As a Jennifer born in the 1980s, I had no shortage of name sharing/confusion as a kid. Not that my name itself was confusing, but identifying which Jennifer I was always included my last initial which was fine. It was what it was and became exactly why 27 Jennifers by Mike Doughty has been a beloved song of mine for years:
Jenny M. That was me. Until 6th grade (or was it 5th? - c.r.a.p. I am getting old if I can't remember that detail) when a bunch of us Jennifers of Lincoln Elementary banded together and decided to take charge. We would all be a different version (spelling) of Jenny and it just so happened that I ended up with the "I" on the end of mine instead of the "Y" and my parents totally went with it (unlike some friends who tried for more, um, unique spellings and were totally denied by their parental units, or maybe just got sick of the change in time and went back to Jenny ___). Me? I ran with this new approach to my name and never looked back. And I know it is a wee bit silly because you can't hear a darn bit of difference when you say "Jenni" versus "Jenny" but I can definitely tell you which one looks like my name and which one does not when I see it written.
Perhaps this whole name game from my youth is adding to the confusion I feel now as a parent because I am extremely befuddled as to why my children have decided to call me by completely different names. Maybe other moms out there don't really care what their kids call them or don't care if the name is constantly changing. But to me, my mom name is Mama. Ben and I started calling me that from the very beginning with Harrison and while HD will throw a Mom my way every now and then, we're 5.5 years into knowing me as Mama. Except Raegan, for well over a year, has been calling me Mommy and I just don't get it. I never refer to myself this way and like Jenny-with-a-"y" it sounds funny to me to hear myself referenced as such. I won't even bother asking if my response to this whole situation is normal because my guess is no, it's not - I've just picked something weird to get hung up on, but actually, that's my point.
After months of (semi-passive-aggressive?) attempts to correct RL (never telling her she is wrong but referring to myself in third person a LOT in hopes of showing her the light but obviously failing), I've decided to let it go. If Baby Girl wants to call me Mommy nine times out of ten, then that is what she's going to call me. It probably makes sense, actually, that my kids would have different names for me because while I am a mother to all of them, our individual relationships are unique and what they need from me on a daily basis is never the same.
So Mama/Mommy/Ma (which is where Linky is currently with a name for me)? They all work. They all represent the role I so gratefully get to play in the lives of these growing, learning, always going individuals and I am honored to be that person to each of them, no matter what they call me. Well, not Hey, You!. That version (and life with teens) is probably coming sooner than I think, but whatever mom name(s) the children decide upon as they grow is going to have to start with an "M" - I'm too much of an English Major to let all rules and convention slide!
This morning I made a slight parenting error by letting my children watch this viral video with me. I was hoping that since it was just the 3yo and the 1.5yo, they wouldn't pick up on any of the suspect lyrics and would instead just enjoy watching the kids dance in their school, which they totally did. But then, because it is a catchy song (I would know because I've found myself jamming out in the car to it more than once in recent weeks), the minute it was done and the computer was shut, Raegan was back to doodling on paper at the dining room table, but singing as she did so. No big deal, right? Well, sure, unless you take into consideration that her version of the word "funk" sounds nothing like how the word is actually pronounced, and it was the only word she was saying, in super-speed repetition, so it sounded like she was cussing a blue streak at record pace, just like that!
Honestly? I had to leave the room because I was having such a hard time not busting a gut over the whole thing and I knew if she saw me do that, she'd just keep saying it. So like any parent with wifi and funny kid anecdote, I took to Facebook to share, only to find out that kids really do say the darndest (and most innocently and wildly inappropriate) things! Again, always nice to know I'm not alone. So who is with me on complete nap debacles on top of botched song lyrics?
Remember when I said that my husband jinxed RL's naps a couple weeks ago? Well, it's gotten a lot more interesting this week as Raegan has taken to napping not in her bed, but her big brother's. It started over the weekend when we went to get the Littles up from nap and found her tucked in snug as a bug in HD's twin bed when she had clearly been put down in her very own toddler bed 2.5 hours prior.
Well, as long as she wasn't waking up LT, I didn't really care where she slept, so after finding her there again after Monday's nap, I decided yesterday and today to just put her to sleep there in hopes of cutting down on potential room wandering and noise while Linky was trying to get to sleep. Worked beautifully yesterday and seemed to be on target again today until an hour in to their nap when I heard definite ruckus coming from upstairs.
Side note: my pregnant lady hormones (more posts coming on all that soon, but I'm assuming that most of you have seen the photo announcement by now) are causing me all kinds of problems with my own sleep and it's been over a week, maybe closer to two, since I've slept all night. It seems that I keep waking sometime during the early-to-mid morning hours and then really struggle to get back to sleep (only to have crazy pregnant lady dreams if I do) before the day officially begins. It's been rough and I'm tired and cranky (and a wee bit constantly nauseous) as a result.
Today, of all days, I was told by one of my care providers that it would be really good if I took a nap this afternoon. I've been doing a bit of that anyway while the Littles nap and HD has his screen time, so when she said that, I thought (foolishly), no problem. But just as I was going to put myself down for nap, I heard what sounded like voices coming down the stairs, and this was after I was pretty sure I'd heard footsteps just a bit earlier. Cracking the door open to see if someone was sitting on the stairs, I noticed immediately that the freaking lights were on and could hear both kids talking/making noise. I flew up the stairs as fast as I could, barged into HD & RL's room, and found her just climbing back into her brother's bed with this in her hands:
An old college reader from the days when I had a full-time desk at which to keep such items. My first thought? What the (insert RL's pronunciation here) FUNK?! Seriously. I couldn't believe her.
I took the book, turned off all the lights (she'd gone into the bathroom to get the step stool so she could reach the hallway switch, naturally), and put her back in her bed, telling her that she had been very naughty to leave her room and wake Lincoln, etc. She started bawling, of course, wailing on and on because she wanted to be in Harrison's bed. Too bad, kid. You lost that privilege today with your shenanigans.
Then it was on to Lincoln's room to run through his lullaby and put-down routine again, and while he was fine while I was singing to him, he was very unhappy the minute I set him in the crib to go back to sleep. I realized as I reached in the dark to hand him his sleep friends that part of his discomfort was that his darling big sister had pitched four different books into his bed on her run around and I'd put him down on top of them. After fishing all of them out, I said goodnight and headed downstairs, where again, I wanted nothing more than to take my own little cat nap. Instead, I got to listen to both of them cry for over half an hour before they got quiet again at which point I was finally able to close my own eyes and pretend to sleep for a little bit before they were both awake again at their normal end-of-nap time.
*Oof* *Blergh* *Funk*
Mama just needs a little break in the afternoons, now more than ever. Here's hoping the children (Raegan. I totally mean Raegan) realize that for everyone's good, they should end these nap shenanigans immediately!
Since the Great Google seems to have all the answers, I have to admit, I'm a bit baffled that it didn't come through for me just now when I tried to look up a commercial I remember as a kid that had a young child saying, "My fwoat's on fwire!" Not that I really think the Internet should have such random and useless information, but since a girl can usually find answers to even the most obscure questions, it was strange to run into a wall with this one. Can anyone help me out? Do you remember it, too??
Either way, "My fwoat's on fwire!" is what popped into my brain this morning when I woke up well before my alarm with a seriously scratchy and painful throat. And from the moment I realized what was hurting and what that might mean for getting through the week to come, my mind was racing. And in case you're curious as to what a common thread looks like when I'm trying to will myself back to sleep but my mind is spinning circles, here is a sample of this morning's "playlist": Sleep! I need to sleep! Right now! I am going to be so tired when the kids get get up. Sleep! If I don't feel too bad in the morning, while HD is at school, I need to do the crap ton of dishes I left on the counter and in the sink this weekend. What will the littlest kids do while I do that? I should have done the dishes last night before we watched Downton Abbey. I wonder what Mary will do? Sleep! Sick?! I can't get sick! Who will cover my classes? How will I function with the kids? What if this is the start of Influenza?!?! NO!!!!!! SLEEP! (no joke - DA was totally part of it!)
If you can't tell, I'm a little freaked out right now about illness. After nursing sick/feverish kids all of last week (HD the first three days of the week, RL the last two), I feel like I've been waiting for the other three shoes (i.e. Lincoln, Ben, and myself) to drop all weekend long. How could we not get it, right? Especially me since the brunt of the nose wiping and "cover your cough!"s were my job last week? Because you know you only tell a kid to cover a cough when they've just coughed directly in your face, right? Also, when you add illness to the house where I'm already in charge of covering so many diaper changes and bathroom assists, it is a damn miracle that my hands haven't fallen off due to excessive hand washing. Thank goodness it has been warmer the last few days, otherwise, my poor skin would be a dry and cracked mess. However excessive hand washing is my only real defense against this crud, so I've been doing it for a week straight, but obviously I missed some germ bugs based on my fwirey fwoat this morning.
The good news is, it has not gotten any worse and no other symptoms have popped up yet throughout the day. And yes, I did get the crap ton of dishes done, to boot, this morning, so now I'm going to do my best to catch a quick nap while the littlest littles are still down (which, by the way, my dear hubs totally jinxed this weekend when he told friends, "Yep, we've gone a lot longer with naps for Raegan [side note: that's true - like a freaking year past the age where HD gave them up], but I suppose at some point here she'll give up her nap." And sure enough, yesterday she got up and wandered around the upper level of the house to the point of waking up LT and today was crying when I left her in her bed, wailing, "I don't want to nap! I don't want to nap!" Husband owes me coffee for this. LOTS of coffee.)
Growing up, I believe it is safe to say that my brother and I were inquisitive little buggers. Like pretty much every kid under the sun, we asked questions all day long, day in and day out until we (and by we I totally mean my brother) broke the proverbial camel's back, causing my dad to put strict limitations on the number of "What's" that could be uttered in a day. No joke. I have no idea how old I was when this family law came into place, and again, to be honest totally-throw-my-brother-under-the-bus, I'm pretty sure it was mostly directed at him and not me, but it was Moore Family Law for sure.
Now, the limit, in case you are curious, was three. My dad also has a rule that there are no more stops than three on an errand run, and you best believe that in either case, the man means what he says; these rules are like a lyric to the Jim Croce song, "You Don't Mess around with Jim" - simple but true. No, you should not tug on Superman's cape and no, you should not ask my dear father to hit more than three stores in one go. So, back to the questions...you were allotted your three "Whats???" a day, and once you used them up, my dad was done dealing. No more answers, my friends. No dice. To help us learn how to craft the best questions (and as a fair warning that your limit was drawing near - and perhaps because he maybe just didn't want to answer that particular question) my dad had a catchphrase he would throw out if he thought the current question that had just been lobbed his way seemed subpar; he would calmly ask (with a sly grin on his face), "Are you sure you want to use that 'what'?" Guaranteed we actually heard this phrase more than "You're out of 'whats'" and decades later it is still a family joke whenever someone gets quizzical during a conversation - they start to get asked about just how sure they are in the asking. Perhaps this is what made my brother so interested later in life in debate and politics? As for me, well, now that I am a parent myself, I think it is flat-out frickin' genius and I have got to figure out how to implement it with the 5 and Under Crowd because holy moly cow, we have a 5 Ws epidemic in our house right now.
Main abuser of questions? This girl:
Don't let her pint-sized cuteness and adorable pattern mixing confuse you. She is a question-asking-beast! And we're not even talking about a million unique questions a day - that I would actually welcome. Oh, no. Miss Raegan has taken to asking the same question at least 20x in a row before she takes a breath and then asks it another 20x, just for *ahem* fun. And this is not because I am ignoring or limiting her questions. I answer if not after the first inquiry, then the second for sure. But even if I respond in her favor, ("Why, yes dear, you can have animal crackers!" "Sure! Let's watch Curious George.") she just. KEEPS. ASKING! What is that (beyond incredibly frustrating)?! Is this just a Three thing that I blocked from when HD was this age? I get it that if I tell her "no" about something she might think that I might change my mind if she just keeps asking (ha! the logic of a Little!), but when I agree or give consent and she just keeps going? Is she trying to drive her poor mother batty?!
Last night, at dinner, Ben tried to explain to RL that she needs to say, "Excuse me," before she interrupts a conversation or what a grownup is doing to ask a question. All very well and good and sweet and cute sounding until, again, you've heard the phrase "Excuse me," followed by the same damn question 20x in a row. And then you start to recall the wisdom of your own father and the Magical Limit of Three and you wonder, hope, and plot for ways to make it a capital-L Law in your own house. And then you realize, good luck. The child is Three with a capital Th which means if you try to enforce this now, you'll just have to repeat it 20x, take a breath, and then say it 20x (ad nauseam) and she still won't hear you.
Please, I beg of you. If you see me any time soon, ask no more than three questions in the course of our conversation!
Sometimes the stars align and a gray and foggy Saturday turns out to be the best. day. EVER. After the hubbub of a holiday open house and prenatal training last weekend (which, oh my gosh, I didn't even write about!), I was pretty excited to have a quiet weekend at home this week. We had a great staycation over Thanksgiving and as much as I love getting to visit people, it was really lovely to have time at home. As you may have noticed from my various posts over the last few months, this fall has been a wee hectic just in our day-to-day life, so any time we get to slow down and just be (and be at home) is quite enjoyable. And even though today has been far from just at home or slow, it has been lovely.
First of all, I got to sleep in, which you babes in parentland (or pet parentland) know, is a rare occasion indeed. And it wasn't so much "sleeping in" as it was shutting the door and pretending to go back to sleep after the kids came in to open their Christmas book for the day at 6:30 a.m. sharp, and also pretending not to hear them as they played quite loudly before and after (during?) breakfast with their dad, but all the same, it was nice to linger under the covers/in the dark. I've picked up the pace with my yoga practice lately, which normally means I'd be at a class this morning, but I managed to hit three classes this week on top of the ones I taught, so I chose home this morning instead which felt nice, too.
Also nice was the fact that Ben already had plans to take the kids to a high school basketball game this morning so shortly after I "got up" they rolled out, leaving me to do some home yoga practice (think literal practice of Sun Salutations since avani will be hosting a 108 event on Dec. 21st for the Winter Solstice which I get to lead!) and laundry, before I headed out the door for some Christmas shopping (because hi, it's December 13th and I haven't done a bit of that yet. Whoops!). And while I did not make it to the Post Office this morning to ship said purchases, I'm still feeling better about the ever-present (ha - puny) To Do list that comes with December. Thanks to the hubs and kids for stopping at the store, we're also sugar-stocked so we can practice making some treats for HD's preK Christmas program which will take place next week. Side note: What gives H-town? We went to three different grocery stores throughout the day and no one, NO ONE, has Christmas (red) Oreos? How does that even happen?!
The true gift of today, however, came in dates that I got to have with both HD and RL. Truth? I originally planned a date with just Harrison that would take place while Raegan napped, but quickly realized this morning that she was going to be bummed by that, so after her nap, she and I headed out for our own girl time. But for HD, I picked up tickets weeks ago at our dentist's office for a free showing of The Polar Express at the Rivoli downtown. As you may remember from the book countdown, Harrison is a bit enthralled with TPE this year in part because we discovered the soundtrack on Spotify over Thanksgiving and he's loving this particular fast song (and will listen to it on repeat for 30+ minutes if you let him/can keep your ears from falling off for that duration):
So, yes. When I saw that TPE was one of the free holiday movies this year, I grabbed tickets, put it on the calendar, and was so excited to tell him about our date plans (but not until the day of because, whoa - if you don't know that parenting trick yet, it's a good one!). He was pumped, too, and we got there nice and early so we could grab good seats and a nice big (which was really the small, but wow) tub of popcorn.
We sat and talked about the movie theatre and the crowd and the book and all that until the movie started and then we settled in for the next hour-and-a-half show. Unlike the last movie date we had (which was the day before LT was born!), Harrison stayed in his own seat the whole time (as opposed to my lap), although there was a point in which he was very much leaning over on me (not that I was complaining). Also different was his agreement to leave before the credits were over (again, not complaining!), and in the lobby as we got his hat on before heading outside, he told me, "That was the best date ever!" Sweet boy! I thought, but then my heart about split in two (in a Grinch-growing-two-sizes-way) when we got back to the car and HD gave me a big hug, saying, "Thank you, Mama! Thank you for taking me!" before climbing in his seat. His eyes and voice were filled with emotion which made my eyes get a little teary because, goodness, do I love this kid. His sweet heart and ever-questioning sense of wonder make me so proud - it was so beautiful to be able to get some time for just the two of us and to see/feel how much he appreciated it, too. Who knew a free movie would turn into such a Kodak moment, but there ya have it - two happy souls post-movie:
And then it was Miss Raegan's turn. A friend of mine was hosting a liquidation party for a line of jewelry she used to sell, so I told Raegan pre-nap that we could go to that together and do some Christmas shopping, too, and sure enough, as soon as she got up from nap, she came running down the stairs to ask if it was time to go to see the jewelry. And because it was such a good deal (and because my friend S was so sweet to Raegge), RL walked away with a lovely collection (all in purple) which included a bow set, a toddler-sized bracelet, and her very first ring (butterfly shaped). I got a new necklace, and after we got home post third grocery store stop and quick side trip into Eileen's for a shared frosted Grinch cookie, we modeled our new finery for the boys:
Date night with the hubs is up next (the stay-in version which, after eight years of wedded bliss probably equals curled up on the couch watching a movie or starting a new show on Netflix) and while I'm sorry that Linky is the only one not to get any special one-on-one time today, I'm comforted by the fact that I got a few hugs and snuggles from as well as the fact that almost 1 1/2 yr-olds don't really understand the concept of dates yet and therefore can't get too mad at me for not keeping the face time totally equal today. This, by the way, is his classic Lincoln growling but happy monster face. :)
In terms of the weather, it was a less than beautiful day, but as for me and mine? It was a beyond beautiful day of time together in all kinds of combinations, and each filled with love.
Wishing you all some happy heart moments, too, as you continue your holiday prep!
December! How on earth is it December already (which I'm pretty sure is going to be one of the opening lines for my Christmas letter this year because, seriously, how is it even possible?)?! I guess it sure feels like it, now, not that you'll find me complaining about the high 70s we had on Saturday; my little family spent the whole day outside and soaked up every last ounce of warmth and sunshine we could. We knew we'd need it! Now that the freezing cold is here, most likely to stay, we've got to find other ways to keep warm and entertained, which leads me to our Christmas Book Countdown. We haven't ever tried any other sort of advent calendar, but we did a Christmas book a day last year in December and it was a great success. Well, the kids loved it, anyway, and even though I got very sloppy on my plans to record openings/reactions (see here), the grown ups in our house enjoyed it, too. Who doesn't love getting to open presents early (and what parent doesn't love gifts that will continue to give, year after year?!).
So here is this year's countdown. While this looks like the shortest post in the history of my blog, I'll keep adding to it throughout the month so we have list of this year's proceedings, no matter how rough my notes get as the actual holiday approaches. We have swapped out a few titles from last year, so some books aren't in the rotation at all, but the majority of them are ready and waiting in shiny snowflake wrapping paper under our tree right this minute.
1) The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore -- HD got to pick first (RL opened - a pattern we'll keep reversing each day, as Linky is still too little to get it this year and we don't really want to encourage him grabbing and tearing anything from under the tree just yet!), and while he wanted oh. SO. Badly for the book to be The Polar Express, we got this one instead. HD was bummed but RL was excited and has been carrying it around the house this morning. Last year we took pictures of the kids opening their first book and then of them snuggled up in my lap reading it. This year, Ben supervised the grabbing of the book before he hopped in the shower to get ready for work and I did my best to pry my eyes open as they stood next to my bed, tearing off the paper and looking through it. What a difference a year makes, eh? But in all seriousness, we look forward to continuing this tradition and I am hoping they'll let their dear, old mama keep doing this for decades to come! And in all fairness, we got this pic yesterday when they were busy sorting them (and in HD's case, trying to decide which one might be TPE) and preparing to begin the countdown today. Love my little bookworms!
2) The Berenstain Bears Meet Santa Bear by Stan and Jan Berenstain -- well, obviously still no sign of TPE, but this title was still met with joyous exclamations (the children love TBB) and immediate crawling in bed, one on each side, by RL & HD for early-morning reading. Good stuff!
3) Richard Scarry's Best Christmas Book Ever
4) The Polar Express
5) Jingle Bells
6) The Legend of the Candy Cane by Lori Walburg
7) The Spirit of Christmas by Nancy Tilman - love her books.
8) Santa Comes to Nebraska
9) Busy Town Christmas Board Books
10) An Otis Christmas by Loren Long
11) Olivia Helps with Christmas! by Ian Falconer -- Oh, Olivia. You are so funny!!!
12) Thomas the Train: Christmas Delivery
13) The Christmas Story -- think managers, not pink bunny PJs.
14) A Star So Bright
15) The Nutcracker by Gail DeMarcken
16)
17) The Grinch Who Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss
18) Home for Christmas by Jan Brett
19) The Best Christmas Ever - Junior Discovers Contentment by Dave Ramsey
20) The Twelve Days of Christmas by Jan Brett
21) Christmas in the Big Woods adopted Laura Ingalls Wilder
22) Stick Man by Julia Donaldson and Alex Scheffler
23) The Christmas Magic by Lauren Thompson
24) The Legend of St. Nicholas by Dandi Daley Mackcall
25) Merry Christmas, Curious George! by H. A. Rey
Normally, I don't load posts with lots of pictures, but November 4th isn't a normal day for us. In the Welschie house, November 4th is officially known as Raegan Leigh Day. And how is it even possible that it is the third - third! - time we are celebrating the day, the birth, of this sweet baby girl (who, incidentally, corrects me daily when I call her this. She is a big sister, not a baby, thankyouverymuch!)? However, since it is, I present to you some of my favorite photos from the last few months prior to Miss Raegan turning, in her word, Phwee:
Those. Big. Eyes! They get me and pretty much everyone else around her every. single. time!
I kid you not, this is RL wearing LT's size 12 mo. t-shirt and shorts.
In September. Of this year! So funny and sooooo
proud of herself.
If you ask me, Raegan is clearly ready to backpack through Africa. She's
already figured out how to carry two bag at once!
The mind of an almost-three-yr-old is fascinating, as is the fashion sense.
The whole leotard with a skirt over jeans and under a monkey hoodie,
all while wearing a Leaf Crown look is priceless.
She claimed, on Halloween, that this was her angry face. I, however, beg to differ. As the second time around mama of an almost Phwee, I know quite well what her angry face looks like. As much as she's still my sweet, sweet baby (oops, there's that word again), she's also got a classic three-yr-old's temperament and temper. Thankfully, because this is my second time around, I'm much more skilled at responding to her moments with a calm, "Goodness, it's hard to be almost three" which allows her to have said moment(s) and then we move on....typically to goofiness such as this:
So yes, three is adorable and ornery and an overall roller coaster. Or rather, almost three has been and I don't really expect any less from actual phwee, but I am so blessed, so honored to be on this ride as Raegan's mama. May her smile and her eyes and her heart and her mind always remain as bright and open as they are right now. And correct away as I say it again - Love you, Baby Girl! Happiest of Happies of Birthdays!
I have a thing for lamps. You can ask my hubs or my family and they will tell you - the funkier the lamp, the more I am likely to like it. Part of my collection is a small bedside lamp that I've had since high school or before and I adore it. It's so old that it actually feels like it is made of something (heavy) and if I knew anything about metals, I would insert that detail here. Since I don't, I'll continue by explaining that while this isn't my funkiest of the funky lamps, it is still one of my favorites (even though the shade is totally busted and also a wee bit burnt in one spot, but that is another story altogether). Imagine my surprise the other night, then, when I went to turn on this very familiar lamp before bed and couldn't find the knob that is, you know, the essence of a light being able to do its job. After groaping (is that not a word? my computer claims it is not) [update: groping!] around for far longer than I should have to on a lamp I've had for 15+ years, I stuck my head down to peer under the shade and saw this:
No knob! (and yes, I really want to paint this room something other than
the purple it was when we moved in - almost three years ago!)
While I had no idea where the darn thing was, I knew right away who my culprit(s) was (were). The children have taken, lately, to playing around on my bed in the mornings, messing with the alarm clock radio that sits on my headboard shelves (which, no, still does not explain my early morning mess up last week), as does this lamp. I did the cursory scan of the shelves and under pillows and blankets and the bed itself, but no knob. Then I noticed this:
A small wicker basket from my Africa travels that does not normally reside
upside down. Intrigued, I flipped it over and whaddya know - the knob!
Thankfully, this is an easy fix for my funky lamp. You simply hold the knob in its spot, twist, and viola! Good as new. But seriously, children? This is what you decided to do when you broke Mama's lap?! I can only imagine what kind of shenanigans they'll be getting into in the ages and stages to come...I can only hope that their antics continue to make me laugh as much as this one did!
P.S. And no, I'm not currently reading The Kite Runner. I'm already light years behind on reading it, but it's on my list and my bedside table, so I'll get there someday. I am keeping track again this year, though, and will post titles read in December. I'm up to 40ish, so far, I think!
Huh. With all the writing I've been doing the last few months, I'm rather surprised that it has been an entire week and I haven't added anything to the blog. Perhaps the weather's been too nice and we've been too busy doing and being outside. Or perhaps I've been swamped with teaching and by the time I get home at night, I'm crashed out. Or perhaps having the kids go, in shifts, to visit the grandparents meant I had to make the most of the 24 solo hours I had, starting yesterday morning, to get a c.r.a.p.ton of stuff done around the house (i.e. clean the store room) while also taking a little time for myself (i.e. epsom salt + essential oils bath!) before, again, jetting off to teach the yogs. Or perhaps when you throw all of the above into one week, you come up short with time to blog. Whatever the reason, here's our week-in-review a.k.a. hodge-podge-picture-blog:
The weather has been gorgeous. Clear and sunny skies but with bits of bite in the air most mornings. Some wind (duh. this is NE we're talking about!), yes, but mostly just awesomeness. The kids and I have been getting out in the afternoons and having fun. We've also been practicing for Halloween:
RL found this old costume that is probably closer to LT's size than hers, but she got it on and decided to have some Dragon Fun stomping in the leaves...
...and chasing her big brother though the neighbor's yard.
Silly monkey! I mean, Silly Dragon!
Because of the nip in the air, we've had to add more layers lately (love Fall layers!) which totally works, except I did this to poor Linky the other day. Why must buttons be so hard to align when fastening them together?! Perhaps I can blame his wiggles and constant on-the-move moves?
The cooler weather also means we have to be sure to be in shoes all the time which totally works, too, but some days we have to get pretty creative with our footwear. For example, on Wednesday, I followed HD's lead (he wears this combo of shoes to school more days than not anymore) and just went with the first two shoes I could find so we could go out and enjoy the sunshine. They're both TOMS, so that counts for something right?!
Speaking of creative dressing and TOMS, check out Miss Raegan's style from the last couple weeks. She loves wearing her polka dot pink rain boots with pretty much anything, and the other day she was just as excited as I was about getting out my TOMS wedges (again, I say, "YAY, Fall!"). I will never tire of Baby Girl's fashion sense. Well, I guess I can't speak to what the teenage years will bring, but right now, I'm totally loving it. Every single crazy combo is the best.
In other news, Lincoln is a Walking Man! Well, he's got the wobbly sea legs/drunken toddler thing going, anyway, and he pops up anywhere and whenever he likes now to take his shaky steps.
It's adorable and awesome. Except when it is not. The poor kid crashes all the time and it seems like at least once a day, one of those crashes involves also hitting his head on something on the way down, like the kitchen bench last Wednesday which lead to this round of tears:
Poor baby. Seriously considering a foam crash helmet of sorts because otherwise he's going to be a bruised mess for who knows how long.
Besides all the playing and walking (and crashing), I've been a busy mama, running out the door to teach one (sometimes two!) yoga class(es) a night. This last week saw me teaching Tuesday-Friday straight (with Monday at the college, of course) and next week will be even more of an adventure as I'm starting a two-week subbing gig at the Y for their 5:45 a.m. class. 5:45 A.M.?! Oof. Well, at least I'll feel nice and limber for the T/Th that follow those classes (and I'll have some extra cash for buying coffee on the way home!). And at least I got a little break yesterday to sort through all the kid clothes that have been piling up in my store room so I feel slightly less scattered and cluttered going into two weeks of chaos fullness. Can I just say, though? How did my babies get so big? All those clothes I was putting in bins yesterday? They seemed both so tiny and also like it was impossible for all of the kids to have outgrown them already. Goodness me, I sound like I'm 85, but how do they grow so fast?!
And speaking of growing...my other plans of late are revolving around finishing starting RL's Year Three Shuttefly book and getting ready for her Frozen bday party. Here's what I found the other day as her present/to wear on her party day:
And yes, it's entirely possible I bought these for her because they are totally in line with my own crazy-yoga-pant obsession. Hope she likes them!
Oh, Miss Raegge. This morning RL found a big cardboard box (thank you bolster order!) to play with in the living room and she had a fabulous time coloring it, climbing in and out of it, and setting up shop (which actually meant calling it a spaceship and then a white car and then a school and then a sleeping house). She played pretty much on her own for the better part of 1/2 an hour like this - hopping in and out in order to run over and find new treasures in the desk drawer (lanyards, paper clips, unspecified sets of keys, etc.) to add to her box. At one point she was having a birthday party with a cake and candles, naturally, and when she blew out the candles, I overheard her say (in perfect imitation of the Too Much Birthday book from the Berenstain Bears), "I only want five babies!" Well my ears totally perked up at that and I had to clarify, "Five, Raegan? You want five babies?" "Uh-huh. Five!" she told me and the whole exchange made me smile and reflect back on this weekend (P.S. HD is a huge fan of babies, too, and has told me before that we should have ten - I may have baby fever, but whoa, we are not having ten! - so don't be surprised if someday I'm a grandma with lots of grandbabies!!).
During our first prenatal module this past weekend, we learned that when a woman becomes pregnant with a girl, that baby girl already has all of her eggs inside her that will someday become her own children. Isn't that the most amazing fact?! When you track it forward and backward, it's rather mind boggling. It means that when Raegan was in my tummy, I also carried the eggs that will become her future children and my grands. It also means that my mom technically carried all of my kids in her baby bumps and my grandma carried me once upon a time, too. When you look at pregnancy and family in that way, doesn't it just make you feel so connected? My maternal grandmother has been gone for over a decade now, so to suddenly have this knowledge that connects me back to her is incredible. It's a beautiful intertwining of past, present, and future, really. And when Raegan declared that she would someday have five (that was a fun typo - I just typed fine the first time), I had no doubt because I've already carried those sweet babes and can't wait to hold them again.
Another realization this weekend was learning more about the story of Lakshmi...not from a point of worship, but rather awareness of her connection to and symbolism of beauty and abundance. She is the goddess of "wealth, fortune, love and beauty, the lotus flower and fertility" which is perfect for a mama with baby fever and who also has a daughter who is suddenly talking about her own future baybeys. I also had to smile bright when I heard that Lakshmi's creature vessel is the owl. If you've been with us from the beginning, you know I love all things owl for my Sweet Baby Girl (even her crazy baby owl eyes). I also smiled at that information because our teacher had encouraged us to wear Lakshmi's colors (pink and gold) and adorn ourselves beautifully this weekend with jewelry and whatnot and look at what I almost packed:
Costume owl jewelry that I have tucked away to someday give Miss Raegan. I ultimately decided against it because I knew I wouldn't want to practice in it, but how amazing is that? Once again, I already had the knowledge and the connections within myself. I just needed to see them. Very auspicious indeed!
To say that Raegan is a wee bit disappointed about not being able to start preschool this week, like her beloved big brother, would be a gross understatement. The child has talked about nothing else for the last week and she is clearly so bummed that she's not old enough for "Peeeescool" (which is funny if you look at it from a PT standpoint because she totally doesn't need that kind of school!). Like most, I wanted to find a way to, perhaps not "fix", but at least to ease this transition for her.
Thanks to various activities available around town, our Tuesdays and Thursdays should be fun-filled and active this fall. Fine Arts Tuesdays will be a snap thanks to Little Music Makers and Toddler Art. Thursdays will be MOPS and Toddler Time at the library (if I've got the right story time in mind, anyway). But MWF are pretty wide open and RL and LT and I just don't quite know what to do with just ourselves and not Mr. Harrison along for the ride. That is why, when a friend suggested last week that we do some preschool books with Raegan at home while HD's at school, the light bulb went off over my head. Brilliant! She's the kind of kid who will actually sit and do such things for an extended period of time, so I hopped on Amazon that very night to find some great workbooks for the preK set.
When I mentioned the idea to Raegan this weekend, however, I was met with something pretty similar to this face:
But guess what? This picture was taken this morning on our first official day of Home Preschool (and yes, she asked me to take her picture but then gave me this face)! Now, I'm not actually claiming to be leading a home preschool. I'm not cut out to be a home school parent or a preschool teacher (god bless those who are!), but for Baby Girl, I decided to do my best and give her a chunk of time three times a week to "do" preschool here at the house. I went to the store, got a little tote and some various supplies for it and we're just going to see what happens. Here is what the rest of Day One looked like:
Delight upon opening the tote and looking through the contents! If she would let me pull her hair up more often *ahem* you might better be able to see said delight.
Checking out the goods. My idea is that I'll switch the books each few weeks and add/subtract craft supplies/projects whenever needed. Now, none of this may float beyond this week - I'm just throwing out the very rough "work in progress" here for y'all!
As far as trial runs go, though, I'd say this morning was a huge success. She played with different activities for AN HOUR (!!!!) and then again when we got back from an errand run. Craziness. The stickers were a huge hit, although I had to do a lot of helping to get the backs off because somebody, for reasons and in locations unknown to us, has been biting her fingernails for the last year, at least. Perhaps this will motivate her to stop?!
Sweet Miss with her finished creation. I put it on our door, right next to one Harrison made shortly after we moved into this house, when he was roughly the same age Ragean is now. They make my heart smile.
The pony beads on pipe cleaners were fascinating for RL, as well. She filled at least two of them completely and managed to not make a huge mess with any of the stuff she did this morning. In fact, she even helped clean up the mess from the stickers! So, yes, she whips a pout and throw plenty of attitude at me, but dang, the girl is a rock star, too.
Now we just need to figure out what LT is going to do while RL does "preschool" here. I tried putting him in his chair with some crayons and a piece of paper taped to his tray this morning and it started off beautifully. For a few minutes, I thought I would actually have some of his artwork to hang in the house today, too!
But naturally it did not take more than five minutes for him to start trying to eat the crayon and then he found the tape under the paper and then he was just done. Can't win 'em all, eh?
Since the stories behind these images (taken the last few days) are lengthy, I'll let them do most of the talking while I do a wee bit of the explaining...
HD climbed up to help me make my playlist for Family Yoga on
Sunday; it's safe to say he missed me last week!
OMG! I finally got a sewing machine. I haven't sewed much since my quilting days in college, and I have a big project that I'd like to complete for HD's preK (more to come on that in a later post), so I am super stoked about this arrival. Except now I need, like, bobbins and thread and stuff, not to mention the brain cells required to operate the darn thing!
OMG again, but for all the wrong reasons. Do you see those two purple spots on RL's cheek? Yea, those are LT TEETH marks. I wasn't in the room with them when this happened, so I can only guess what she might have done to provoke this, but Baby Dude is totally a biter which is totally not cool.
For Pete's Sake. There is no longer a single surface
that is either safe or mine left in this house.
The little buggers are still super cute, though. This is them with their
"space gear" and friends, ready to get on their rocket ship
(a.k.a the love seat) which has been entertaining them,
blessedly, for a good half hour or so.
One result of the desk top takeover....creative calendar dates.
Actually, though, it sort of does feel like the 56th of August,
so maybe this is just flat out brilliant instead of bothersome.
Today I witnessed the most amazing occurrence with Miss Raegan Leigh. Perhaps you remember from way back when, when I wrote about her being shy. Granted, I still don't use that word with her because I'm not willing to label her as such (feeling shy is one thing - being called shy all the time is another), but it is true that while she is the loudest little person I know at home, out and about she tends to be pretty quiet and fairly reserved. Some of you have witnessed both sides of this, I'm sure. She just has her moments where she opens up and others when she pulls back; as a full-fledged introvert, I can totally relate.
Take KoolAid Days last weekend, for instance. I was teaching yoga that morning, but Ben and his parents brought the kids down for the parade and then I met up with them after to go check out the games and festivities. Poor RL - she didn't care for any of it, not one bit. Apparently she was feeling reserved from the very get-go because even when Gpa & Gma got there, she was already pretty quiet, and that only intensified at KAD; as in, she wouldn't talk to anybody and didn't want to do anything (although we did convince her to try on a new bike helmet and she was down with getting a treat from the ice cream truck, naturally). My FIL and I bailed on the whole event early (neither of us were crazy about the crowds either) and brought the two littlest Littles home and only then did Raegge open up and start talking again. But, like I said, I get it. Totally get it. Crowds freak me out. Being surrounded by people I don't know and a whole lotta commotion? Not my favorite thing. I'm probably a lot more vocal in comfortable situations/surroundings, too, so I don't blame Baby Girl one bit for pulling back when she's out of her element.
All of this is to say, though, that my heart smiled big time today when we went to Family Yoga at avani. I was off from teaching it this week (but will be back - woot! woot! - for next weekend - the final week in this summer session) and was so excited to get to attend with my crew. Even though my back is far from me being back (ha - bad pun intended) on the mat, it was awesome to be there and be witness to the good vibes my kids get from being there, too. LT crawled around and over us the whole time like he owns the joint, HD gave me a kiss on the shoulder when Megan instructed us to think of something for which we are grateful, and RL? Well, she was the true delight to see today.
It speaks volumes to me, 'cuz I'm not totally biased or anything, of the good energy avani brings, but thanks to this Family Yoga adventure during the last month and a half, I can see the joy and comfort my children are getting from yoga, just as I do. From the moment we arrived to the second they left (Mama had to stay for a meeting - FUN stuff to come this fall!!), Raegan was all smiles. She greeted Megan when we walked in the door, participated in all the moves and games, and she even hopped up without a bit of hesitation when M asked her to be her partner to demo the partner poses for this week. Honestly? I was shocked. I didn't think she'd go for it, but Raegge totally ran up to the front mat, plopped down, and was all grins as they seesawed together. Coolest thing I've ever seen. It made me so happy to see the light and open heart of the girl I know so well shine in front of others, and in a public place, to boot. Ahhh, yoga. Wonders never cease.
(RL getting her yogs on, earlier this year, with Yoga Pretzels)
Here, in no particular order, is our Memorial Day whirlwind trip through SoDak to see the Moore/Jansen fams, all through the eyes, comments, and experiences of a little but very loud 2.5-yr-old:
* "Grandpa! You so funny! HAHA (imagine the "haha" in PeeWee Herman's voice, because that's totally what RL sounds like)" - This was in response to Grandpa Tom's "flip eggs" - eggs he cooks in a little skillet and then flips in mid-air to cook the other side. Totally impressive (whether you're 2 or 32), totally tasty, and apparently totally amusing.
* "HAVE TO GO POTTY!!!! HAVE TO GO POTTY NOW!!!!!!!!!" - Oh, dear me. A 2.5-yr-old bladder is not my favorite travel companion. We had four days of travel in five days of the total trip and each day should have been less than 4 hours in the car. Instead, it was always at least 5, if not longer thanks to nursing stops for LT and potty stops for RL. We were insane enough to let her ride in undies the first day, too, so it was really terrifying when we realized that while she would warn us that she had to go, she did not do so until about 90 seconds prior to her pee being a Stage Five emergency. We learned for the remaining legs of the trip to put her in an invisible (the name my kids have for pull-ups) but were still at the mercy of random and frequent roadside pit stops.
* "Cake in the sky? I see it!" - Sunday night while the kids were eating supper, my mom tried to superstitiously show me a fancy cake mix that was stashed on the top shelf of her baking cupboard, except my daughter was clearly paying more attention than Grandma thought, though, because a few minutes after I had given the kill signal and the mix was safely tucked back out of sight, we heard Raegan say this little gem. Cake in the Sky. I like it.
* "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" - Reason my 2.5-yr-old was crying? Just told her she couldn't ride her bike. In the van!!! As we were traveling down the highway!!! Such nerve I have.
* "Want Tiger!" (Daniel Tiger music) "Want book!" (any book would do, but of course it's always better if it is the book her brother is currently reading) "Snack!!!" (Can you say "goldfish?") - Music, reading, and food are our travel coping skills since we don't do videos in the car and holy wow, did Little Miss have a lot of requests as we made our way here, there, and everywhere. And let it be known, if you chose not to listen and/or acknowledge her, she'll just keep saying it, louder and louder, until you do. Consider yourself warned.
* "UP!" Good thing she's little and light. Baby Girl still wants picked up and carried all the time. She does it to me and if my arms are free, I oblige, but typically I'm holding Lincoln, so if her No.1 Person is around, she's perfectly content to be in his arms instead. Because she's tired. Because there was a loud noise. Because she can. It's just that simple.
* After asking "We going home?" every time we got in the car, all long-weekend long, when we finally did hit the road back to Hastings on Memorial Day, we weren't ten miles into Nebraska before she sadly started saying, "Go back to Grandpa's? Want to go back to Grandma's!" It's nice to know she enjoyed the trip and that she loves her family. It's also quite nice to have survived another road trip with three small Littles and be back home. Traveling with a toddler (and her brothers) is not exactly a vacation!
To pick a favorite song, much less a favorite artist/band is impossible. So much depends on so much (said the most vague utterance ever). One group that I've stood by for a decade-plus, though, is Guster. They always make me smile and jam out. In fact, I've written about them before. And before, so if you've been reading along with me for a while, this isn't news. But lately it seems that my children have taken one particular Guster lyric to heart and are currently living it out loud as best they can.
While I have many favorite Guster songs, "Manifest Destiny" is one of my Most Favorite Faves. Thanks to the beauty of the interwebs, you can listen/see it here (please read the next sentence before you click on this, though, esp. if in the presence of wee ones!). Much as I love "MD" so, I hardly ever play it in front of my kids because of the random (and against their norm) f-bomb in the opening lines. I fully own and accept my own potty mouth but I also do my darndest (by using words like darndest) to watch my language in front of my kids. As it happened a few months ago, though, we were all cruising down the road together, and HD picked Guster to listen to next, so I popped in the Ganging Up on the Sun album and we just let it play. Ben knows me and my music well enough to know what words begin "MD", so as it started, I saw him giving me Uhhh?WhatAreWeGonnaDo? eyebrows from the driver's seat. The music was loud and the kids were jamming out, though, so we did what any quick thinking don't-want-the-babies-swearing-just-yet parents would do - we started coughing loudly over the f-bomb which surprised and delighted our kids to no end. I think they must have requested we start No.3 over four or five times in a row that day and they laughed hysterically every time we carried out our clever cough cover-up.
Apparently we should have kept coughing because to this day they want to hear "MD" all the time and it turns out that the potential profanity was the least of our problems. The lines that come shortly after it and that are repeated throughout the song numerous times and are therefore causing us all kinds of problems are as follows: "Do you want to change your mind? You can alwaaaaaaaays change your mind." Seriously. You should never ever tell a child that this is OK (even though it totally is).
As parents we deal with about a million and two questions/answers/decisions every day. I'm going to throw out another Seriously here because holy mother of wow are there so many Things to decide every day in life with Littles. And lately it seems that our answers and decisions are all up for discussion or flat-out defiance as HD and RL are walking, talking, occasional-tantrum-throwing examples of alwaaaaaaaaays changing their minds.
Perhaps you remember my post about Jekyll and Hyde Miss Raegan? Well she's still at it at all hours of the day. She wants her hair in her face. She wants it up. She does NOT want it up. She wants it up in three ponies. She wants it taken out. She wants the pink pony holder. She wants me to have it. And that is all in the span of three minutes with moods as up and down as her hairstyle. It is darn near impossible to keep up with her activity level much less the attitude.
Harrison is no different when it comes to decisions although thankfully his four-and-a-half-ness makes him slightly less volatile in emotional reactions. But man, the wishy-washies are getting me. It doesn't matter if we are talking about what to have for snack, what to wear, or what game to play, he is going to change his mind. And then change it back. The trickiest example keeps happening on weekends when he has the option to either go somewhere with Ben and Raegan or stay home with me while Lincoln naps. Of course he wants to go. He is a curious and active kid, so why wouldn't he want to go? But lately he keeps saying that he wants to stay home with me. While I'd like the quiet of nap time to myself some mornings, I feel bad telling him no so often I say, "OK; stay home." But then, as soon as Dad and RL are out the door, he starts saying that he really wants to go with them. Usually we can catch them in time and he can tag along, but sometimes we don't and then, well, then the emotions can be quite volatile. So why the yes/no/yes if really it is yes the whole time?!?!
At least the question of "what song would be playing on the soundtrack of my life right now?" (am I the only person who plays this game?) is an easy answer.
It is the best of times, it is the worst of times. It is Life with a Two-Going-on-Two-and-a-Half.
The Best of Times
* The days when I go up to get her from her afternoon nap and she's either still asleep (sleeping babies steal my heart every.dang.time) or just waking up and is all warm and snuggly. "Me still sleepy, Mama" she tells me and then melts into my lap and onto my shoulder as we snuggle in the rocking chair before going to find the boys downstairs. Best!Ever!Moments!
* Watching her attend to her little brother. If he's upset, she tells him, "Hey, Buddy! Hey, Buddy! I'm here. It's OK!" and when it's time to put him down for a nap, she'll grab a baby doll or a stuffed animal (or both) and cart them around the room in the dark as I do the same with LT and we both sing "Fwinkle, Fwinkle, Fwinkle Star" to our babies. She's also good about the post-nap follow up question: "How your sleep, Linky?"
* Littles with Allergy Nose aren't much fun, but the influx of runny clear stuff from her face has also meant an influx in her requests for a "cwean necklace" to wipe her snot. That might just be my favorite Toddlerism of all time.
* Also fun in the lingo world? Menk-goose for Music has morphed to good old Mucus (again with the snot - sorry) and boy, does she love Mucus. And boy do I love to watch her dance!
* "I do yoga!" as she flips into down dog or brings her knee up and strikes tree pose at the most random of times (the best being when she and her big brother decided to yoga on their chairs during lunch which of course led me to say that while you can be a chair in yoga, you cannot do yoga on your chair while you eat!).
The Worst of Times
* The furrowed eyebrows glaring at me through hair that she refuses to let me pull up out of her face (even if I get a pony in, it never stays there for long) as she tells me oh-so-emphatically, "NO!" even when I've just told her that she's getting her way about something. No, really. Tonight she told me at dinner that she wanted a bath and when I said, "Yes! You get a bath tonight!" she responded with righteous indignation and, again, grumpy eyebrows.
* Public defiance. And so it begins. Instead of just tagging along as we run here and there, she is now on her own mission which often includes wanting to enter/exit the van a certain way (which typically means through my door that she will shut herself, thankyouverymuch) and possibly not wearing her shoes (they come off in all manners of places at all manners of time). All of this lollygagging means more prep time for me to get out the door to go say, anywhere, but it spells disaster when it involves getting to preK pickup to collect Harrison and she's just not feeling it. A friend watched a full on pick-her-up-in-one-arm-while-carrying-the-baby-(and her shoes)-in-the-other moment when we tried to leave the Adventure Challenge play area at the Y last week because Little Miss just wasn't ready to go. Why must the leaving be so, so hard?!
* Perhaps this is redundant after the first two points, but holy mother of tears. The tears! And shrieks! They can come in an instant and are instantly ear splitting. And then they're gone. And repeat, repeat, repeat. It's a good thing toddlers are bendy and resilient because with all the flinging to the floor they do with their bodies, it's amazing they don't hurt themselves more (although she does enough face plants and wipe outs these days that I'm thinking a crash helmet might be in order).
And there you have it. Dickens, The Days of our Lives and Growing Pains, all in one (huh? Did I really just lump classic Lit, soaps, and sitcoms, all in one? whoa.). Love her spunky spirit, though, and the fact that her pants are often on backwards and her shoes on the wrong feet (if they are on at all). She is finding her way in the world and I am honored to have a front row seat for the show.
Oy, me. (Um, I sense a trend here of starting my posts with *sigh* sounds. I blame April.) Why must the excitement of one day lead to the fallout of the next?
Yesterday was HD's Easter Celebration at preK which included an egg hunt and a visit from the Easter Bunny. And, duh, goodies in plastic eggs. Each kid was asked to bring enough eggs for the class and then they hide those and somehow the teachers work their magic so everyone comes home with the same number of eggs. It doesn't matter what you put in them and I have seen anything from band-aids (we totally copied that for his Valentines this year) to bouncy balls to balloons (Smart! and so copying that one next year) to the standard chocolate or jelly beans. Harrison got to pick his egg stuffer this year and went for Hershey's chocolate eggs - a boy after his mama's heart, I guess. Plenty of other kiddos must be after my heart, too, because his basket came home loaded with sugar yesterday.
I've taken different approaches to The World of Sugar with my kids, but for the most part my philosophy for food is all things in moderation. We don't exclude much but we don't go overboard with much either (except all things bread and dough - again, HD is just like his mama when it comes to this). Yesterday, though, I decided to get the Sugar Coma over in one big rush. Because he's awesome, Harrison shared his goodies with his sister and with me and we opened every single egg; we ate all but two (there are only 15 kids in his class, so please don't think I let my kids eat 50 lbs. of sweets in one sitting). And actually? The kids weren't too bad after that. We had to listen to the Animal Actions songs about 100x so they could dance and run it all off, but I figured that was a small price to pay for not prolonging the whining for candy. I was, of course, wrong.
Why must there be a fallout? It's the same when we go on a trip or they go to spend a few days with the grandparents - the return home and re-acclimation is always rough. And apparently going to town on Easter candy is no exception. This morning wasn't pretty. No one finished even one bowl of cereal (HD usually has two or three and RL can have as many as five or six on any given day) and HD spent most of breakfast crying because he wanted the last two remaining eggs but I wouldn't let him have them unless he finished his cereal. And I mean, crying (and wailing and tears) the. whole. meal. And of course RL chimed in with, "Me want sucker! Me want suckerrrrrrrrr!" and her own little whiny tears. For the love of Pete, children. How many times do I have to tell them whining does not help their case?
Apparently forever times because they just kept going to the point that HD had to take a break in the action to go calm down by himself. Even though it was a bit of A Morning, I had to smile when RL followed him to his time out spot where he asked her, through sobs, "Raegan! How am I ever going to calm down?!?!" and she started singing Daniel Tiger's line "take a deep breath, and count to four!" to him. At least PBS and their yoga-lovin' mama are teaching them something, eh?
Of course I'm sure you've realized the real lesson learned here, right? Eat ALL the flippin' eggs the first time.
Oh, Miss Raegan. How you delight, amaze, and challenge us on a daily basis. Life with our Sweet Miss is in that really fun toddler stage where they can do quite a bit on their own (and in her case, insist upon such!) and you can actually trust them to do a lot of it by themselves. We are also in what I will call the High/Low of toddlerhood where we can go from happy to sad to happy to sad in the span of two minutes or less, which is usually the result of a following exchange:
RL: Me want Crispees (Cripex).
Me: You want more Crispex?
RL: No. *tears*
Me: You don't want more Crispex? You're done?
RL. No. Me want more Crispees. No Crispees! *tears*
Me: No more Crispees. OK.
RL: YES! Crispees!
Me. *gives Crispees!*
RL: *tears* Crispeeeeeeeeeees! (is this because I gave them to her or didn't or what? seriously. can't keep up.)
Me. *tears* (just kidding. High/Low gives me whiplash but has yet to reduce me to tears.)
And trust me when I say, I'm not exaggerating that for you; that scene plays out in a hundred different ways every week. But eventually we sort it all out and get her what she wants (doesn't want?) and we move on with life. Also moving on in RL's world? The potty progress!
As you may remember, Baby Girl decided on her second birthday that she was going to start using the potty. This was highly unexpected and was highly messy and honestly highly bothersome for quite some time. Finally, in the last couple weeks, we hit a smooth patch where she is actually consistently listening to her body and getting herself to the bathroom on time and - get this - I can feel (fairly, sort of, a little) confident leaving the house with her in undies! WhooHoo! And again - this is all her. I would have never even bothered potty training what with everything else going on in our world right now, but RL had other plans. May all of her independent streaks be so productive! ;)
The other delight of Life with a Two is, of course, the language. I love, love, love listening to a Little learn to speak and Raegge has not failed to deliver in this regard. As for the family, she's got us covered: Ben is Daddy, I am Mommy (why? I am Mama, but she's calling me Mommy; we'll work on that), Brudder has become Heh-i-sun, and Winkun is still Winkun or Winky; it's all very, very sweet. Oh, and when my parents visit, Mara is Mar-na which we all love! And just like the potty progress, her speaking has really taken off in the last few weeks. She was talking a lot prior to that, but suddenly we've got full phrases and sentences popping out all over the place and it's just fun. Here are some of the highlights of Raegan-ese:
* Take the "tr" out of "truck" and replace it with "fw" and you have quite the loud word being yelled at quite loud volumes, quite often. Actually, this got better for a few months but all of the sudden, it's back. Oh, truck!
* "Mama. Ihaffaqueshton" She must listen to her brother. A lot. Because Harrison says to me, a lot: "Mama, I have a question." :)
* MenkYou & WelkUm - the sweetest version of toddler manners you've ever heard, and hilarious because she says it all as one phrase. You give her something she asks for and she responds, "MenkYou(short pause)WelkUm" all the time.
* Fingees. Raegan's digits are not her fingers. They are her fingees.
* ME DO IT! Seriously. What two-yr-old doesn't use this phrase all the time? But wow, my little peanut is quite independent. She likes to dress herself, feed herself, sing by herself - she can do it all! And in case you don't quite hear her when she hollers ME DO IT! at you, she'll put her hand up in the stop motion to clarify.
* DaddyMissaMe. I heard this a lot last fall whenever Ben hit a streak of meetings and was gone for long days. She would wake up from a nap and when she found out that Daddy was in fact not at home yet, she would dissolve in tears and sob, "DaddyMissaMe! DaddyMissaMe!" And I would hold her and say, "Of course he does, Honey. Daddy misses you! And you miss him, too."
* Seek-a-boo! This is one of my favorites. I love when she hides and then calls out, "SEEK-a-Boo!"
What's next on the docket for The World According to Raegan? No idea. But you can best believe it will be both amazing and adorable, just like her.
