Overheard in the Office

• A favorite of N.Lo’s: “Go a-WAY!” And he means it. Difficult not to laugh in response.
• K.Lo, standing up for her coworker: “Why did you yell at my brother? Do not yell at my BROTHER. He’s MY brother.” *Hugs him fiercely.* Duly noted, dear.
• K.Lo, pushing a small rocking chair ice cream cart around the office. “I have some black cherry ice cream for you. Want some?”
• Sitting down to dinner, K.Lo: “Bon Apetit, now we may eat.” Well, well!
• K.Lo, channeling the Manager: “I can’t hear you, I have wax in my ears.” (Long story. Another day.)
• K.Lo has taken to saying, “Just a minute,” in response to requests, with all the right emphasis in an uncanny imitation of Management. When asked a second time, she responds the same, except with a smirk. When asked a third time, ooo. Trouble.
• My personal favorite, K.Lo on a rant: “If you shout like an OLD LADY, I will not be very happy.”
• This morning, which involved a less than exciting 5:30AM wake-up call, K.Lo greeted the CEO with, “Good morning, Daddy. I pooped in my sheets.” Indeed.

The Working Relationship

• Wrestling moves between the employees are becoming much more hard-core. Injuries have been sustained. Lots of giggling occurs otherwise. N.Lo is now much more able to hold his own in such a match.
• N.Lo wants everything his coworker wants, which can be very cute and/or very frustrating. As in, should a request be denied, cries of protest are presented in surround sound. Also, K.Lo feeds N.Lo off-the-wall ideas, which he latches onto and won’t let go. For instance, the other day during lunch, which was going along most pleasantly, K.Lo mentioned for a nanosecond the word “outside.” In minutes, the lunch had entirely dismantled, with both children devolved into tears because they weren’t allowed outside before finishing lunch. Which they never did.
• N.Lo demands requires assistance from whichever member of Management is not present. If the CEO has left for work and the Manager appears to begin the Day Shift, tortured screams of “Daddy! I want Daddy!” occur. Likewise if the Manager is not available: “Mama, I want Mama!” The situation can escalate quickly.

Progress/Performance

• At our out-of-town Halloween party on Friday, N.Lo fell down the stairs. Between his new cowboy boots and his general lack of luck with these stairs in particular, it was likely a disaster in the making. I knew who it was and what was happening the moment it started… oh, years off my life. He is fine, just a bruise/scrape above his eye. But still.
• Although I never, ever expected them to, K.Lo and N.Lo fell asleep at a reasonable hour (maybe 10PM?) at our friends’ house, with not too much insistence/prompting from Management. We did “go to bed” twice, but the second time, they fell asleep on an air mattress and were just fine for the rest of the evening. Unprecedented.
• When we made our printout calendars last week, K.Lo copied the letter “P” (for preschool days) fairly well. Who knew?
• N.Lo now sleeps with two blankies (white, green) and a turtle. The turtle we acquired on our aquarium trip, where the employees were each allowed to choose one thing from the gift shop. He was interested in many things, but kept coming back to the turtle and hugging it, so the turtle it was. Don’t try to leave it out of the crib!
• We lost track of the white blankie over the weekend. I try not to bring it up, or distract when it does come up. Oops. Wonder where it went?
• K.Lo likes to sit in the Tonka dump truck and ask N.Lo to push her around, which he usually obliges. Funny sight.
• K.Lo will often begin a conversation with, “Hey, I have a good idea…” and will then proceed to tell me the idea, which may or may not be a good one.
• Management is having trouble figuring out where the comma goes, with N.Lo. For example, is he saying, “No, juice,” as in No, I don’t want what you are currently trying to give me, I have something else in mind? Or is he saying, “NO JUICE,” as in, I don’t want juice at all (and back off!). This conundrum occurs in approximately 50% of all conversation with N.Lo.
• We are finally to the point of a) ordering 2 separate kids’ meals for the employees when eating out, instead of 1, and b) seeing them eat their food when eating out. The CFO has been placated.
• Also, it seems like they have both moved beyond the toddler forks? As both managed just fine with grown-up forks when out to breakfast this weekend. But, they do love the small plastic colored utensils so much, so we will see how it goes this week without them.
• N.Lo can FINALLY drink from a sippy cup other than the squishy silicone kind that is practically a bottle. At the moment, he prefers the disposable kind with the mix and match tops and bottoms. The kind K.Lo drank from as a 6-mos-old. I’m just saying. Different skill sets, I know, I know, but just try forgetting that all-important specific sippy cup once in awhile. Not fun. 
• We will not begin training in the Employee Rest Room for at least a few months. I’m trying things a little differently this time around, for a few reasons. N.Lo is a boy and I don’t want to deal with it just yet has a different temperament, and I feel like K.Lo’s training was so drawn out because we started too soon. Regardless, N.Lo is still a big potty participant whenever K.Lo goes, especially while out and about. He insists on flushing the potty and also (thankfully) likes to wash hands, dry them, and throw the paper towel (or toilet paper, as he calls it) in the trash.
• That being said, I sort of loathe going to the potty while out. It is a big production, with the 3 of us. Oh well. It’s all part of the job.