Conversations With 4 Year Olds

Jack decided he wanted to play "chestes" and kept asking his dad to play with him. Finally, he pulled out the chess game.

He took out all of the pieces and the instructions. Then he set up the board, placing the pieces where he thought they should go.

Then he proceeded to tell his dad about all the pieces...

The Chess to Jack Translation Key:

King - "The King" (nailed it!)

Queen - "The Empress" (has a nice ring to it, does it not?)

Rook - "The Rich" (sort of close)

Bishop - "Lamp" (I actually like his name better!)

Knight - "Knight" (nailed it!)

Pawn - "The People" (how cute is that?!)

Not too shabby for a chess newbie, now is it? lol

Conversations With 4 Year Olds

Isaac: "Jack, I need you to clean up these toys before you get out anything else. Okay?"

Jack: "No-kay. No-kay, daddy." And he meant it.

LOL!

Conversations With 4 Year Olds

Jack had a potty accident today. Isaac, frustrated, asked Jack why he didn't go in the potty like he's supposed to.

Jack stared off into space for a bit before he looked blankly up at his dad...

"No comprendo," was Jack's reply.

It's hard to fault the kid for not only playing dumb, but also doing so (accurately) in another language! Lol!

This kid kills me!

Conversations With 4 Year Olds

He came to me last night, open milk jug and cup in hand. "Quiero leche, mama." he said. When I asked if he was finished, he told me, "Es todo." Aside from the fact that he had somehow managed to sneak into the fridge without my knowledge (stinker), I was quite proud of the effort.

The kid is learning Spanish faster than I can keep up!

He LOVES It!

When rounding the corner of an aisle at Target, the youngest spied the Christmas display. He repeatedly declared, at the top of his voice, "I LOVE Christmas! I LOVE Christmas, Dad!"

I'm not sure, but I think he might really have a lot of fun this holiday season. :)

Conversations With a 4 Year Old

We were watching a cartoon on television. Jack got very interested in the show when the characters started counting, and he started counting along.

Jack: "3, 4, 5, 6......10! That's my both hands number!"

How cute is that?! :)

Conversations With 4 Year Olds

After sleeping in late, a very groggy Jack finally got up just before time to take the boys to school. He stood at the foot of his bed, eyes still tightly closed, and declared with as much enthusiasm of he could muster, "I am ready for a beautiful day!"

Way to fake it 'till you make it, kiddo. :)

Cinversations With 4 Years

Isaac (while watching a show about numbers): Jason, what number are you?
Jason (without missing a beat): I'm a 10.

**The look on his face was priceless. He really believes he's a 10!

~~~

Isaac took at Shawn next door to give the neighbors some goodie bags. They stood at the door and chatted a bit.

Shawn: I have to go to the water now.
Neighbor: Um, what?
Isaac: He means we're going back to take baths.
Shawn: Yep, cuz I'm reeeeaaaaallly stinky!

Conversations With 4 Year Olds (for another week!)

I spent the day doing a thorough cleaning of the house while the boys were at grandma's. On the way home from picking them up, I told them to please try to not make any messes as it was just cleaned. Apparently they've never seen our house cleaned--at least you'd think that from their comments!

S: Whoa. Mommy, where did everything go?

J: Out house hasn't looked like this...ever.

Sigh. Everyone is a critic around these parts. :) I guess it's good that they noticed, right?

Overheard

While hanging out together in the living room...

J: Daddy, what rhymes with phone?
Isaac: Um...alone.
J: A better answer is bone, you know. (If he knew about adding the word "duh" at the end, he totally would have.)

Okie dokie then, Mr. Smartie Pants!

Conversations With 4 Year Olds

While watching Little Einsteins (which has Jason's favorite song - his words - Edvard Grieg: "Peer Gynt Suite 1, In the Hall of the Mountain King"), we saw a bunch of instruments.

Isaac: Which one of those instruments would you like to play?

Jason: All of them.

Isaac: How are you going to do that?

Jason: Well, if I was a spider, I could.

~

He's got us there, now doesn't he? 

Conversations With 4 Year Olds - Staying at Grandma's

My mom was over tonight, so of course I had to ask the boys if they wanted to go to her house with her for the night. To be honest, I ask them if they want to stay with her every time we're with her.

Tonight's exchange went a little like this:

Me: Do you want to stay at grandma's tonight?
J: Yes! I can watch Sprout at grandma's!
Me: You're right. She does have Sprout on her TV.
J: Oh, look. Mickey Mouse Club is coming on TV. I think I'm going to have to cancel my day off at grandma's... (Does that mean that he thinks he needs a day off from us, or what?)
S (adding his two cents almost the second Jason stopped talking): I want to go to grandma's!
Me: You do?
S: Yes. (turning to my mom) Grandma, can you take me?
Grandma: How am I going to take you?
S: First you go to the door...
Me: Okay, Shawn. If you go to grandma's, you're going to have to go right to bed. It's bedtime.
S: I want to go to bed. Mommy, can you take me?
Me: To bed?
S: I want to go to bed.
Me: You don't want to go to grandma's?
S: No. I want to go to bed now. Can you take me?
Me: Ooookay, Shawn. I'll take you to bed.

Sigh. It's always the same. They agree to the idea initially. They never end up taking the plunge and staying. (Unless they've had no say in the matter that is.)

I knew full well how the conversation would end, but now I find it funny to see what kind of excuse they'll come up with each time to get out of it. Besides, one of these days they're not going to change their minds... ;-)

Overheard

S: Are we going to go in the water? (Take a bath)
Isaac: No, Shawn. Not today.
S: But dad. I'm reeeeealllly stinky...

~~~

J: Mommy, my eyes are not letting me be awake. They keep closing!

~~~

S: (at 5 am in the morning) Mommy! Mommy!
Me after I dragged my tired behind in to see what he needed: What, Shawn?
S: (whispering) Mommy! It's three o'clock in the morning! Is it time to get up?
Me: No, Shawn.
S: Okay. (and back he goes to sleep - Me? Not so much!)

~~~

Isaac: Was dinner good?
J: Yeah.
Isaac: Do you want some more?
J: No, I'm done. That sure is a lot of food for a little guy like me.

Conversations with a 4 Year Old - Play with Me

J: Daddy will you play with me?

Isaac: I don't know how you want me to play. You won't let me touch your cars, and you won't let me play with the buildings. What do you want me to do? Watch?

J: Okay. (and then a few moments later) You can point at them!

Isaac: ...

A Little Q and A

It's been a while since we last did this, so I thought it was time to get the boys' thoughts on a few things. All answers from the big boys were their own words. All of Jack's answers were obviously my words as he isn't much for talking yet. ;-)

What is your favorite color?

Jason: red
Shawn: blue
Jack: Today it was yellow. Who knows what it'll be tomorrow.

What is your favorite drink?

Jason: fruit juice
Shawn: apple juice
Jack: milk and whatever I can steal from my brothers

What is your favorite breakfast?

Jason: pancakes or french toast
Shawn: waffles and chocolate milk
Jack: waffles

What is your favorite lunch?

Jason: jelly sandwich (it is really peanut butter and jelly, but we only call it jelly); chips; fruit
Shawn: bologna and cheese sandwich with chips
Jack: fruit and whatever I can get him to eat that day (he's in a picky stage)

What is your favorite chips?

Jason: wavy chips (Lays)
Shawn: Doritos chips
Jack: veggie dip puffs

What is your favorite dinner?

Jason: hot dog and chips
Shawn: pizza
Jack: the jury is still out on this one. I have no idea.

What is your favorite cartoon/show?

Jason: Cars (likes the start of the movie when they are racing) and Mickey Mouse Club
Shawn: Mater Tales and Peppa Pig
Jack: He likes the Mickey Mouse Club, too

What is your favorite toy?

Jason: cars
Shawn: cars
Jack: cars and balls

What is your favorite thing to read?

Jason: the books on his Leap Pad
Shawn: mommy's magazines
Jack: Peek-a-Boo (a book with baby faces)

What is your favorite thing to do?

Jason: hang out (his words!)
Shawn: play with my cars and watch Mater Tales
Jack: climb everything

What is your favorite fruit?

Jason: peaches and oranges
Shawn: apples
Jack: bananas (although he likes pretty much all fruit)

What was your favorite thing we did this summer?

Jason: playing in the sprinkler, relaxing in the pool, going to pick berries at the farm, Disneyland, staying at the hotel
Shawn: talking on the phone to grandma, the water (pool), the farm, and Disneyland
Jack: climbing all over everything!

Conversations with 4 Year Olds

Jason had an eye appointment and had his eyes dilated yesterday. (His vision improved! Yea!) As you can imagine, the dilation part of the appointment was filled with drama and tears. Afterward, the tech who had put the drops in his eyes brought him a glass of water while we waited for his pupils to enlarge.

Me: What do you say, Jason?
J: I can thank you for the glass of water, but I'm not going to thank you for those drops!

How can you argue with that?

~~~

Shawn is in this stage of directing me. Like a mini Spielberg, he tells me what I'm supposed to say, and sometimes, even tells me how to say it.

My favorites, though, are when he's done something we've previously told him he needed to do. He'll yell from where ever he is, "Momma! Say good job, Shawnie! Good job doing (fill in the blank)!"

Cracks me up.

4 Year Old Observations

 

Jason (pointing to a picture in the drive thru): Dad, what in the world is that?! Is that a waffle, hamburger sandwich?!!

Daddy: Yep.

Jason: Ha ha that's silly!

Daddy: Yes Jay, that is very silly. :o)

Radish - Theirs vs Ours

Radish -

Their definition: (n) Pungent fleshy edible root. Etymology: Radish \Rad"ish\, noun. [French expression radis; compare to Italian expression radice, Pr. raditz: all from Latin radix, -icis, root, an edible root, especially radish, akin to English wort. See Wort, and compare to Eradicate, Race root, Radix.]. Webster's Online Dictionary

I enjoy eating lightly salted radishes on my salads.

VS

Our definition: (n) Raw, red skin in the diaper area, otherwise known as a diaper rash. Etymology: Radish \Rad"ish\, noun. [Team Lopez expression from the root "rash" misinterpreted by the little folk and morphed into the new term "radish." Don't ask us why.]

Why is Jack crying momma? Does he have a radish on his butt?

Sigh.

Solar Eclipse

The excitement for today was a solar eclipse.

We started the adventure with a description of what was happening to the sun; however, I may have traumatized one of my children while I was explaining. It took quite a while before he stopped yelling, "I don't want the moon to block the sun! Make it stop!"

He even made an appeal for Siri's help.

Oopsie.

Anyway, once everyone understood that the world was not going to end when the moon blocked some of the sun, we had some fun.

We held out our hands to look at the crescent shaped shadows on the brick wall.

As we were taking pictures of my hands, I glanced to the left and saw the sun shining through the leaves created the same crescent shaped shadows.

A whole bunch of mini eclipses right on my wall. :-)

The crescents continued to change as it progressed.
I'm such a geek when it comes to this kind of thing.

The last shot before it was over.

It was very cool!

---

(Maybe I explained the whole "eclipse" concept too well? lol. You be the judge.)

Solar Eclipse of another kind, as told by Jason after helping Daddy change Jack's diaper...

Jason: "Hey mommy, I think I just saw an eclipse."
Mommy: "You did?"
Jason: "Yeah, daddy said Jack just eclipsed his moons!"
He then broke into hysterical laughter.
Mommy: "Um..."

---

While daddy was trying to read something on his phone.

Jason: "Hey dad, I'm gonna eclipse your phone with my head."

I'm sure we're going to be hearing about the eclipse for a long time to come. :-)

More Conversations with 4 Year Olds

Out of the blue from the back seat...

Shawn: knock, knock

Daddy: Who's there?

Shawn: Sherlock.

Daddy: Sherlock who?

Shawn: Sherlock your door or some one's gonna break in! (cue laughter)

***We have NO IDEA where he got this one. I even called my mom to see if she knew. lol.

---

‎3 for Team Lopez is close to reaching the goal of raising $1000 for the March of Dimes. We're only $121 away! (We are no longer among the top ten, but it was kind of cool while it lasted. (-: )
I am blown away at the possibility of reaching our goal. We are blessed to have such generous people in our lives! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

If you'd like to help us reach our goal, you can donate here.