Penny for Your Thoughts

Lainey was playing a math game on the iPad where she needed to identify different coins. For some reason, that still mystifies Mark and me, she could not determine between a nickel and a penny. It was only when it showed the back sides, so our assumption is she was confusing the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials, but c’mon…the penny is the ONLY “brown” coin!

Mark tried to help explain it to her, but Lainey knows everything and doesn’t need help from anyone, so he finally gave up and walked away. And Nick walked in…and immediately started correctly identifying the coins. I was completely shocked, because I had no idea Nick had learned anything about money, but he was all over it. After several turns for Nick, Lainey took back over, but STILL misidentified the pennies and nickels. After a few wrong choices, Nick called to me, in an all-business voice, “Mom! Bring me a penny!” I held out a handful of coins, and he correctly selected the penny, which he firmly gripped between his finger and thumb and then thrust it about three inches from Lainey’s face. “THIS is a penny, Lainey. See it? It’s brown! It’s the ONLY one that’s BROWN!” Then he slammed the coin on the table and stomped out of the kitchen.

I know we’ve often joked that Lainey is really smart and Nick has such a “great personality,” but seems Nick’s wheels are turning pretty fast up there. He may keep Lainey on her toes after all…

Chicago Reader

Lainey has made amazing progress in her reading over the past few months. We love having her read to us at night, and it's super swell that she can read to Nick when we need them distracted for a bit. Much better than the old iPad crutch (although, in all honesty, that's still our #1 go-to distractor). Although she's been reading pretty fluently since Christmas, I still get surprised by it. Like when we were driving the other day and she asked, "Mom, what's 'Best Buy'?" I was really confused about where the question came from and then realized we just drove past Best Buy. Duh. Or my favorite of this past week:

      E: "What’s ‘sos’?"

     

      M: "Sos?"

      

      E: "Yeah, ‘sos.’ S-O-S. He’s sending it out."

The Police’s “Sending out an S.O.S.” was playing on my itunes. Ha!

Buuuttt...there are some adjustments we need to make given Lainey's newfound literacy. Like, no more spelling out things to talk in code. And definitely no more unchaperoned time with our phones! She likes to send text messages to family members, which is great, but there is no way to filter incoming texts when the phone is in her possession and we definitely get (okay, okay AND send) not-safe-for-kids texts. I learned this the hard way as I listened to Lainey read an R-rated text while the phone was in her hands. Funny thing how those four-letter words are so perfect for early readers to sound out. Oops! She also scrolled through a series between Mark and me and found a conversation about herself. "Hey! Why are you guys talking about me on here?!" Luckily, it was about how she was feeling after a fever scare and not about our research for 5-year-old military academies or what the Easter Bunny needs to pick-up at Target. Close one.

She's growing up fast, this one. You know, I always was a little nervous about moving past the toddler stage. Would it be as fun? Would I still be head over heels once they aren't "cute" anymore? As usual, I had nothing to worry about. She's even more fun and way more interesting. And even as the chubby cheeks and endearing toddler speak fade away, I fall more in love every day.

The Brandi Babies Turn 4!

It’s been end of days at our house…fevers, vomiting, coughing, sore throats, pink eye, and the grossest of gross, lice. The kids are on the mend, but Mark and I are on a death crawl to the weekend. And, yes, I realize it’s only Tuesday.

We managed to take the germ infestation on the road to Moline to celebrate Nick and Eleanor’s birthdays over the weekend. Nothing says “Happy Birthday” like a ticket to urgent care (I am praying that ticket has not been cashed!) In fairness, when we departed Chicago, we only had Nick on the mend from the flu and minor colds for Mark and me. Lainey’s pink eye and lice issue didn’t appear until Sunday morning. You have not felt like a failure as a parent until you hand over a prescription for pink eye and then ask the pharmacist where you can find the RID. Could there be two ickier things? I’m just hoping we didn’t share with the rest of the family (especially after we brought the stomach flu two Christmases ago). Not so worried about the lice, but the pink eye…that stuff spreads. My very pink eyes and I are proof (and I JUST bought a new mascara!). Godspeed Southern and Western Illinois, Brandis. May you come out unscathed! We love you for loving us, despite our afflictions!

But, enough of the sick and ick…we had a really nice time with everyone. We enjoyed an afternoon at the park, pizza and basketball that night, and basically just enjoyed each other’s company. The stars of the weekend, Nick and Eleanor, continue to be an awesome duo and it just melts my heart seeing them together. I hope they continue to grow closer over the years. I wish we were all able to get together more often, but I treasure the moments we grab!

Happy Birthday, Brandi babies!