Inglourious Childrens

The latest 'round here:

• Today the boys were playing with Legos. Which they turned into guns. Naturally. Amelia joined in. Naturally. They chased each other all over the house, each making their own unique "pew pew" sounds.
  
  I got the strange feeling that I was watching a scene from a Tarantino film when I realized Amelia was mowing people down with her Lego Glock... all while clutching her blanket wrapped baby doll. She's a great multitasker.



• When Jameson serves a meal, he says, "Dig up!" And when leaping from high places he says, "Jumpronimo!"



• You know those hopping marsupials found throughout Australia? Truman insists they're called "bangaroos."



• Mr. Darwin is huge. And he officially thinks he's one of the big kids now. He's almost got the crawling thing down, but it's tough with all that weight. OK, maybe he's not crawling. It's more... lunging and faceplanting. Repeatedly. But it gets him where he wants to go.



• Independent Woman. That's Amelia's official title. She potty trained herself last week. Literally. Julie and I hadn't even begun the potty training process yet so Amelia took it upon herself. One day she just decided she would only use the toilet for doing her business. She walked in. Took her pants and diaper off. Tinkled. Wiped. Got dressed. Washed her hands. It's unbelievable. If only everything was this easy.



• Amelia pretty much refuses help for anything. In the mornings she wakes up, climbs out of her crib and then announces to everyone (with her hands up in the air), "Maya awake!" She then proceeds to go to the bathroom, brush her teeth, pick out her clothes and then dress herself. Sometimes I think she's an adult trapped in a two year old's body.



• Speaking of Independent Woman, Amelia has also stopped calling me dad, dadda or daddy. She now addresses me only as James. And it's usually along the lines of "James, leave me alone," or "James, stay right there," or "James, I do it."



• Deep down, Amelia is still very much Daddy's little girl.



• We are slowly inching our way towards having our own home again. We've closed on our construction loan and are having our pre-construction meeting with the builder next week. We're loving the house plans, but it seems so, so, so far away at this point...



• Darwin is about to get kicked out of our bed. We've let all of our children co-sleep with us as long as it was practical. Darwin has reached the unpractical stage. He stretches out all over, hogs the blankets and likes to wake us up with early morning eye gouges. And he always forgets to turn off the TV when he's done watching Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Sorry, buddy, but it's time to go.



• If we weren't busy enough with the four year old, the twin two year olds, the nine month old, the living with the in-laws, the building a new house, the starting school this year, and whatever else... Julie and I are also working on starting a new business. 'Cause that's how we roll.



• My dentist has "found Jesus" and I have a cavity. Not sure if those facts are somehow related. Maybe it just means I have holey teeth! (Thank you. I'll be here all week. Be sure to tip your waitress.)