"Seth, they say that an apple a day keeps the doctor away. What do you think that means?"

My interesting tone took his attention away from The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, and he said, "Doctors don't like apples?"

So now we see The Number 10 bus all over town, and Seth yells from the back seat, his little barbaric challenges, like, "I hate you, Number 10!" or "Oh, no! Not again!" or "I'll get you for this Number 10!"

He is in love with me and sometimes wants to marry me, although he usually says he'll marry his little sister. Savannah would tell him he might go to jail for that though.

I shudder to think how crazy and rough he'd be if Savannah and Arwen were boys. They keep him grounded, but he's due for a play date with his buddy Jack down the street. Jack is also the little brother of an 8 year old girl, so they hit it off well, jumping up and down and laughing at nothing obvious.

Anymore, he takes a lot of delight in doing the opposite of what I say, and he does this with a smile, but his elder sister did the same at this age. In fact, she's 8 and just did this, running into the bathroom when she knows I want 2 minutes of privacy please! So the orneriness is not gender specific. But when I tell the children to slow down with supper, enjoy your food, I say, the girls "get me." Seth stuffs his cheeks full of green grapes, (it only takes 3) grunting, pointing at his mouth, and, I'm pretty sure, smiling.

He is closer to Daddy than he used to be, as usually happens and should happen... bike rides and video games and a whole lot more rough housing than Mama can tolerate. Daddy is in Japan right now. Yesterday when I closed the garage door after the garage had cooled off. Seth jumped up and ran to the door saying, "Daddy's home!" No, not yet, in a few days :)

I like plain yogurt for myself, almost always with fruit, bluberries and bananas being my favorite, banana on the bottom, blueberries dropped on top.

Today we brought home raw honey from the grocery store. After their eggs at lunch, I put their little plates of yogurt in front of them with a spoon of honey drizzled on and around, their banana on the side. (Arwen got blueberries 'cause I know she'll eat them.)

After lunch Savannah got to call her girlfriend. She left a clean plate and bounced off to her room asking her friend, "Have you ever had white (plain) yogurt with honey?"

While the girls enjoyed it, I had a drama with Seth. I've also made the mistake of occasionally giving them their food during their tv time. But the pause button will help me fix that. The girls came to the table without a problem. Seth wanted his food in front of Chicken Run, and he whined until he was sent to his room. No whining while we're trying to enjoy our food. I've gobbled down two many bowls of cereal hearing crying babies waiting to be picked up. If I'm going to eat, I'm going to enjoy it. Then Seth trashed his room. He's just giving me ammunition. He can't go back to the movie until he eats, and he can't eat until he picks up the toys he threw.

He finally picked up and asked if he could eat at the kitchen table instead of the dining table. I gave in because I know he needs to feel as if he's won something. I sat with him and watched him enjoy everything. Plain yogurt is weird to people who've never had it. I had my first bite when I was 21 and thought it tasted like sour cream, only because I thought it would be like frozen sweet yogurt. Honey makes it slip right down. He even insisted on scooping up the yogurt with the banana slices. Do you know the milestone this is to a 4 year old boy? A boy who won't let his peas touch his pasta? At the end I showed him how to use the length of his finger to run around the edge of the plate to get the excess that the spoon misses :)'

Savannah was curious as to why I wanted so much to watch him eat it all? I said that when you're a mother, and your children aren't eating well, it makes you very unhappy. I can't describe it. I know the world won't end, but habits get formed so quickly, and often never broken. But when they're eating healthy, it will make you so happy.

Today he asked again. Savannah told him, "Indians don't have cream cheese."

Me - "Oh, they probably have something like it."

Savannah - "I wish I was Indian."

Me - "Oh yeah? How come? 'Cause they have all the good food?"

Seth, pouting - "I don't wish I was Indian."

Me - "How come?"

Seth - " 'Cause I want cream cheese on my naan."

I gave in. It was odd, the cream cheese wanted to slide around on the naan, but he enjoyed it and asked for more.

So they talked me into it again. I think my children like the idea of getting a watermelon. We only get about one watermelon each summer. We cut one a couple of summers ago but didn't finish it.

So to make sure it gets eaten, or at least cut into, I brought it into the kitchen and said, "You know how bananas and apples get boo boos? Well, we're not going to play with the watermelon. We're going to put him in his watermelon corner. You can talk to the watermelon."

Seth thought this was a great idea. "I love you watermelon. You're the best buddy in the world." Of course, it's just food, that's how a minute later he could get away with (playfully) saying, "You're stupid. I hate you watermelon."

Arwen, "No, when you a Daddy."

Seth, after thinking and quietly mumbling, "No, I'm gonna do man work."

To clarify, he's been walking around the house for a couple of weeks carrying his backpack so stuffed it ripped a hole down the side and his "briefcase" of plastic tools, saying he's on his way to do man work. (I think this is extra cute because Brad carries a backpack to work with his laptop in it.) Seth will make stops in different rooms, usually to "fix" a closet door.

About two months ago, I banned all toys and books from the van because they would fight, squabble, and scream over their plastic *#@!% (insert Yosemite Sam cuss words here). Drives the driver mad. We've made attempts to ease back into the toy sharing in the van, but it never works. I let them have a Costco receipt one day and they even fought over a piece of paper.

Now, Seth and Arwen look out their respective windows, comparing what they see moving past them, "Yay, I have a playground out my window!" or "Arwen, you got a puppy out your window. Hey, so do I!" They actually root for each other and give hoorahs for each other's view.

This is a rare post. I typically post their milestones, accomplishments, and signs of individuality because those are the things I want to remember. But if I hadn't taken away the toys, would they be so creative and kind about what they see out their windows?

I said, "Perhaps, when we get home."

Seth asked what did "perhaps" mean.

I explained that it was just part of a yes, not a whole yes.

Seth said, "You mean like yeah."

Later that night in bed, after a full day of preschool valentines and partying , "When you're in love, you have hearts all around you."

He's also picking up a pencil, every day, without being asked. His stick figures have gotten more detailed even in a week's time, like that book Leo the Late Bloomer. When they bloom, they blossom all at once.

He's also hit his rhyming phase. I always point out whenever I notice that we've made a rhyme. Several weeks ago I made a rhyme and when he was disappointed that he hadn't gotten to it first I said, "Rhymes are free. You can't steal a rhyme." I said this to make him feel better and share my rhyme with him. But all he really hears is the "can't" and tells Arwen "You can't steal a rhyme." meaning, that's my rhyme and you can't have it.

This is one of my ickier weblogs, but it's a tip-off to tell y'all what is to come. From my experience, I will not be the next one to get it. Seth will pass that baton to Arwen, who has even less experience in getting her head over the bowl. She will probably be more afraid and will cry more. Then it will be Savannah's turn. I probably won't even know Savannah's having trouble until she comes to find me and tells me that she's thrown up, in the toilet if she makes it in time. Then my turn will come. Brad may or may not have to stay home for a day. He'll complain a day later of his stomach not feeling quite right but nothing will come of it.

I'm already considering, "What do I not mind throwing up?" So far today I've had for "brefkest" a piece of pound cake and an iced mocha and for lunch a fuji apple with almond butter. What not to eat: popcorn (the husks are too scratchy), strong Italian flavors such as garlic, marinara, especially the breadsticks and sauce from Little Caesar's.

Me - "We need to blow your nose."

Seth - "No."

I insisted. That's what you do when you have a runny nose. You keep it clean.

Seth - He still didn't want to blow it. "But I'm smelling it back up."

After thinking, that's a funny thing to say. I should blog that, I promptly forgot to blow his nose in the restroom. He's still sniffing to this day. As am I.

Me - Yes, it is.

Seth, running back to his little sister- Arwen, you were right, nighttime is upon us.

He is very happy about being 4. (Although there's been some confusion about that because after his Spiderman cake at home, our friends from church also presented him with a cake, a chocolate castle with sprinkles, and well, when a new 4 year old does the math, two cakes means you add 2. So yesterday he insisted that he must be 5. Today he seems to have let that go.

We told him that when he's 4 he will put his own shoes on. Suddenly, he's insisting that he "do it all by myself!" He can't quite reach all his clothes, but if we pick them out the night before, he will put all his clothes on, plus socks and shoes. The only problem this poses is when we're rushing Savannah off to 2nd grade and Daddy off to the train station.

He still climbs into the bed with us in the mornings, although he's a little more eager to get to the video game that he got for his birthday.