work and them going to their great-grandparents' houses, I wouldn't normally get to experience. Sure, I would get to see this side of them on the weekends, but I just contributed/blamed their craziness on the fact that they missed me throughout the week so they were just REALLY excited to be spending Saturdays and Sundays as uninterrupted time with Mommy... But I see now that I was wrong. So wrong. My kids ARE wild, crazy, unstoppable little balls of energy. All the time. Every moment of the day. I would say "except when they are asleep" but I'm pretty positive they probably even dream in this same state of craziness. They are never-ending. Its actually quite impressive!

Meeting Baby Brother for the first time!

Sibling time on the living room floor :)

Such a great big sissy!

Stinker face Jordyn and her little buddy :)

Bringing Jackson home from the hospital was a bit of an adjustment. The girls wanted to hold him, touch him, kiss him every second. If they couldn't get close enough to him for their liking, they let me know it. We spent lots of moments those first few days home with ALL THREE kids in my lap or surrounding me in bed or on the couch, so they could continue to analyze him. Of course this included a million questions, most of which I couldn't answer with a straight face.

"Mom, why is he so small? Is there something wrong with him? Can he wear my dolls' clothes?"
"Mom, why does he have so much hair? Are you going to cut it off? Can I touch it?"
"Mom, why does he cry? Can't he talk? Can he say my name? Can he count to ten? Because I can!!"
"Mom, can he eat peanut butter and jelly with me at lunch?... Why not? He doesn't LIKE peanut butter and jelly?!?!?!!"
"Mom, why are you holding him all the time? Can't you just put him down and let him walk on his own? He's probably going to get tired of you."

This momma's boy will get millions of kisses in his lifetime!

Ahhhh. Be still, my heart. :)

My favorite questions were the ones that I wasn't really prepared to answer. Yup, you guessed it: "How did he get out of your tummy?", "Why does he have to eat under a blanket?", and "MOM-- what's that thing right there?!! Is that his TAIL?"

The "out of your tummy" question still hasn't been definitively answered. These little munchkins are too smart for their own good. I've told them he's come out of every toddler-appropriate orifice: I coughed him up, I sneezed him out my nose, he came out my ear, he came out my belly button, etc... They didn't believe a single story. When my answers weren't satisfactory, they asked my mom, dad, brother and Jaret. Mom and Dad made up stories not too far off from mine. Jaret told them the doctor cut me open, took him out, and sewed me up with magic stitches that healed instantly. My 16-yr-old brother opened his mouth to answer but I cut him off, afraid of what he'd say. Finally when Jailyn STILL hadn't gotten an answer that she deemed reasonable, I heard her resort to asking the source itself. I laid Jackson down to sleep in his bassinet in the bedroom one day and went to the kitchen to make lunch. Jailyn snuck back to the bedroom and I heard her say as she peered into his bed "Ok, Jackson, how did you get out of Mommy's tummy? You better tell me the truth!"

I know that breastfeeding is nothing to be ashamed of, but I still tried to conceal it from the girls, at least for the first week or two when we had lots of drop-in visitors. You just never know what a 3-yr-old is going to use as a conversation-starter with your boss or the neighbor across the street. When I finally let them witness Jackson nursing, they asked the basic questions ("why are you doing that?", "can I do that too?", etc.) but it really didn't hold their attention for very long. I guess it wasn't interesting enough. Still, I knew one day it would creep up in conversation in public or with a stranger, or at an inappropriate time. Sure enough, in the middle of my best friend's daughter's first birthday party, Jailyn decided to announce it to the entire table during a lull in conversation that "My brother eats my mommy's boobies!" Proud moment. Not just what she said, but also the fact that obviously she's misunderstood what's going on... She thought he was eating ME. Wonderful. This led me to let them witness a pumping session in hopes that they would better understand WHAT he was eating.

The penis question is my favorite. Everytime I change Jackson's diaper, I remember the look on Jordyn's face as she witnessed a diaper change, gasped and pointed, and shrieked "Is that his TAIL?!?!" I laughed so hard I had tears pouring down my cheeks. She then turned to Jailyn to announce it to her, even though Jailyn saw it as well, that "Baby Brudder (brother) has a TAIL, Sissy!!" When I finally gained my composure I explained that it was not a tail, that it was a body part that differentiated boys from girls, that there was nothing wrong with it or with him, and it was normal. Both girls were enamoured, couldn't wait to hear more about it. Jailyn wrinkled up her nose and said "Is it SUPPOSED to look like that?!" Oh that girl, she lets you know exactly what she's thinking. Still, even after all of my explanations, Jordyn told her daddy when he got home that night that her baby brother had a tail and we needed to cut it off because it was getting in the way of his diaper.

My favorite boys!!

When Jackson isn't doing anything interesting enough to hold the girls' attention (i.e.: when he's sleeping, eating, being held by someone other than them, being changed, getting a bath, or just not making any noise) they are all too happy to entertain themselves. Over the past six weeks, we've watched a lot of Disney movies, had a lot of tea parties and dress up time, completed lots of puzzles, and read lots of books. When these activities get tiresome, the girls find other things to do, including but not limited to: faking injuries in order to be able to play "doctor" and wear band-aids, hiding "buried treasure" all over the house and then finding it like Jake and the Neverland Pirates, jumping off of the couch onto a beanbag with arms outstretched like Buzz Lightyear, and spending a significant amount of time fascinated with umbrellas and my large purses (thanks Mary Poppins!), among other activities as well. Along with this adopted play, they've picked up a wide new range of vocabulary and short phrases from movies and the Disney Channel. Jordyn often announces the end of her afternoon nap by coming into the living room and saying "Ahoy, matey!" and has called me a codfish on more than one occasion... We may need a time-out from watching Peter Pan. Jailyn runs through the house singing songs from Tangled and brushing her hair. They're also both newly interested in trees, thanks to The Lorax.

Things are always interested around the Bonds! :)

Until next time!