Someone got out of bed grumpy! So I was washing Aubrey off after her breakfast, and I heard Gerard walk out of the bedroom into the living room....

As I see him, here's our dialogue.

Me: Gerard, what do you want for breakfast?

Gerard: Leave me alone, I'm watching the TV.

So I ignored him, got Aubrey into the living room so she could sit with him. Then I noticed him sucking his fingers which he's not allowed to do anymore, and I commented.

Me: Stop sucking your fingers.

Gerard: Go to the kitchen.

Yeah. My 3 year old talks to me like that. No, I've never slapped him.

Words by a 3 year old

Memorable Gerard quotes tonight:

"I'm going to sleep downstairs where I belong!"

--His response to my telling him that he belongs upstairs because all his belongings are here

"Annie's not a kid. She an orphan."

--His response to Rooster yelling "Come back here, you goddamned kid!"

I could be better about this...

But as much as I blog, I never really recorded down Aubrey's verbal achievements!

The girl knows so many things that I didn't know she knew. In a nutshell.... I'll go over some funny things.

She likes to say "money money money!" which is an opening line in Toy Story 3. She loves this movie!! She knows who Jessie, Buzz, Woody and the aliens are.

She knows her "paci" and keeps asking for it, even though we were on our way successfully weaning her off. But she seems to be teething and very moody, and all that works to keep her sane is this binky she loves so much.

Today, I came home and found her carrying and biting into a big apple. For fun, I asked her what she was holding. She told me "appo."

Lately, she's been referring to her milk as "bottle" when she wants it. Previously, we were calling it "meme" which is our baby word for the bottle. "Milk" is our big-kid word for drinking milk in a sippy or regular cup.

She knows the people in her life. Of course she knows mama, she knows my name and face. She knows her papa but doesn't really acknowledge him as much. She knows Gerard, and refers to him as "Jard." She knows her grandparents too, both names and faces.

Her favorite movies are Toy Story 3 and Annie. She usually asks for "Annie" when I ask them what movie they want to watch.

Both kids love to watch Leap Frog on Netflix. Aubrey sings along and knows the cue for certain words!

More recently, I showed her Yo Gabba Gabba (a show I never got into) and she seemed to like it. She now knows the word "awesome" and repeats it. Today, both kids were having a blast dancing to YGG.

Her favorite word? "Mall." What else?! Ask her where she wants to go... ask her where she's going... usually, that's the answer.

And now, about Gerard....

We capped the mall trip at Borders, atleast there's a section for kids there.

At that point, I had taken on Gerard while Egan took on Aubrey. So I was sitting at the mini table with him, and just observing him with the toys and books he kept bringing over to the table.

He had brought over 3 VW buses and a bunch of plastic cars, and created a traffic jam, while re-enacting a monologue he's probably heard from his dad:

"Why are you so slow? I have to get somewhere!" And he was saying some other things to himself, all were about a traffic jam situation.

I chuckled to myself, and then a sense of calm went over me.... hearing his monologues that he pick up from us crack me up.

An entry about Aubrey

What can I say about my little girl that hasn't been said yet? Well, a lot of things! She is always on to something and it's never a dull day with this chickypoo.

Yesterday evening, we took the kids to the mall just so they could get out of the house. Our first stop was Nordstrom. So there went Gerard running around, and there I was with Aubrey... following her as she picked out specific women shoes, and pulling them off the table as if she wanted to try them on. I mean, she was really shopping! But I didn't buy her anything. We just got that girl a pair of La Costes, $30 for her little feet! And she won't even wear them that long! My $40 shoes last me for 10 years!! Just saying.

Anyway. This Tuesday morning, I was rushing to get out of the house because it's street cleaning. But before I could leave, I was trying to fix our magic jack connection so that my grandma-in-law would have a phone in case of an emergency. I got fed up not knowing how to fix it, so I gave up and hoped that nothing might happen. I went calling for Aubrey so that she and I could go to grandpa's house, and what did I see?

A GIRL COVERED IN LOTION!!! It

was a little horrific at first -- I mean, a little person whose face and head were doused with creamy white stuff. But well, I had to LAUGH. And I had to take a photo. She let me take her photo, and then I had to decide whether I should bathe her first, or move my car out of ticket's way. It took me about a minute to realize I didn't want a ticket at all, so I rushed out of the house to move the car.

I came back and gave her a quick bath. Of course I got wet all over, and had to change too. Needless to say, I was late to work. But looking back, it was a worthy funny moment. I swear, if she did this to me at the age of 12, I would have smacked her. But since she's only 1, it was cute.

Work @ Home Monday, Day 1

Today was the first of 4 Mondays I was approved to work from home. This is to relieve my dad and grandma-in-law from taking care of the kids daily for the time being my mom is on vacation in Europe.

The last time I worked from home, it was crazy hell. I barely got anything done during the day, and had to stay up until 3 am both nights just to get somewhere.

I was dreading today but miraculously, it was easy breezy. Both kids were mostly behaved, I got some time to play with them, read to them, feed them and get them to nap. I was able to nap myself, but 3 cups of coffee and a full night's rest the night before got me going. I got a lot of work done, but I still have some to continue tonight.

I hope it's like this for the next few Mondays. I do enjoy spending the time at home with them while getting work done. Unfortunately, I do end up sticking them in front of the TV. Luckily, though, they don't really stay too interested in TV for long periods. And luckily, they choose PBS programming.

Thankfully, I've got a flexible boss who understands and have always been all about "family first."

Playing with the kids

So I was laying on the couch, and Aubrey was sitting above me on top of the couch while Gerard was playfully assaulting my neck. I appealed for help to Aubrey, and from where she sat, she stomped on Gerard's back and shouted "stop!"

HAHA