Drama queen strikes again

For those of you who don't know or haven't guessed, Grace is a little (OK, a huge) drama queen. She frequently screams and cries for small reasons. She regularly freaks about when her sleeves of the t-shirt aren't all the way down inside her sweatshirt. She wipes her hands about 20 times before she decides they're dry. She lines up her shoes and all sorts of other things. I really think that she could be harboring a mild OCD or at least major type A tendencies (I blame the Niebuhrs for that!). So, tonight they were playing in her room when we heard a thud and a scream. Apparently she fell and hit her forehead on the edge of her nightstand. You would have thought the world was ending. She was sobbing and screaming and crying and was so worked up. I got her an ice pack and tried to get her to take deep breaths to calm down. She finally did, but was in a funk for the rest of the night. She barely let me wash her hair in the shower, I had to promise not to touch her forehead. This is the look she gave me when I wanted to take a picture of it. What a drama queen!

Cold days at home

With all the cold and snow, we've been getting creative with the kids to pass the time. You can see Brian is having them do calisthenics with him. They like it. The other newest and more irritating passtime is building forts and houses everywhere they can. Under the piano is the best. They use EVERY single pillow in the house they can find, block it off then camp out under there forever. Sometimes they read books or play "sleepover". Once I heard Grace say "Let's play doctor" and then Will started whining like he was a hurt puppy dog. Then, Grace fixed him up. Love how big their imaginations are getting.

I'm glad that everyone, including me, has been healthy lately. We've even gone to some normally germ infested places (indoor playground and McDonald's) and haven't (knock on wood) gotten sick. It is SOOOO nice not to bother with 45 nebulizer treatments a day and lug that thing to daycare during the week. Plus, everyone is happy and plays and sleeps nicely. It's really so much better not to be sick!!!!

The kids are still enjoying preschool and seem to be learning a lot. They are getting close to learning how to read. They are able to tell you the beginning letter of any word you might say and are noticing letters in words they see. They also ask how to spell things and "what does that say?" They are getting really good at writing their names. We just need to work on writing and spelling "Niebuhr", that's a little harder. They are also very interested in what day of the week it is and what we do on each day. Several Saturdays in January we had to visit the doctor, so now Will keeps saying "On Saturday, we go to the doctor." Wednesday, Grandma Ellen got sick, so the kids came home Wed evening and we juggled the Thursday schedule around. Their babysitter at bells on Thursday night also didn't come, so Grandma and Grandpa Hoefs watched them that night. All those changes really threw them off. All day Thursday and Friday, they still weren't sure what day it was.

That's about all the interesting news for now. Things seem to be just chugging along nicely. We are still looking forward to warmer weather, they ask to ride their bikes almost everyday! I think everyone shares our hopefulness for spring to come soon!! Take care!

Video problems

Hey folks - I've heard that there have been some problems viewing all the videos I've recently posted. I've done all I know how to do to fix the problem, but it seems that it's not always fixed. After a little investigating on blogger help, I discovered that they are having problems here and there with videos, but are working on it. So, if the video won't work for you, come back and try again in a day or two and hopefully it will be up and running. Thanks!

Xander at 4

I think Xander heard some of Will's answers, because he answered some of the same as Will's and did what Will was doing (looking around the room to find his answers). But, I think this still gives you a good idea of what Xander likes at age 4.

Other facts about Xander: He weights 36 lbs (51st percentile) and is 41 1/4" tall (86th percentile). Loves to play with anything electronic and is always the first to ask if he can play a video game and would play said video game for hours if you let him. Moves slow when doing everyday tasks like going potty or getting dressed, but is easily motivated by "reverse psychology" or "I bet you can't wash your hands by the time I get to 1. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1." He especially likes it when you count fast at the end to try to beat him but he still wins. Probably doesn't have an absolute favorite food because the kid eats everything under the sun. The only thing he really won't eat is hard cheese, although the cheese could be melted and he would eat it. Still can be shy in new situations, but is coming out of his shell more and more. Can get carried away and silly at times, but is pretty loving and sweet! Favorite mixed up words he says: soupcase (suitcase) and plano (piano).

Will at 4

Here is Will at 4 telling his favorite things. You can tell right off that he is much more outgoing. He doesn't hesitate to start answering the questions. Although, I think it's funny he looks around the room for help coming up with his answers (i.e. "What's your favorite toy?" then he looks around trying to find his answer.)

Other things about Will: He weighs 37 lbs (51th percentile) and is 39" tall (22nd percentile). Still is a picky eater, but is getting better about trying new things and doesn't gag when he does try something new. Still loves to drink milk. Still gets 2 inhaled steroid treatments a day for his asthma, and others when he's sick, but his asthma is finally under control and our trips to the doctor have reduced! Is the most outgoing of the 3 and least afraid of new situations. Is kind of slow and distractable when doing not-so-fun things like getting dressed and going potty. Would sit on the potty forever with a book if you let him! Is a huge ham and will do anything for a laugh, including making up words and making silly sounds and faces. Favorite thing he says "Whatever!"

Grace at 4

Here is the promised video of Grace telling us her favorite things at 4 years old. She was a little shy at the beginning , but warmed up by the middle. Turn up your volume, she was talking softly.

A couple of other fun facts about Grace: She weighs a whopping 30 lbs (10th percentile) and is 39" tall (34th percentile). She has a low tolerance for frustration, meaning, she gets frustrated really easily and will freak out when things don't go her way (I wonder where she gets this?!?). She eats a lot, but still doesn't drink much milk. She loves attention and loves to rough-house with daddy and be tickled and chased. Is still very coordinated, hops on one foot and skips well. Is getting long, thick hair (like her mom's!) and has ZERO tolerance for having it brushed (again, I wonder where she gets this?!) Favorite mixed up words she says: hanitizer (hand sanitizer) and kiweed (kiwi).

Funnies

Enjoy these two little videos of some funny things the kids did this week.....

Here is a short, but cute video of Will and Grace dancing. I thought it was sweet!

If you've ever seen the movie "Cars", like we have twelve thousand times or read their "magic pencil" book Tractor Tipping, you know there's a scene where Mater takes McQueen to a field and they honk their horns to scare the tractors (which are cows). When they're scared, the tractors moo and fall over making a whooshing sound. Here are Will and Xander pretending to do that. It happened randomly at the breakfast table. Xander said "Will, you be Mater and I'll be the cow." They did it for a while. It was funny.

more snow....

Here are some pictures from the weekend. It snowed (again) both days, a couple of inches of nice, wet snow. So, the kids and Brian played outside both Saturday and Sunday. They sort of helped Brian make a snowman, although you can see from some of the pictures, their help was sporadic. They really enjoyed doing other things like making snow angels and throwing snow with the shovel.

So, our illnesses continue, if you can believe it. Both Xander, Will and I have had ANOTHER cold. Poor us! Will has just had his normal cough and runny nose, so we've been pumping him full of albuterol three to four times a day. I'd love to calculate how many hours of his life that kid has been attached to the nebulizer machine. When he gets albuterol for the coughing, he still also gets the steroids twice a day. So, he's sitting at that machine up to 6 times a day for 10 minutes each. That's so long, and he's such a trooper. Poor Xander also has been coughing with a gross nose. I finally broke down and called the doc on Saturday morning. They had us come in and we found out that he had a (and I quote) "raging" ear infection. The doctor thought the coughing was related to that. So, Xander's on antibiotics again and seems to be getting better. Let's hope this is the end of the colds for a while. I think we're about due for a healthy streak.

The kids have been very helpful lately, which I really like. They love to help me do chores around the house. I've been having them dust their bedrooms and living room and they actually do a pretty good job. I give them swiffer dusters and let them go to town. Grace still thinks she needs to dust the walls, but as long as it keeps her busy, I don't care. They've also started getting into making their beds. It's so easy now that the side railings are gone. Grace has actually been making her bed in the morning and after nap. Kind of nice! They've also been picking up things lately, which is a big help.

I think they've been setting food consumption records lately, especially at lunch time. The amount of food they have been consuming is amazing. Grace has been eating everything on her plate, having seconds of some things, finishing her milk, then asking for another sandwich at the end of lunch. I'm constantly amazed at how much she eats and how skinny she still is! Xander still consumes food at his amazingly slow pace, and he'll eat pretty much anything. Will is still picky, but is more willing to eat bites of things to get the good stuff he likes. He's become more vocal about what he likes and doesn't like. He'll say things like "I'm getting tired of vegetables." He'll also apply that sentence to things he doesn't want to do everyday like "I'm getting tired of going to Gina's" or the most recent "I'm getting tired of watching movies". Most of the time, he'll do it anyway. I told him he didn't have to watch our movie night movie with us on Sunday, but he did anyway. Amazing how that is!

So that's all I think. Happy February!