"I want to go back to timeout."

Timeouts simply don't work as they should when it comes to Henry. Poppy told me that on Saturday night, Jeff had put Henry in timeout upon pick up b/c Henry was not cooperating. As usual, he wanted to stay at Grammy and Poppy's house. As they walked out to the car afterward, Henry turned around and headed back inside announcing that he wanted to "go back to timeout." Obviously, we need to figure out a new discliplnary deterent.

On Sunday morning, everyone slept in. It was nice. We sat at the table for breakfast, which is a novelty. Usually, the kids are in their high chairs in the kitchen, and Jeff and I stand near them eating.

At the table, the kids had a loud "Yes!" "No!" battle. I asked Miss R what was in her cup. She pretty much answered everything under the sun BUT the real substance...milk.

KATE: What's in your cup?
MISS R: Henry!
HENRY: That's silly, R.

Watching Henry put together concepts has been an amazing experience. His grasp of the abstract is much more advanced than I would have anticipated for a 2 year old.

Jeff took the kids for a walk.

Getting them down for a nap was trying. Jeff put them in their room around 12:15-12:30PM. They were still yammering at 1:40PM...which is approximately when Henry fell asleep, I think. I don't think that Miss R slept at all. That was a problem b/c I was supposed to meet up with a friend in the afternoon. We were going to take the kids to the Desert Museum. But we worked around their nap schedules and did Zoo Lights instead.

In the evening, we had grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. The kids like the table, I believe. At least it is something different.

In the car, Henry announced that his finger hurt and it had cactus in it. I'm pretty sure that he was fibbing. He then claimed his shoulder hurt. It was a ruse to get out of his car seat. He yelled, "R, don't touch me!" as though Miss R had invaded his space. In reality, I "think" that his hand was on her carseat, so I can hardly blame her for pushing it away. We met up with our friends Carolyn, Zak, and Adelyn at the Tucson Zoo around 7PM. The place was filled with lights. Adelyn is 21 months old...a great age for Miss R and Henry. The kids enjoyed the lights. We enjoyed watching the kids. The biggest hit was the empty stage in a grassy area. The kids danced on the stage and jumped off it.


Henry also enjoyed tipping over a very large air filled snow globe. The evening ended with the kids fighting over a tractor ride (the kind where you put in 25 cents). Adelyn wasn't thrilled to have Henry bustle his way onto the seat. Henry didn't want to share with Miss R, and he wasn't releasing his place to let Adelyn back aboard either. We'll have to work harder in 2010 on the concept of sharing. That can be Henry's first New Year's resolution. Miss R was pretty chill. I don't think that she gave two hoots about the tractor. Henry, on the other hand, gave his rather fake cry with his mouth downturned as we left the zoo. I think that we were the last ones to leave. Despite the tearful ending, we had a good time and are thinking of returning one of the evenings.

Miss R fell asleep in the car. Henry kept trying to wake her up. "Wake up, R! Wake up, R! It's green" (referring to the traffic light). "Wake up, R! It's time for breakfast!" (a bit of a fib). I put her to bed easily when we returned home. Henry stayed up and looked at ads with me. He loves the Sunday paper for that reason. Then Jeff read him a Disney story.

We've decided to change our spontaneous trip to San Diego to a trip to Disneyland. We've decided that we'll just do Disneyland, nothing else. Keep it simple. Not try to do too much each day. I think that both kids will love the characters. They already have several favorites. That leaves us with five days to get the house ready for the holidays so that things will be ready when we get back.