A few weeks ago I was looking at a blog entry that I did when Jayce was around Hannah's age where I was detailing some new trick that he was doing at the time, and I found myself wishing that I had given more information about the other things that he was doing at that age. So I thought I'd do something like that for both kids.
(The photos are not of a typical day, but a recent evening of sparklers with Grandma and Chelsea.)
Jayce, on a typical day...
You wake up between 6:30 and 7:30. If it is close to 6, we let you climb into bed with us and sleep until 7. Then we let you watch some cartoons.
You don't really like breakfast and you don't want it right away. You need to wake up a bit first and be left alone to do so. If you stayed dry through the night, dad might let you play Angry Birds on his phone while he showers.
Your favorite shows are The Octonauts and Doc McStuffins, but if you had your way you would always be watching Fireman Sam or the Rescue Heros.
You STILL love to sing Fireman Sam. We went to the Children's Museum last week and you grabbed a hat and a microphone, ran on stage and then sang the whole song through to a crowd of moms and babies in strollers. I love it.
You run from one "station" of the house to the next. Run to the bathroom, run to the kitchen for a drink, run upstairs for a toy. You also ride your scooter all around the house.
Your favorite toys are your Imaginex planes (and guys), your firetrucks, your tools, your kitchen, and your remote controlled Lightening McQueen car. You love puzzles, games and books.
Last summer it was all about the water table, but this summer was all about the water guns. Big and little squirt guns, cool ones and cheap ones, you don't discriminate. You have trouble following through with not squirting people, but what fun is it to squirt trees and the porch? Well, it's a little fun. You do a lot of that, but always with the hose, and whenever I tell you to turn it off because you are flooding the grass or the dirt under the deck, you'll innocently remind me that you were just putting out a fire. Of course you were.
You still love your tree swing. Just as much this summer as the previous three summers. We will miss that swing, but it has certainly been put to good use.
Favorite food: Chicken nuggets, of course. Honorable mention: carrots, peeled apples (darn you McDonald's!), corn on the cob, yogurt, fruit snacks, lemonade, pepperoni, sunflower seeds, grilled bratwursts and chicken.
For breakfast: pancakes & sausage, strudels, waffles, cinnamon rolls, pop tarts. (Can you tell which parent fixes breakfast? It's not me.) For lunch: Turkey or peanut butter sandwich, peanut butter on graham crackers if you're being picky, apple or carrots, yogurt, sometimes Cheese Its. If Chris is home he'll give you chips. For dinner: Chicken/pork/sausage/beef- plain with barbecue sauce for dipping, "crunchy" lettuce-the white parts, some fruit or vegetable that you didn't already have for lunch. Dessert: break n bake chocolate chip cookies, fresh from the oven, the chips from the cookies before they are baked, icing off of cakes or cupcakes, ice cream with sprinkles.
There is not a lot of food variety, but you don't like much. When you ask to be done, I ask how old you are, and then tell you that you have to take that many more bites before you are finished. You typically do this without argument. I think in your mind the logic is rock solid. I am four, so I have no choice other than to take four more bites. It works.
You still take a nap nearly every day, and you need one, about 1 1/2 -2 hours. We read two books, sing two songs, (okay, three, with only a little prompting), you get into bed with your two bears and blue blankie, and we must cover your feet. If your toes feel the slightest breeze that is a deal breaker, which means that you are only covered from the waist down, since your blue blankie is a baby blanket.
During the day you love to play games with me, help me cook/eat whatever I am trying to cook, go for bike rides around the block and play with sidewalk chalk.
With Dad gets home it is always changing, but typically involves wrestling, running, sports equipment, bed jumping, music, sneaking treats when I'm not looking and running away together giggling.
Your bedtime is 8, which means that we start the bedtime routine (bath, pjs, hairdryer, medicine, brush teeth, stories, songs) at 7:30 and finish around 8ish. Then you get up to go to the bathroom about 5 minutes after we close the door. Always. There is no curbing this and you always go. You get up a few more times, usually to come give us kisses/hugs/nose nuzzles, and again to ask if you can get a book to read. It doesn't matter if we try to do these things when we are putting you down, you still get up to ask about them. Which means you often actually go to sleep around 9ish.
