favorites

so i’m totally stealing this idea from my SIL. she recently had a post, recording some of her kids’ favorite things at the time and i think it’s a wonderful idea and wish i'd been doing it all along! you think you’ll remember these things, BUT YOU JUST CAN’T, NEMO!!! but life distracts you and you forget. (oops! sorry. that happens sometimes.)

so, we’ll start with the oldest (because life is SO unfair and stuff like that)…

shane likes:

• the olympics. he is very excited about watching, especially snowboarding, downhill skiing (because he likes to watch people wreck), and speed skating.
• susie. this is our neighbor who ‘employs’ him. he speeds through what he needs to get done here and rushes over to her house. sometimes they’re weeding, sometimes planting, sometimes filling 83 pots with compost and repotting 5 different species of native ferns, and sometimes cleaning out woodsheds, tool sheds, and garages so that a camper can be moved inside and remodeled. essentially, home is really boring and doesn’t pay as well.
• tractors and riding lawnmowers (nothing new there)
• big pick-up trucks. the bigger the better.
• milk. i think he’s catching up with dave in his milk consumption, which further convinces me that we NEED a cow!

shane doesn’t like:

• school (nothing new)
• chores (although i recently made $22 off of his slacking! i told him that i would do ‘pop poop checks’ and i would charge him a dollar for every pile of dog poop i found in the back yard. HA!)

layla likes:

• coloring, drawing, writing, etc.
• her eldest cousin, melissa. she talks about her constantly, says she’s ‘my bestest cousin ever!’ and is really sad that we can’t just hop in the car and go visit her. no idea where this fascination came from.
• girls. yup. girls. she likes anything that has girls in it. in tv shows, she likes the characters that are girls. they don’t even have to be people. she watches thomas the tank engine with micah and tells me that emily is her favorite engine because she’s a girl.
• polly pockets. OMG. she LOVES polly pockets. she’s decided already that this is what she wants for her birthday. lots of polly pockets (and a purse – a REAL purse, not a play one.)
• robin’s tea party. her friend robin is having a birthday party in a couple weeks and it’s a fancy tea party and layla is SO excited!
• hair clips. she likes putting them on every stuffed animal or doll that has long enough hair to hold them.
• preschool. we went back to her old preschool for a visit on open house day. they’re registering for next year, but there is room in the current pre-k class, so she’ll likely get to go, if i can just make the logistical stuff all line up right.
• fashion! not sure what all this is about, but she frequently plans fashion shows (which mostly involve yanking EVERY item out of her closet and setting up outfits for like the next 500 days, complete with underwear and socks). she also likes to stand in front of the mirror and ‘pose’.
• making her own pb&j sandwiches or toast.

layla doesn’t like:

• boys! she says repeatedly that she doesn’t like boys. not her friends, not her brothers, not daddy. well, she doesn’t dislike daddy (or her brothers, really) i think she just doesn’t like the fact that they are boys. she was watching pairs skating on the olympics and got concerned that if you skated, you HAD to skate with a boy!
• dairy products. she has recently more or less sworn off all dairy products. the only one she will voluntarily consume is ice cream. 1 small cup of milk a day is forced upon her, and she’ll tolerate cheese on pizza, but not if it’s too ‘melty’. ugh.
• baths. OMG! getting that child washed is WWIII, i swear! someone’s going to call cps on me with all her screaming!

micah likes:

• fruit! this is the only food he will consistently eat, and i’ve yet to find a fruit he won’t eat. he eats at least 1 banana and usually at least 2 oranges EVERY day. if there are grapes or any kind of berries in the house, he’ll go to town on them.
• thomas the tank engine. he LOVES thomas. toys, dvd’s, books, shirts. anything thomas is WONDERFUL!
• garbage trucks. as i posted before, wednesday is the best day of the week.
• brushing his teeth. unfortunately, he’s not particular about which toothbrush he’s using and frequently chooses one other than his own. YUCK.
• getting into mommy’s make up. he put on mascara the other day. that was attractive.
• playing ‘sbacketball’. you know, where you throw the orange ball into the hoop?
• baseball bats – or anything that resembles them… toy fishing pole, hair brush, etc.
• the dog.
• my parents’ cat. thinks she’s the greatest. squeals in excitement whenever she comes into the room. chases her relentlessly.
• going potty. we just need to up the consistency.
• books. he will frequently disappear into his bedroom and just sit and look at books for a LONG time (in toddlerland, it’s a long time).

micah doesn’t like:

• eating dinner. more often than not, he doesn’t. i’m not someone who is going to fix something separate for a picky eater. he gets what everyone else is having and generally chooses to ignore it. ::sigh::
• having to come inside.
• going to bed.
• getting yelled at. if he gets in trouble and you are upset and raise your voice at him, he just acts heartbroken. i just wish it were more effective at motivating him to avoid the trouble in the first place! oh well.

okay, that’s it. i’ll try to do these somewhat frequently. if i forget and haven’t done one in awhile, remind me!