The A Team Week 19: Hungry Bears!

This week, our family entered a new phase.  The Hungry Bear phase.  It was (and continues to be) a taste of what it will be like someday in the not-so-distant future to have two teenage boys with ravenous appetites.  First, there is Avery...the MUCH easier of the two to deal with.  He has basically been continuously hungry from the moment he was born.  When he is home with me, he insists on nursing at least every 2-3 hours and sometimes more with getting me up four times before morning some nights.  At daycare, he will down large bottles in one sitting (one bottle was a full 9 ounces!).  The boy loves to eat, but since a schedule for him really doesn't exist yet, that is fairly easy to accommodate.  

Asher, on the other hand, is an ENTIRELY different story!  Asher has always loved eating and is a very good and somewhat adventurous eater.  He must be going through a growth spurt lately though because he seems to be starving all the time.  (I laugh every time I see the Tyson Any'tizers commercial about "Jack & Jack's Appetite".)  As soon as I pick him up from daycare he is already asking me about eating dinner, and will continue to do so as the evening goes on and we wait for Eric to get home from work.  As this new phase became apparent this week, so did the fact that a hungry toddler boy equals a HUNGRY BEAR!  He gets SOOOOOO grumpy when he is hungry, and I'm realizing that the amount of tantrums and inappropriate behavior is directly proportional to the level of hunger that afflicts him.  Thus by the time Eric gets home from work, I am frequently dealing with a 3' tall terror.  

On Thursday of this week, all of this came to a head.  That night, as soon as we got into the van after daycare, Asher was asking about dinner.  I asked him what he would like to have for dinner and he responded with, "popcorn."  I tried to tell him that popcorn was not a dinner food, but he continued to ask for it the entire way home.  By the time we got to the house, I was planning to give him a little bowl of cheese popcorn to tide him over until Eric got home.  We got into the house and took our jackets and shoes off per the typically route.  Apparently though, Asher expected that my next move should be to get him popcorn, even though I had not told him I was going to give him some.  When I went to do something else and he realized I was not immediately tending to his desire, he came up to me and yelled that he wanted popcorn and then proceeded to hit me!  It all happened so suddenly, and before I could even begin to get a word out to correct him he burst into tears and had a complete meltdown.  I suspect that he immediately realized what he had done and knowing it was wrong quickly realized he was in big trouble.  It all took me off guard and rather than scolding him (although I did tell him that was completely unacceptable), I found myself holding him tight and close as he cried, "I want my Daddy, I want my Daddy."  Finally, he calmed down (stating, "it's better now Mommy, it's better") and asked if I would play buttons with him.  We went into the Living Room to play buttons and then he saw our pantry cabinet reminding him again of the desired popcorn.  The flood came back and he cried all over again that he wanted popcorn, and although I would have loved to give him his desire at that point I knew I could not do so and reward his behavior...thus, I silently prayed for Eric to get home from work so we could have dinner and desperately tried to distract him with buttons.  Good Times....

Other than the issues of my hungry bears, the rest of the week was mostly the same old family times...

We played:

Eric & Asher drew a mural on the basement wall

Notice the cat catapulting through the sky...

Asher getting the "movies" (i.e. nintendo) ready for Daddy to play when he gets home from work.

Asher & Eric built a tower "all the way to the ceilin'"

Video: Avery's Baby Giggles

2 Videos: Asher's New Phrases

Eric teaches Asher to say, "Simmer Down Now" and tries to get him to say, "Ding Fries are Done" on video (something he has said a few times but Eric's co-worker refuses to believe).

We relaxed:

Avery decided that getting up at all hours of the night made it tough to get up in the morning and wasn't happen about being woken up to start the day.

Avery and Asher had their four month and 2.5 year well visits to the doctor.

Asher, Dr. Leslie & Eric.  Asher is now about 32 pounds and 36.5" tall, with a head circumference of 20.75"

We enjoyed fun with friends at the IBC Wednesday morning playgroup.

These two (Violet & Avery) are always looking around for each other...and today we caught them holding hands!!

We went to work and daycare.

We went shopping.

Asher & Eric went out to Walmart for their typical Saturday morning outing, giving Avery & I a little extra rest and snuggle time.  Here, Asher is modeling suspenders like his Gramps.

We went to Target to get necessary supplies for the boys in hopes of warm-enough weather on our up-coming vacation.

We explored the world around us.

Avery checking out my cup...as big as him.

Notice the crossed eyes...focusing REALLY hard!

We (& by "we" I mean Asher & Eric) played outside.

Eric & Asher plowing the driveway after our new-fallen blizzard snow.

We ran IBC's infant nursery and toddler nursery simultaneously...The people on the calendar to run the toddler nursery didn't show.  Thus we ended up running them both.  At one point we had 3 infants and 6 toddlers, which isn't a ton, but WAY more than we were prepared for.  I took care of the babies, while Eric entertained the toddlers...they learned how to blow raspberries on their arms...although it seemed they all knew that already!

Eric playing Simon says with the kids

Video: Infant/Toddler Nursery

Avery, Kaylee & I...Kaylee decided she wanted her mommy not long after this.

Eric built forts with the kids.  This is attempt #1

Attempt #2...MUCH more structurally sound!

We rooted for ex-Wolverine turned New England Patriot Tom Brady during the Super Bowl.

Avery in his Superbowl attire.  It is a red & gray football outfit that we got as a gift for Asher.  I have a hard time putting the kids in it as it is OSU colors.  Thus, I threw a blue sweatshirt over it and made it Patriots colors! :)