Boonts!

Jack has been making quite a bit of progress in his speech over the last month. I can no longer measure his vocabulary in neat and easy terms such as "Yeah, he has about a dozen words." I can no longer list all his well-used words off the top of my head, and I am not the only person who can understand his words anymore.

Despite his advances, the last week or so, he has begun adding his own flair to his words, that are a funny but frustrating development. He is adding a "ch" or "ts" to the end of many of his words. One of his most-used words, fan, has become "fanch." Hands have become "hants." Spoon = "foonch." Even his brother has gotten a new name - "Bents."

My new favorite evolution though is his new word for balloon: boonts!

Yesterday, I bought a bag of water balloons and they kept us busy all day. I must have filled and tied hundreds of balloons. Keeping up with three boys who can explode them faster than I can fill them keeps a mom occupied (and more than a little wet.) Every time Jack needed a new balloon filled, he would hand me an empty one and say, "boonts! boonts! boonts!" until I finished filling it for him.

Now half a dozen "boonts!" for every balloon I filled for him equals A LOT of the same word over and over again!

It must have been cute and catchy enough though, because the rest of us eventually started calling the water balloons "boonts" as well, and now they big boys say it without even using a baby voice or laughing. That is just what they are calling them now, apparently.

Today promises to be another hot one and with daddy out of town, I think we will probably use up the rest of our "boonts" (and possibly the rest of my sanity as well...)

What Could Be More Fun Than A Hose?

I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with weekends.  I love the idea of Matt being home for two days and spending time together as a family and sharing family responsibilities.  While   we do have fun together and Matt certainly pulls his weight 

with the kids when he is home, it never quite turns out how I 

envision it in my head.  Weekends often involve bacon smelling up my house, 4 boys leaving a wake of toys, clothes, food, and general destruction, over-tired boys yet no naps, weird schedules, and, worst of all, track and field on tv (yawn).  

This weekend was great, don't get me wrong.  I had a great time relaxing with my dudes, but this weekend was no escape from my usual annoyances.  By late afternoon, I was ready for bedtime, but no one else seemed to agree with me!  That was when, yet again, I remembered that wonderful hose on my upstairs patio!  I suggested a water-fight, turned the hose on for them, and it was magic-in-the-making for a tired mommy!  With one patio, one hose, one water gun, two buckets, and endless energy, they amused themselves for most of the rest of the evening.  It was a perfect activity for a hot afternoon.  I only wish I had thought of it sooner.  

When they began running out of new ideas for blasting each other with the hose and soaking everything in sight, Matt and I got out some cleaning tools to spruce up both patios and the fun began all over again!  I'm not sure what we spent on water today, but it is worth it.