Keeping busy

Cold weather is upon us, and I've been keeping busy trying to, well, keep the kids busy! Thank goodness for Pinterest (my new best friend), where I've found a ton of ideas for fun and ridiculously easy ways to keep little ones occupied indoors. Best of all, the materials cost next to nothing! Here's what we've tried out so far:

Isaac with the Letter Box

The Letter Box: You can't get much easier than this. Just cut out letters from food boxes before you throw them out! I pull these out at restaurants when we're waiting for the bill, and the kids (especially Mr. Alphabet) love trying to find all the letters in the alphabet or putting random letters together and asking me what they spell. I keep the letters in a clear zipper pouch and sweep them all back in when we're done. And if the kids drop some on the restaurant floor, no biggie ... I'll always have more boxes to dissect!

Jude with Pom Pom Stuff-It-In

Pom Pom Stuff-It-In: Cut a hole in the lid of a disposable storage container, supply the kids with enough pom poms to fill it up, and—voilà! This simple (and, as it turns out, very popular) activity holds my kids' attention for a surprisingly long time as they push in all the pom poms, one by one, and then dump them all out to start over again. We also like to count the pom poms or sort them by color (and it gives the kids great practice at taking turns, too).

Lucy with Popsicle Puzzle

Popsicle Puzzle: Glue a picture to a row of popsicle sticks, and then use an exacto knife to separate the sticks—instant puzzle! Since my kids are obsessed with the royal wedding, I chose a lovely photo of William and Kate for them to assemble. Lucy is an especially big fan of this activity, and she's pretty good at it, too!

Dahlia with Ribbon Snake

Ribbon Snake: For a great fine-motor activity, sew buttons to each end of a ribbon to make the "snake," and cut slits in square pieces of felt to thread the ribbon through. Now I'm no seamstress, but I was pretty sure I could handle making this. When I asked my friend Lindsay (of Craft Buds) for materials, though, she surprised me by creating—and presenting the kids with—the cutest version I've ever seen. The girls especially love the colorful flowers and often ask to play with them.

Can you tell I've been having fun with Pinterest? I'm just so happy to have my creative juices flowing again!

A Potato Head miracle

Remember how Isaac had to get glasses? And then they got smashed? Well, ever since then, he has refused to wear them for more than a minute or two at a time. Over the past couple of months, we tried all sorts of things to convince him to keep his glasses on—to no avail. It seemed that Isaac was doomed to a life of blurry surroundings and crossed eyes.

Then Mr. Potato Head came into our lives:

For those who don't know, Mr. Potato Head is an incredibly well-accessorized individual. And among his many possessions are several pairs of kooky frames, perfect for playing dress-up. All it took was a couple of days of seeing how cool Lucy, Jude, and Dahlia looked in their Potato Head glasses:

And BAM! Isaac decided that he wanted to wear glasses, too. Being a savvy mommy, I instantly traded his Potato Head glasses for his real glasses—and that was that! Today marks 6 full days since Isaac started wearing his glasses full time again, and he hasn't looked back:

Mommy is very happy that her little boy's eyes will no longer be crossing when he watches TV, and Isaac is thrilled to see clearly things that are nearby, such as books and people's faces. And because we invested in a pair of Miraflex frames for him to play in, none of us have to worry about him smashing his glasses anymore:

Thank you, Mr. Potato Head!

Backyard wonders

Our backyard isn't fancy, but to the Fab Four it's no wasteland: It's a wonderland.

After all, when you're 2 years old, not many things are more rewarding than to run around finding "lallow flawers" for Mommy:

Or to stand on your very tiptoes to pick the buds off of trees for her:

And few experiences are as exhilarating as scaling a great big climbing tower:

And then feeling the wind in your hair when you get to the top:

I mean, when you're 2 years old, what could be more fun than to test the sturdiness of the picnic table:

And verify that there is enough room for two on the bench?

To be sure, there can be no shortage of smiles:

When the entire yard is yours to discover:

Especially when Mommy even lets you see what lives under the drain pipe!

Yes, when you're 2 years old, you can play and explore until you're plumb tuckered out:

... but that doesn't mean you won't still scream in disappointment when it's time to come inside!

Analphabet soup

analphabet \(ˌ)an-ˈal-fə-ˌbet, -bət\ n: an illiterate person who does not know the letters of the alphabet.

Yep, I'd say that definition fits the Fab Four to a tee—or should I say, "a T"? Fortunately, it seems that you don't have to know your letters to love your letters:



I guess I need to get serious about teaching my kids the alphabet ... they're definitely interested!

Puzzle partners

Over the past few weeks, we've been seeing a special relationship develop between Dahlia and Isaac. It started with Dahlia feeding Isaac snacks to cheer him up, and it has progressed to her bringing him the books he likes or finding his pillow for him when he's looking for it. Dahlia will also randomly decide to sit down and "help" Isaac when he's working on a puzzle or shape sorter. She usually calls out the name of the puzzle piece or shape that she is handing to him, but yesterday I caught her letting him do the talking (much like we do for his speech therapy):



I think they demonstrate pretty good cooperation for 2-year-olds! And for the record: Both of the girls can name and pick out all of their shapes, and the boys are close (even though Isaac only names a couple of shapes in this clip). Thanks, Baby Newton!

2010 in statuses, part 5

I'm taking a walk down memory lane, Facebook style. You can read the entire series here.

Life with the Fab Four ramped up during the month of November. Every time I turned around, it seemed the kids were saying or doing something funny or new. What a fun age!

NOVEMBER
1  Nothing sweeter than seeing Jude say "thank you" to Dahlia today after she handed him his night-night (blankie).

3  Made half-dollar-sized oatmeal pancakes this morning. The kids saw them and got super-excited about their "cookies." Hey, whatever gets them to eat what I make!

14  Happiness is four 22-month-olds letting you clip all of their fingernails, assembly-line style. I usually have to settle for clipping a few nails at a time, until all 40 are done ... it can take days!

Still able to pile into the toy box together, but it's a tight fit! (22 months)
clockwise from bottom left: Lucia, Isaac, Dahlia, and Jude

15  SO discouraging when FOUR kids take one look at the lunch you've prepared for them and refuse to take ONE bite. :(

18  George's performance of "Something" during the Concert for Bangladesh just played on the TV. As soon as it started, Isaac started jumping up and down and grabbed my hands to slow dance with me. MELT MY HEART!!!

19  Not to be outdone by Isaac's budding Beatlemania (see yesterday's status), tonight Lucy identified George on my shirt, and then proceeded to kiss all of the Beatles as I named them. Her idea, not mine!!

21  Dear Mom:
I'm sorry for ever turning up my nose at anything you made. This is the pits.
Love, Suzy

22  Took the kids for a windy choo choo ride this afternoon. The gusts were blowing the leaves all around us on our way home ... Lucy and Jude loved it, but Dahlia was terrified! I'm pretty sure Isaac didn't even notice.

Watching some bedtime Baby Einstein (22 months)
left to right: Isaac, Dahlia, Jude, and Lucia

24 When the kids got up this morning, Dahlia ran to the window and immediately started saying, "Ooooh, ahhh! Kai!" (her word for sky). I looked outside and, sure enough, the sky was a beautiful shade of orange. When Jude saw it, he shouted, "Ya-yo!" (yellow). Close! :)

30  So last night I'm awoken from a deep slumber by Dahlia SCREAMING her head off. I lay there hoping that she'll die down, but no dice. She is MAD. So I get up and go to the nursery. When I open the door, I notice that Isaac has left the closet light on (he likes to play with the switch, which is next to his crib). I turn it off, and Dahlia instantly stops screaming. Talk about the princess and the pea!

30  We set up the toy nativity scene last week, and tonight Ted reports that Jude's got Joseph riding in a fire truck. Ah, the wonderful world of Fisher-Price Little People!

Tower power

Much to Ted's satisfaction, the Fab Four are finally past the stage where they knock down every tower of blocks that he builds for them. As a matter of fact, the kids themselves have started stacking more than just boring old blocks. Check out the multimedia masterpiece that Jude assembled single-handedly the other day:



You don't think they're collaborating on plans to stage another jailbreak, do you?

Time to change

Fall back? Not us. At least not today—this year I actually anticipated the switch in time to gradually adjust our schedule (in increments of 15 minutes) before having to set back the clock! The entire process (not including the embarrassing part at the beginning where I went 15 minutes the wrong way) took about 10 days and was totally worth it: If the kids are cranky today, it's definitely not because their internal clocks are messed up!

Something else is changing for us today, though, and it involves the kids' toys. The playroom has always been somewhat of a wreck at the end of the day, but recently the kids decided it would be fun to start systematically emptying all of the toy boxes and scattering their contents about the playroom. As a result, Ted and I do nothing but trip over the discarded toys all day, and then we're stuck cleaning up this disaster area after the kids go to bed:

(Click to enlarge)

The way we figure it, the solution to this mess is twofold. First, we have decided to make half of the kids' toys "disappear" into a closet for the time being. After the kids get bored with what we've left in the playroom, we'll make those toys disappear and rotate the other group of toys back into service (until the kids get tired of them, and then we'll repeat the cycle). We are hoping that this will help the kids to better appreciate all of the wonderful gifts and hand-me-downs that our family has been blessed to receive up to this point and keep the playroom from looking like it was hit by an F5 tornado. 

Secondly, we want to start training the kids to pick up their toys before they go to bed. Last night, when we asked them to help us put away their toys for the first time, reactions were mixed: Although the boys totally ignored us, we did get some half-hearted assistance from the girls. Unfortunately, however, none of the kids seem to grasp the concept of leaving the toys alone once they're back in the toy boxes. Anyone have any good ideas on how to teach kids this age to put away their toys—and then leave them there?

Everybody's doing it

The latest fad around here is to bang on the toy box. The louder the better. Isaac is usually the instigator (yes, he still loves to drum!), but his solos don't last long—if one kid is banging on the box, the other are sure to join in sooner or later:



Herd mentality—it's cute now, but I am having visions of mass mischief in the years to come!

Master of precision

Remember Isaac's obsession with the red and yellow toys? Well, yesterday I caught him systematically lining them up, checking their alignment, making adjustments, and then starting over in a new location. Check out our little perfectionist at work:



See how he doesn't even let his sisters' interference get in the way of his master plan (whatever it may be)? He is calm, he is focused—and he is most definitely a little Ted!

Color matters

Isaac has an unusual quirk: When he plays, he often likes to have TWO of whatever toy it is that he's playing with—and those two toys are usually red and yellow. Allow me to demonstrate:

Isaac prefers to play with the red and yellow cars:

Isaac prefers to toss the red and yellow balls:

Isaac prefers to roll the red and yellow nesting barrels:

And Isaac prefers the red and yellow stacking cups:

If anyone dares to take one of Isaac's red and yellow toys from him, he freaks out. The only way to calm him down is to retrieve the purloined item; with both toys back in his possession, he is as happy as a clam.

I've been trying to come up with an explanation for this rather odd behavior. (He doesn't have any developmental or language delays, and the kids' 18-month autism screening threw up zero red flags, so I'm not worried about that.) Here are my theories:

1. Isaac may be a wee bit obsessive compulsive. (Kind of like his daddy, ha!)
2. Isaac may be color blind. (The condition runs on both my side and Ted's, so it would not be surprising if this were the case. It could be that red and yellow are more brilliant and, therefore, more attractive to him than other colors.)
3. Isaac may be a combination of 1 and 2.
4. Isaac may be merely acknowledging his ancestral Spanish heritage:

Whatever the case, I'm willing to bet this kid is gonna want ketchup and mustard on his hot dogs the minute he figures out that it's an option!

She's got the look

Lucy likes to look pretty. One of her favorite things is to put toy links on her feet, on her wrists, or in chains around her neck, and then prance around while saying, "Pree!" (her word for "pretty"). I assure you that she did not learn this behavior from me—but who can fault a girl for wanting to feel glamorous?

Anyway, yesterday morning Lucy brought me a few chains and pointed out several links that she wanted me to separate from the rest. I noticed that they were all of similar design but thought no more of it after she happily ran away with her treasures.

The next time I saw her, the matching links were all on her wrists. Apparently she'd had a specific look in mind! I was so impressed with her fashion sense that I grabbed the camera, and Miss Lucy struck a pose:

Tell me, just when did my toddler turn into a teenager??

Scary toy story

Nothing's creepier than standing at the sink, washing dishes in the blessed silence of quadruplet naptime, and suddenly hearing this:



Methinks it's time for this toy to R.I.P.—or I might just die of a heart attack when it goes off in the middle of the night!

Wasteland no more

Until recently, our backyard was a veritable toddler wasteland, barren of toys or anything else remotely fun. Thanks to a new-to-us picnic table and climb-and-slide, though, we are now well on the way to creating a great place for the Fab Four to get some fresh air and—most importantly—burn. off. some. ENERGY!

We introduced the kids to their new toys over the long weekend. I couldn't wipe the smile off my face as Ted unceremoniously initiated Isaac on the slide, Jude refused to walk in the grass, Dahlia tried to escape, and Lucy made sure that she was a part of the action. Never a dull moment!

He's got the beat

A long time ago, when the Fab Four were still in the womb and nameless, I assigned to Isaac (then known as Baby B) the temporary name of Paul (as in John, Paul, George, and Ringo). If I'd known then how much Isaac would love to bang on his alphabet drums, I probably would have nicknamed him Ringo instead. When he's not pounding the drums, he's standing in front of them and bouncing to their music. So cute!

(Better to slap the drums than my face, I say. Anyone know of a good way to curb the gratuitous hitting that's starting to rear its ugly head?)

Isaac steps up ... and up!

Isaac likes to stand on things. His favorite stepstool is a musical table (sans legs) that Tia Janine gave us a few months ago:


If the musical table is not available, no worries. Isaac will just find something (or someone) else to stand on:


I need to be more careful about what types of toys I put in the pen, though. The other day I came out of the kitchen and was surprised/alarmed/amused to see this:


Looks like we've got a little daredevil on our hands! (Hmmm, I wonder where he got that from?)