Declanisms

Declan: "Can I take my pants off?"
Chris and I: "No, leave them on."
Declan, stepping out from behind the couch: [Pantsless.]
Chris: "Go put them back on."
Declan: [Pouts.]
Declan, several minutes later, still pouting: "You hurt my feelings, telling me to put my pants back on. None of my pants are cool."
Me: "What would make them cool?"
Declan: "If they could talk. Or if they were robot pants. Those are the only things that make pants cool."


Declan, quite nonchalant: "So, when are we going to have another baby?"


Declan, after seeing this commercial: "Mommy, our brownies aren't square, and that's a problem."


Declan's also been heard saying "Oh, SNAP!" when he wants something, and "Damn dogs" when they won't stop barking, both of which are hilarious coming from a 4-year-old.

Lately, when I give Declan something that he's asked for, he asks if I'm doing it because I love him. Of course I say yes. The thing I tried telling him, and I know he may not understand for a long, long time, is the reason I do just about everything is because I love him (and, of course, Logan).

Boys and Girls

Declan, on the Cartoon Network website: Mommy, how do you spell Courtney?
Me: Why do you need to spell Courtney?
Declan: Because you're a girl.
Me: Yes?
Declan: It says "email" right here. Emails are girls and males are boys.

...sigh

Declan: How do you say "wiener" in Spanish?
Me: I have no idea.
Declan: Let's ask Dora. She always knows things in Spanish.

Music is in the air

I've been trying to get some songs and performances on video lately. We had a burst of creative energy with Halloween. Here's a sampling:

Halloween Song by Declan
(I insisted Declan put on a shirt, so he did and we had to compromise with invisible pants. Also, possibly the best part of this video is the countdown at the beginning.)

Halloween Song by Logan

Little men

On Saturday, Chris's sister Andrea got married. It was gorgeous. She was gorgeous. Her husband Matt is a great guy and they are wonderful together. They're currently honeymooning the hell out of New Orleans.

Logan and Declan got to be ring bearers in the wedding, and that meant tuxedos for little boys. Everyone's favorite thing? Possibly. We ended up buying both of them for about the price of one rental (!) so now we're owners of two adorably obsolete tuxedos.

Declan got some performance anxiety the day of the wedding and we were all pretty certain he wasn't going to go through it, but when offered a Tootsie Pop at the crucial moment when the wedding party was lining up, he decided he'd do it for Andrea (and candy).

Grandpa Higgins happened to be in town over the weekend, which helped keep the boys happy and entertained. When the reception got a bit too receptiony for 4 and 6 year olds, he sped them happily away and Chris and I stayed a bit longer to celebrate.

Pictures from Logan's birthday + party

Because Logan's birthday fell on a Thursday this year, we planned his party for the following Saturday. His birthday itself was pretty awesome. He felt special with the phone calls and boxes of presents arriving in the mail. I made the requested lasagna and smashed potatoes (I love both of those foods, but even typing them out as a pair feels wrong) and we had some cupcakes that were lovingly made by Chris.

The party was a superhero party and it was quite a success, especially since last year he told people after his birthday that his party wasn't that fun and he didn't enjoy it very much. Parents of the year, yo. This year we got a heap of kids from his class, played Pin the Shield on Superman, Balloon Sandwich, and some bastardized versions of tag and freeze tag which involved Ironman and Spiderman vs. Venom. Good times, good times.

It turned out to be a beautiful day, a good turnout of kids, and things went quite smoothly (aside from Declan not enjoying not being the center of attention and pouting, saying he quits). Games, pizza, cake & ice cream, and presents later, the kids were ready to go home and everyone was happy. Logan has flourished at school and made quite a few friends, and it was pleasant to see them all together.






Did I mention Logan has a girlfriend? Her name is Reece. She's the little blonde girl clapping behind Logan on his left in the above picture. I've tried to ask questions about her without embarrassing him, and all I can surmise is that it's a typical kindergarten crush where they have no idea why they like each other and they probably don't actually talk or pay attention to each other at school. Chris asked Logan if he thought Reece is cute, and he got this look on his face where it seemed like he wanted to say yes but couldn't quite bring himself to admit it to anyone. We let it drop.