sarah, stellar second mother around here

Sarah does a great job of helping out with baby Joshua.  She likes to hold him and will keep an eye on him when I need to take a shower or get ready or do something essential like cook dinner.  Sometimes, however, her help is slightly less than helpful.  Three such instances come to mind:

• Sarah has climbed into bed next to me at some point during the night.  The baby is screaming hysterically.  It is the middle of the night.  I am doing my best to calm him down and get him back to sleep (or at least quiet) so as not to wake the entire neighborhood.  I am so tired.  Sarah sits up in my bed and says, "Mom, do you think you could take that baby in the other room?  I'm trying to sleep, and he's being too loud."  Did she really just say that?  Seriously?  This was the point at which I informed her that she was welcome to go back to her own room and sleep in her own bed where it was certain to be much quieter.
• Baby is crying and being uncharacteristically fussy.  I'm trying everything to get him to settle down.  We've done the bounce, sway, pat the bum, and sing primary songs technique.  I've tried feeding him.  We've burped until there cannot possibly be another burp in his little body.  The binky is secured in his mouth.  I've held him facing in.  I've held him facing out.  We've done the face down tummy on the arm move.  Nothing is working.  And Sarah says, "Here mom, let me take him," like she is the expert on babies and I haven't had any experience with three of them.
• And my most favorite as it is the most frequent, "Mom, the baby is crying," just in case I couldn't hear the baby crying while I am trying to (insert important daily task here).

awwww, how sweet!

Zach: "Hey, Dad, I know what I want to be when I grow up."
Dad: "What?"
Zach:  "A daddy."

plntsvsiszmbs

 Brains....

 Brains....

 Brains....

 mrum,

 yuglm,

 glumn,

 mjulm,

 THE ZOMBIES

ATE YOUR BRAINS!!!!!!!

In case you are unable to read four-year-old phonetic spelling, this translates to plants vs. zombies, an addictively fun game that we were introduced to by my sister when she was here visiting after the baby was born.  Without realizing it, she unleashed a monster.  A Zach monster.  The kid is a screen addict, and after he had an opportunity to play plants vs. zombies a few times on her iPad, he was hooked.  After her departure, his source dried up, but he was constantly on the lookout for his new favorite game.  Google Chrome supplied a free trial game, and he played and played and played until he reached the level at which we would have to buy it.  Somehow he even finagled the neighbors into installing the free version on their computer.  And then he wanted to go over there all the time.  He got really good at finding the game on the computer any time he wanted to by typing plntsvsiszmbs into a google search.  When we looked up the full version of the game and discovered it was $7, we told him no way.  He was not deterred and starting asking everyone he came in contact with for $7 in his most innocent, cute manner although he neglected to tell them what he wanted the money for.  Finally, the sun shone down upon him and there was a plants vs. zombies sale for $2.  We snatched it up, and he was in zombie heaven, playing any time he got the chance and then some.  Somehow he even got mom and dad and Sarah to play with him.  After some pretty serious effort on behalf of everyone, we finally mastered the game.  Zach still likes to play just for fun, though, and sometimes we're really lucky and get to watch him act the game out.

wanted: bandit baby

for: stealing sleep and spare time, killing us with cuteness

last seen: in the bouncer

weight: around 11 1/2 pounds

height: 23ish inches

aka: Joshua, baby, Joshie, baby Joshua

if found: please feed him, burp him, change his diaper, and put him to sleep before returning him

Please tell me I am not the only parent who has resorted to the wedge the binkie in the mouth trick so that I can finish making dinner/assist one of the other children/take a shower/get dressed/go to the bathroom. It kills me that sometimes he takes that binkie like a champion and you can't wrestle it away from him while other times he launches it out of his mouth to the other side of the room.

thanks to me zach now believes in leprechauns

For years I have been wanting to have the kids make a leprechaun trap for St. Patrick's Day, and every year I remember on St. Patrick's Day when it is too late. Well, this year, despite the fog surrounding new baby and all, I pulled it together in time. They came home Wednesday afternoon to a note and a few shamrocks left by the leprechaun and didn't think much of it. Thursday morning they woke up to a mess left behind by a leprechaun visit during the night. There were chairs overturned, pillows, cushions, and shamrocks everywhere. He even left a note and a green treat. Sarah stood at the top of the stairs and just stared as she didn't quite know what to make of it. Yesterday afternoon we got busy. Sarah and I pulled out all kinds of craft supplies, and she started building. Zach even got into the action as he was determined to catch that sneaky leprechaun. They worked all afternoon long. Zach took a short break or two to play DS, but he added several preschooler touches to our trap as well. This is what they came up with...

First, the leprechaun will spot the shamrocks and follow them to the trap.

When he steps on the bubble wrap, it will pop

which will wake us up and alert us to his presence.

We can then rush downstairs and assist in catching him.

If that fails, the leprechaun will continue around to the far side of the trap.

Here he will encounter a ladder that has gold stuck to every rung.

That will surely entice him to climb to the top in search of more gold.

When he arrives at the top, he will see the path of gold

continuing to the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, of course.

It is also lit by glow bracelets in case he needs assistance seeing in the dark.

Unbeknownst to him, however, the top is made of tissue paper

which will certainly fail when he attempts to cross it

leading him to crash down into the box

Trapped! Caught!

We thought of every eventuality and provided him with a goldfish snack inside the box

to keep him alive until we can come and get him in the morning.

Well, Zach did, anyway.

Unfortunately, the leprechaun didn't fall for our trap last night. According to his note, he made it nearly to the top before the sun came up and he had to run lest he be spotted. He did, however, leave a mess of crepe paper all over the living room and some snacks. We may have to make some modification to the trap this afternoon because surely we can catch him before St. Patrick's Day. Or he'll be gone for another year. Zach thinks cheetos are the answer. If we leave a trail of cheetos, he'll follow them and be ours. Sarah is certain that Lucky Charms will do the trick. We shall see...

somebody's been sleeping in my bed...

I went up to bed last night to find Zach snuggled up in my spot.  I hadn't been able to lay by him in his bed as I was taking care of the baby and getting him to sleep, and I thought it was so sweet that in my absence Zach had climbed into my bed for comfort.  Then I carried him down to his bed and went to bed myself.  This morning I told Zach that I was sorry that I hadn't been able to come in and lay by him and asked him if that was why he had climbed into my bed.  Nope.  Apparently, my bed is just better than his.

the zach in the hat

This was no time for smiling. This was no time for fun. He had to wear a hat. And a picture had to be done. Don't let his grumpy face fool you. He loves the hat. Not so much the camera. Zach has recently fallen in love with all things Dr. Seuss. In fact, I'm getting tired of reading The Cat in the Hat and The Cat in the Hat Comes Back over and over and over again every single day. He just can't get enough of them. Fortunately, we have a bunch of Dr. Seuss books, so we've been able to sneak a few other crazy rhyming books in as well. We love the Grinch even in March. We're crazy about fish and Mulberry Street and the thinks and the places and foots. We even like green eggs and ham. Perhaps The Lorax will make an appearance so we can get excited about the movie. As for us, we're spending lots of time reading and rhyming.