can't even lie still for 10 seconds

In an attempt to get Preston to sleep (after hours of not sleeping), we let him lie in our bed on the condition of 'no squiggling around, or you go back to your own bed'. "I PROMISE", he assures us. After we'd said about 50 comments like 'stay still!', 'stop kicking me' and so on, I exasperatedly said 'Preston, I don't think you could even stay still for 10 SECONDS!'

Well, that's a challenge to any kid (I did this at Brownies last week - they nearly exploded after 6 seconds of keeping quiet, which to them meant they had to hold their breath and shut their eyes - it was very funny).

So I counted. Every time he squiggled, I started at 1 again. For quite some time, we didn't get past 2. It was getting a bit silly (and funny). Preston, you can't even last 2 seconds, I exclaim. Right, he says, THIS TIME.

So in the dark, I begin counting again. He's trying hard - Purple Bear is firmly pressed over his eyes. 1, 2, 3, 4. Then I feel the bed jiggle with contained laughter. But Preston was still. 5. Then I realised it was Dan who was trying really hard not to giggle. It was contagious and I couldn't help myself. Soon I had tears streaming down my cheeks, especially when Preston got all mad at us and said "what are you two doing? Why are you laughing? SHHH!!! I'm trying to be quiet so we can get to 10!" This made us giggle even more and we were a total mess! Poor Preston was so annoyed. Especially when I started counting again from 1....

May 2010 Update

Oops, I haven't been updating as much as I should, and reading back over the detail I included about Preston's development has made me realise I should really be doing the same for Maxwell.

He is nearly 15 months now and is a very busy little boy with 7 teeth. He runs around after Preston and he wants to be just like him. He loves coming along to Kindy when I drop off and pick up Preston - he feels like a big boy when he stand on tiptoes and reaches into the water trough to splash about.

Last week he started daycare for two part days a week. It's a lovely daycare, much better than the one Preston went to. It will take him a while to get over the separation anxiety, but he will be fine. Lots of other people look after him at home and he's ok with that - it's just a new location with lots of strange (but friendly) faces.

Maxwell is desperately trying to talk. He tries really hard to say words especially these:
Mama, Dada, Mummy (mummeeeeeeee!), Daddy, kitty, please, thank you, nose, shoe, sock, bag, keys, cheese, dog, kindy, eat, (ba)nana, Nana, MINE! and a whole lot more that I can't think of. He still does some baby sign language.

Preston is nearly 4½ and is a total know-it-all. Today he said "Mummy, I just bought a new game on your phone." I said "what? how?" He replies "I downloaded it from the App store - don't worry, I didn't need your password." Oh.

He loves playing video games, and on Dan's new iPad. I'm not sure if he realises that probably none of the other kids at kindy have all the tech stuff he's allowed to play with!

And on the days that Maxwell is at daycare, Preston has really missed him. I'll pick him up from kindy and he'll ask where Maxwell is, and then spend the next few hours pestering me with "is it time to get Maxwell yet? What about NOW?" So that's cute.

April visit to One Tree Point

Haven't had time to update this blog, but don't forget to check Dan's flickr page for recent photos www.flickr.com/regen.

We went to stay with Dan and Karon at One Tree Point for 4 days when my friend Melanie got married. It was a wonderful holiday - I got to catch up with my girlfriends, and also Preston and Maxwell had so much fun. They played at the beach, went fishing, built sandcastles, played Lego, got to come to a post-wedding lunch - it was great.

The boys are growing up so fast and they really enjoy each other's company. Maxwell is running around now and can understand verbal instructions and does whatever we ask. It's amazing! You can tell him to find an object and he'll get it for you!