Not so identical anymore

If I had a nickel for every time I've been asked in the last 4.5 years "How do you tell them apart?", I could buy myself a new swagger wagon!

Sometimes I give a long-winded explanation: Really, once you get to know them and their personalities, you find it hard to understand people who can't tell them apart.  For instance, Thing 1 is my laid back guy that will do anything you ask, and is much more sensitive.  Thing 2 is stubborn and independent, but also a little more reserved and timid about new things.....

Sometimes I give a short explanation: Thing 1's faces is more round, and he has a freckle on his back. Thing 2's face is more oval and his has a small freckle by his eye.

Sometimes I give the obvious: Thing 1 is usually wearing blue (and a baseball cap) and Thing 2 is generally wearing red.

And sometimes I am just too tired to bother: I can't, that's why I write their names on their shoes.

But, as of Saturday afternoon, I have a new way for people to tell them apart: Thing 2 is the kid with the stitches on his right hand index finger.

At least for 5 more days.  Then it will become: Thing 2 is the kid with the scar on his right hand index finger.

Because Saturday afternoon, while Superman and I were out front doing yard work, Thing 2 decided he needed to cut open the fresh pineapple in the kitchen using Mommy's rotary blade.  And what he ended up slicing open...was his little finger. :(

Luckily our pediatrician's office has it's own urgent care, so in less than an hour's time my babe had his first stitches put in.

Calling my dad later that night, he reminded me that I got my first stitches at only 2.5 years old, so really, I'd done a good job going almost 5 years with two boys without anyone getting any stitches!

Embrace the camera Thursdays

Embrace the camera

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If you noticed that I haven't posted in a while, and you thought I was just being lazy, well, you were only partially correct.

The whole truth is that last week was Spring Break here in Hoosierland, so I spent the week leading up to it preparing (packing, cleaning, planning, etc).  The week of enjoying (visiting with friends, sleeping in, beaching it).  And the week after recovering (unpacking, cleaning, getting used to getting up on time again combined with the time change).

We had a great vacation though, and in honor of my pledge to Embrace the Camera more (so that if I died in a fiery crash tomorrow, there would actually be proof that I was once the boys' mother...) I actually got in on a few of the vacation snapshots.


Here are just a few....

My Family!

Spring Break 2012!

Me and Thing 1

Thing 2 and me hanging at the RV show

Thing 2 and me riding the Tide

Perfection

Friday night I stayed up really late sewing some curtains for a friend.

When I headed to bed, this is what I found.

There are no words...

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my mom's birthday.

Superman's mom's birthday is on February 28 and my mom's birthday is March 2.  So this actually makes life very easy for me, because I generally come up with one grandma-centric gift idea and make/buy it for both of them at the same time.

And because their birthdays are so close to the beginning of the new year, it is a perfect time to buy calendars, since #1 they probably need new calendars and #2 most calendars have gone on clearance in February.

Five years ago, when Thing 1 and Thing 2 were just 6 months old, I started a tradition of making both grandmas personalized calendars for their birthday. I use Walmart.com to make these calendars, and this is why:

1. Five years ago they let me put multiple pictures into the month header page (most sites still limited you to one or two).

2. They let you upload pictures to put on the specific day/events.

3. They saved those days/events.  So next year, when I went back to make a new calendar, I was able to import all of the dates from the previous year.  And they don't just do a blanket import, they let you pick and choose which ones you want.  (This was really important since I don't need Superman's brother's birthday on my mom's calendar. Or my sisters' sons' birthdays on Superman's mom's calendar.)

4. They let you pick which month your calendar starts.  I usually buy a 12 month calendar that runs from March-February.

Maybe other sites (shuttefly, snapfish, etc) offer all of these options too now.  But I gotta say, now that I already have all of my dates saved in Walmart, it is just too easy to stay where I am.

Both grandmas love these calendars, and look forward to them every year.  But this year, when my mom called to thank us, she seemed especially pleased with her calendar.  When I asked her why, she said "You made me 10 years younger!"

Apparently when updating her birthday from 63rd to 64th, I must have typed 54th, because it says today is her 54th birthday.  Whoops!  I told her "if it's on the calendar, it must be true".  So I hope my mom has a very happy 54th birthday today!

Embrace the camera

Click here to learn more about Embrace the camera Thursdays.

Fun with Photo Booth!  Thing 1 and Thing 2 love to invade my craft room and "help" me.

P.S. Do you love Thing 1's tie-dye pajama bottoms?  The boys helped me make these, made out of old t-shirts.  Thing 2 has a green pair just like them. :)

Poor Gary

Oh no! Got a snail last night for the fish tank, to help with a little algae issue that is growing. (Pun intended)

Unfortunately no one at the pet store mentioned not to put it in a tank with aquarium salt, which I have in my tank for the ghost shrimp.

So this morning I found my poor beautiful "Gary" dead.  How do I know it was the salt that killed him?  I found him shell up IN the salt cup!

As soon as I saw him in there, I thought: Hey, doesn't salt kill slugs?  Aren't snails basically slugs with houses? D'oh!!


I'm sad. I spent 45 minutes picking out just the perfect snail.  And the kids were so excited about him. And then I mercilessly killed him.  Poor guy never had a chance. :(

Update: So, because I wasn't 100% sure he was dead (he was still black and shiny in the shell, not discolored and dry) I put him in a plastic cup with water from the tank.  I wanted to a. observe him to confirm he was dead and b. return him for a refund if he was.  But when we were leaving for school/work I saw him crawling around!!  So, he's not dead!  But is he dying?  Hmm... I have done some preliminary googling for "mystery snail" and "aquarium salt" and I have found conflicting opinions.  Some say it will kill them for sure.  Some say that they can tolerate a high level of salinity in the water.  I need to find out for sure, so I can know how to proceed.  (If he is still alive when I get home from work)

Any experienced aquarium aficionados...please feel free to offer some advice.

It's working! Isn't it?

It's working, internets!

Remember a few days ago, I told you about Thing 2's bedwetting problem?

He has been wearing the GoodNites® Underwear now since Saturday night and he hasn't woken up with wet pajamas once.  Every morning, except for one, he has woken up with a very saturated pull-up, but nothing else has gotten wet.  Meaning: I haven't had to change his sheets even once this week!!

Wednesday night, when Superman and I went out for our date night, Grandma and Grandpa Train came up to babysit for us.  They haven't been around much lately, due to some unfortunate family drama (oh, that is a-whole-nother blog of it's own, internet), so they did not know about the whole bed-wetting dilemma.  So when we told them not to forget to put Thing 2's pull ups on when getting him ready for bed, she was surprised.  (They haven't worn any potty training anything in over a year.)  We were in a rush to leave for the concert, so we didn't stay and discuss it very long.

This morning, I was talking to her on the phone and she mentioned that she had this conversation with him before bed.:

Grandma: You need to go potty before bed.
Thing 2: No I don't.  I have my pull-ups on, so I can just pee in them.

Uh-oh.

Grandma voiced her concern that by letting him use the pull-ups that maybe he will become dependent on them and not pee in the toilet on purpose.

But, I don't think so internet.  I truly think that at this point, it is truly a medical issue for my little one.  And that the pull-ups are helping us all get a good night's sleep.  (We are used to good sleep in our house.)

I think for right now, he sees the pull-ups as a novelty.  Something special that he has, that his brother doesn't.  Kind of like how when I was a kid I was weirdly proud of my cast for the first few days, but then got annoyed that I couldn't play or go swimming like my friends could.

I think, eventually, Thing 2 will become embarrassed of his pull ups, and not want to wear them. (I'm just cringing in anticipation of the day that Thing 1 tells him "you wear a diaper, and diapers are for babies")  And I will do my best to try and comfort him that they are nothing to be ashamed of.  And that he just wears them to help him stay dry at night.  And isn't it better than waking up all wet?

I am still confident that this is the right choice for us right now.  And really hope that he grows out of this phase sooner rather than later....