Just another day in the neighborhood....

Last week I bemoaned the fact that our daily schedule appeared to have gone missing and implored someone to please return it ASAP. Well, fortunately Mr. Schedule reappeared and we seem to be back in the groove.

Yet that groove is never boring here at casa de phillips, likely because I live with the least boring people on the planet.

Here are a few examples of our "groove"....

1. Isaac has started having imaginary friends and/or believing that he personally knows everyone. This is quite hilarious, especially sense he makes up completely nonsensical names for these friends. His current BIFF (Best Imaginary Friend Forever) is Ee-ya. Ee-ya is a little boy with brown hair and just lives with his daddy. Ee-ya likes to play and go to Kohls. Personally I feel bad that Ee-ya is growing up in a single-parent home and hope he one day becomes connected with the Imaginary Big Brothers/Big Sisters program.

2. On Friday I caught Isaac brushing Evelyn's hair with the toilet brush. I am sure it won't be the last time.

3. Isaac has decided that when the phone rings, it is his job to answer it. Let me assure you that it is not his job to answer any phone. He has figured out that if he runs to the master bedroom and picks up the corded phone, he can talk on the phone while I answer the cordless model in the kitchen. This has lead to several occasions of me attempting to carry on a pleasant upbeat conversation with the person on the other end of the line while giving threatening looks and gestures to my two year old to put down the phone. I am not so great at the multi-tasking and managed to provide completely bogus to directions to casa de phillips to a friend during such a time.

4. Potty training is going great and Isaac is accident-free most days. He is quite independent with his bathroom skills and can get all of his business done if I simply unbutton his pants. Wonderful. However, he often yells "Baby Evin is getting my pee-pee" the instant he exits the bathroom. He has some crazy fear that Evelyn is constantly on the prowl to get in his potty the minute he leaves it.

5. During another bluebonnet picture excursion, I someone managed to step in an ant pile...while leading Isaac by the hand...which resulted in numerous ant bites on both our legs. Such an experience led me to practically stripping Isaac of his wardrobe in an open field in search of lurking ants in his diaper and clothes.

6. Here are a few questions I hear multiple...multiple..times a day: "What we do now, Mommy?" "What we do on this day, Mommy?" "Where we go, Mommy?" "Where is (insert designated location), Mommy?" "What we do after this day, Mommy?" "What we do second, Mommy?" "Who will be there, Mommy?"

Obviously the boy has figured out the whole "We love a schedule and a plan at casa de phillips" idea.

Perhaps such questioning is a good thing considering a recent study that just came out reports that children under the age of 3 who hear at least 17,000 words a day spoken by their parents fare better academically than those who do not hear such excessive communication. Isaac's questioning requires me to go in great detail (espcially when he desires to know specific locations), thus uping my quota of words spoken.

Happy Earth Day!