I picked Brandon up from school yesterday. Miss Tarez told me that he was singing “Firework” to himself. She asked him, “What are you singing?” Brandon told her, “Firework, by Katy Perry, it’s my sister’s favorite song.” I told her he was singing that song because I told him I didn’t want to hear the surprise song they’ve been working on for the parent appreciation performance. So, singing other songs gets his mind off wanting to sing it for us. I heard a little of it, and immediately, I told him to start singing something else. He sings without even realizing he is doing so; that’s probably what happened at school. When Peyton hears the song on Glee, she will fist pump.
Drama queen
This morning, I dropped Peyton off while Brandon waited in the car. Jennifer had just dropped Jesselyn off early. She came over to us as Peyton was jumping down from the car. She fell down, something she does quite often. She landed on her feet, but kept going. No harm. But because she had an audience, the waterworks turned on. She was sobbing, and couldn’t control herself. We both told her she was okay, but that didn’t convince her. Finally, I picked her up, and I carried her into school while Brandon stayed in the car. She was still recovering when we got into the classroom. Right behind us was Katelyn. Katelyn came in, and said, “PEYTON!” Peyton was still all teary eyed. Katelyn’s mom said she was calling for Peyton when she saw us in the parking lot. Soon after, Kathy came in with Kira. Kira was excited to see Peyton also. Kathy said she also saw us in the parking lot. Peyton was in no mood to say hi to her friends. She did sat down at the table, and was gathering herself.
Flash forward to this afternoon, as Dave brought her home. He told me she was having problems keeping her hands to herself. When I asked her about it, she said, “I hit Kira.” I was shocked! I sat her down right away and had a talk with her. She wasn’t looking me in the eye, so I made her look at me before I continued. I told her how we treat our friends, and how we use gentle hands. She was listening carefully, and her eyes started welling with tears. I continued to talk about gentle hands, and slowly, one of the tears slid down her cheek. Another one followed. Her bottom lip was also starting to protrude. I asked her how she greets her friends. She waved and said, “Hi, Kira! Hi, Katelyn!” We’ll have to practice more tomorrow.
She done told him! Sleep-talking
Brandon seems to only have one volume in his voice. Loud. Whenever he talks, it’s super loud. Dave can’t stand it. He totally blames me. The two kids were sitting at the table eating, while Brandon was yapping away. Peyton was watching Brandon talk to us, then looked right at him, put her finger up to her lips and said, “Shhhh.” That’s it. Nothing more. It did get his attention, and he shut up for a little bit. Priceless.
Peyton continues to talk in her sleep at night. Last night, when we went into the room, she was on her area on the floor. After I brushed my teeth, I looked again, and she had rolled over by the door. When I went to go check it out, she said, “Hey.” I did a double take, and she said it again, “Hey.” Dave heard it the second time. I picked her up to put her back in the middle of her mat area. I asked, “Hey?” Peyton then smiled, with her eyes closed, and said, “Heeeyyy,” kinda Fonzi-like. I wasn’t sure if she was playing around or what. It was almost midnight! She was delirious, and giggly. I whispered, “Is your diaper wet?” She whispered, still with her eyes closed, “Yesh.” Dave was sitting with us, helping me change her. We just giggled because we weren’t really sure if she was awake or not, but she was answering semi-appropriately. After changing her diaper, she just rolled over and went back to sleep. She still has fights in her sleep with someone. Not sure if it’s Brandon or someone at school. Either way, it’s really annoying because I think I’m the one who is dreaming.
First name basis
Peyton was talking about our trip to the boardwalk yesterday. She said, “I go on the dragon ride.” She then continued, “I go on the dragon ride with David.” She was just smug when she said it. Dave was upstairs when she said this, so he hadn’t heard. He was miffed and kept asking her until she said, “I go on the dragon with Daddy.” He gave her a hug when she said it correctly.
Pics from this weekend; Meet Murray
Aww…Peyton wants a little sister to call her very own. She’ll just have to borrow Bailey: (photo credit: thanks, Bonnie!)
We went to the boardwalk today, just to get out of the house and take Murray somewhere. As we were parking, Brandon said, “Oh S.C.! We are in S.C.! This must be where Santa bought me my skateboards for Christmas.” Dave and I had to chuckle. Meet Murray:
Peyton didn’t want to ride with Brandon, but changed her mind later. Here she is with Dave:
Own bed!
We have a bit of jetlag going on in the house. While it should only affect Dave, somehow I’m being drawn in, too. So we were talking about the kids’ naps from Saturday (it’s Sunday now). Dave laid down with Peyton on her bed, in her room. I was taking a nap in my room, and suddenly, it became quiet. (Maybe part of the reason I can’t sleep now). I woke up to Peyton repeatedly whining, “No, I don’t want Daddy!” She was in the middle of the stairway, slumped over. I asked him what had happened. Turns out she slept in her own bed. He laid down with her for a few minutes, and she fell asleep quickly. He got up to go downstairs after she was out, putting the old crib mattress at the head of the bed to prevent her from falling off that way. That left the foot of the bed that she could have fallen off, but I guess things turned out okay. We haven’t put up the old bed rail from Brandon, since this was the first time she really had a chance to sleep in her own bed. I just don’t want her to bump around in the middle of the night, since she’s a mover and doesn’t stay in one place while she sleeps through the night. When really tired, she’ll stay put or for a short period of time, but I don’t trust her all night long. Dave thinks she was mad at him for leaving her. I came downstairs and scooped her up. She sat with me, hugging me for about 10 minutes before deciding to get “up”. She made peace with Dave later, but she was just grumpy. She must have gotten down alright by herself, because I didn’t hear any thumps, just the whining.
“Look at my lentils!”; Getting our read on (the week before Dave left)
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P***ed on
When Brandon was young, he sprayed Dave with many a diaper change. It stopped when after he was a few months old. Until today. Dave was giving Peyton a bath after we got back tonight. Brandon was upset because I had scared him. He was creeping up behind me, and I didn’t see him. I was turning to put Peyton’s clothes in the wash, and ran right into him. I told him how dangerous it was for him to creep so next to me. He needed to watch where he was and where I was. I think I knocked him in the head, and on top of scolding him, he started to cry. He was so close because he was trying to get into the bathroom to use it. Oops. I felt bad. He kept it in until right as he was peeing. He started to pee and cry at the same time. That sent his stream right into Dave’s back! I saw it coming, and had to turn around because I couldn’t stop laughing. I didn’t want Brandon to think it was okay. When I composed myself, I told him he had to be careful. Dave didn’t know what had happened until I said, “You just peed on Daddy! Watch what you’re doing.” Brandon chuckled through his sobs. Luckily, Dave wasn’t too mad, since I was already getting after him. He just made him clean it up before it was his turn to get into the shower. In between the kids’ baths, he went to go change. It was in this passing that I started laughing at him. I’d say “WITH” him, but he wasn’t laughing. 
I just told Dave I hoped this was the last time Brandon would p*** on him.
Please; Thank you
We’ve been working on manners with Peyton since day one. She knows what to say when she is at home, but when she is saying please and thank you to others outside, it’s very much miss and miss (not many hits). She gets a sticker on each hand after every gymnastics session. After receiving the two stickers from Coach Lisa, she went up to her after, and whispered, “Thank you.” Coach Lisa responded with a “You’re welcome,” which was the only way I knew she had said something. Dave thinks he heard it, but I couldn’t be sure. She came back to us and said, “I say, ‘Thank you’ to Coach.” She is still saying it today, walking around saying, “I say ‘Thank you’ to Coach.” She’s also saying “Today is Friday.” She was right yesterday.
Today, at Kelly and Dong’s going away party, she was asking “Please” with her eyes, like Brandon used to. She was hanging around random people, looking up at them, especially when they had something to drink. We figured out she was thirsty (we had already given her plenty of water, but she was probably still thirsty). She did same when Marcus was eating his puffs. She was hanging around them, just looking at the container, inching closer and closer. She had already eaten a ton of food before the other kids showed up! When the container was empty, she still put her nose in there, saw it, then sauntered away. Peyton was even hanging around the twins while Thuy was feeding them. Luckily, there were other mangoes at the dinner. One younger girl was offering Peyton cake. Peyton did not take it, but was playing around with her eyes, and didn’t say no. She just sheepishly looked around. I told her “No, thank you,” but she was hanging around the girl, waiting to see what would happen. We definitely have to tell her not to take food from strangers.
Tonight, she is pulling some Brandon stall tactics for bedtime. Brandon is so much better at night now, and we’re trying to get Peyton to be the same way. We tried to just leave her. She agreed to stay on her own as long as the light was on. I went downstairs to sit on the couch with Dave. Two seconds later, she said, “Where is my lovie?” I had just left her with it in her hand! I went upstairs, and she had this smirk (I swear!) under her hair as her lovie was on the floor, right in the middle of her blanket. I went back downstairs, and then 2 minutes later, “I can’t find my rabbit.” She started coming down the stairs again. She even said, “I’m cry, like ‘Waah,'” jokingly. It was Dave’s turn to handle the business. He went upstairs, and took her back upstairs. She stalled a bit more, crying out for Mommy. He told her to stay again, and left. She cried out, “Daddy, cover me up!” We both ignored her and laughed to ourselves. It’s 9pm now, and no more noises are heard from upstairs. Movie time!
Date day
Dave was recovering from his trip, so he stayed home today. Peyton headed downstairs, just like the other mornings, looking for my mom. “Gramma? Where are you? Where is she, Mommy?” I grabbed her to bring her back to our room. I asked her, “Where’s Daddy?” She said, “At work.” Had she forgotten that Dave had come back home? I swear she has Dave’s memory and my sense of direction. Brandon is the opposite – good memory, and good sense of direction. We all dropped Brandon off this morning, then headed to the farmer’s market. We ran into Michelle who had just dropped Mckayla off. After getting some breakfast, we headed to Peyton’s gym. It was great, since Peyton’s last gym day for the session was today. She had a cameraman on hand. But that just meant she was more shy, especially since coach Nikia wasn’t there. After we dropped her off at school, we were trying to plan our day. It started to pour outside. Dave wasn’t used to the cold weather, since it was in the 80s and 90s in Singapore. We wanted to try an all you can eat sushi place, that they make your food to order. We headed down to where the turkey trot run ended. In fact, we parked right near where Dave ended up to see the last stretch of the race. I always smile when we’re in that area, since I still can’t believe I ran through there. Makes me excited about B2B, however, I am nowhere near in shape as I had been prior to the Thanksgiving race. Maybe that’s good motivation. Maybe. Anyways, we had some sushi, 3 rounds of 6 orders on each tray! They cut down on wastage by only allowing 3 orders per person per order. We were stuffed after our 3rd order. We headed back to LAH just by accident, looking for a post office. We found one, mailed off some letters, and went to a small place to have an ice cream treat. It was raining, but still, no kids = enjoying a cone I wouldn’t have been surprised to run into Michelle again, since we were in her hood. We also passed by the boss’ house (or close to it), and I was hoping to NOT run into him. We came home since it was too early to pick the kids up. I ended up falling asleep while Dave was watching basketball. When I woke up, it was about the normal time to pick up the kids. We got Brandon first, since he had been at school the longest. He was so excited about being King of the Jungle for the next week. The teachers said he was good today, since he was so excited about the King of the Jungle. He picked Murray (the monkey) to come home with us. I asked him why he picked him, and he said, “Because no one ever picks Murray. I’m going to introduce him to my toys. Murray is so happy now.” Peyton chimed in, “It’s Friday now.” Brandon introduced Murray to his sister. Peyton said, “Hi Murray,” waving at him from across the backseat. So, we’ll have to journal (like actually write) what we do with Murray this weekend. Now, we’re settled down to watch some movies. Dave caught up on a bunch movies on the plane. Now he’s got to watch the good ones over with me. If he doesn’t fall asleep first.