The Miles Rausch Family Website

xkcd: Feathers.

I’ve totally had this thought.

Last night was Miles’s night to put Ian to bed. (We switch nights because it’s too cumbersome for one person to be in charge of bedtime every night, and he and I do bedtime differently — which I think is good for Ian.) He was in the bathroom after Ian’s snack, so we went upstairs–past the bathroom door–to Ian’s room to read and wait.

When we got in his room, he cheerfully said what sounded like “Daddy fart do it”. I wanted to laugh but didn’t and was immediately internally upset that somehow he has learned that word — one that we don’t typically use ourselves. Over the next several minutes, long after Miles had joined us, he kept saying it occasionally. He frequently repeats phrases over and over (and over and over) until we acknowledge that he’s said it or that what he’s observing is correct. I, of course, was ignoring it because I didn’t want to encourage use of the word by acknowledging he was saying it–which would require me to say it. So he kept repeating it.

And I kept cursing daycare because he must have learned it there.

He brushed his teeth while Miles was taking care of some of the dirty diapers from daycare. Then he flushed the toilet, and Ian immediately giggled and said “Daddy fart do it!” After a couple more times, we realized he was saying “Daddy flush toilet.” And then I couldn’t control my laughter. Because I was so sure that daycare must have been where he learned it –and I even was blaming the annoying girl so I had someone to blame (it’s so absurd to think about it now still). I laughed until I cried and I couldn’t make it stop. (This is a trait that runs through my mom and sister as well.)

Then, all of the sudden, Ian’s face turned red and his cheeks were scrunched up and he burst into tears. Huge. Big. Crocodile tears.

photo taken by Miles: http://instagram.com/p/MZglHcsbaV/

Then I couldn’t stop laughing/crying at this. But then I heard him say “Mommy sad” and the laughter part of my laughing/crying went away. I think we share the empathy superpower. He was crying because I was ‘crying’ and then I couldn’t stop crying because he was crying about me ‘crying’.

We could’ve continued this crying cycle for a long time, if we hadn’t gotten the subject changed to talking about his day at daycare. *phew*

It’s been a while. Sorry about that! I’ve got legitimate excuses, but they don’t matter.

Ian’s two years old now and growing so much! In length, (not weight) and in his brain. He learns so quickly and is very curious. He loves to help, even when we don’t want help. I’m using this to my advantage on new Saturday morning cleaning times. Last weekend he helped me sweep and wash –and dry– the kitchen floor. Next time I think I’ll hand him a duster. I hope that this time invested in showing him how to clean will pay off when he’s a little older and needs no guidance with how to help. Some day he might be able to show his little sister the ropes!

He’s stringing several words together now into near-sentences (“Ian all done supper”, “mommy supper all done too”). “Nian”=”Ian” and “all done” is basically one word when he says it, “ah-done”. I’m not sure how he learned the concept of “too” or to say “go away” instead of his previous “go”. I think he picks up most of his new language from hearing conversations at home and daycare.

He is very focused on the concept of possession. Not just the typical toddler “mine” but pointing out my clothes vs. Miles’s clothes when doing laundry. Or whose milk glass belongs to whom. “Nilk.” Mommy’s or daddy’s car. And saying bye bye to each item as he stops thinking about it or it leaves his sight. “Bye bye daddy water”.

We’ve recently gotten out the baby pool left us by the previous homeowners. Ian likes playing in it, and I like sitting in it. Though I wish I could float around in it.

Baby sister is kicking and squirming and growing and all things babies do when they’re not ready to join this world quite yet. We’re looking forward to meeting her, and I’m feeling quite anxious about how her arrival will change our family. Ian puts his hands on my tummy, though he hasn’t felt her moving yet. He’s excited but also doesn’t understand and sometimes will say “no, no baby” when we’re talking to him about her. He’ll be a great older brother and an eager helper when she arrives.

Our dentist was doing a promotion for Feeding South Dakota. For every can you bring in to donate in January, they will apply a $1 credit toward your dental bill. The credits will not expire. Talk about a deal! They called it the Souper Bowl (it ends the day after the Super Bowl), and it’s a great way to benefit those in need and save on your dental work.

Since we don’t have the greatest dental insurance, we’ve been putting off our dental work for a little while–hoping our plan changes this summer. After we saw this promotion, we decided to figure out how we could get the most for our money, while spending an amount we’re comfortable with. We figured out Sam’s Club had the best deals (Hunts tomato sauce came to about $0.63 per can, Hunts diced tomatoes came to about $0.67 per can and Green Giant sweet peas came to about $0.68 per can–Walmart’s best deal was $0.68 per can on their Great Value brand). So we ordered for in-store pick up (free) from Sam’s Club — 40 12-pack cases of the tomato sauce, 5 8-pack cases of the diced tomatoes and 10 8-pack cases of the peas (we could have saved a few cents doing more diced tomatoes–or all tomato sauce–but it just seemed like a lot of tomatoes to me, so I chose more peas since the savings were small.)

In total with tax, we paid $410 for 600 cans ($600 dental bill credit) which will give us a savings of $190 on our next bill AND help feed families in South Dakota. Win!

 Update 02/01/2012:

Here’s an article from the Argus Leader on the event.

Here’s a picture they posted (our cans are in front) on their Facebook page. Five days left and up to 3500 cans. (click the picture to go to their FB post)