With boys and girls

The little ponies drive tanks. How else are they supposed to fight in the wars?

Baby#3, tooth # 6

Broke through yesterday? The day before? Such a bad parent!

Bottom right incisor? Is that even the right name for the tooth?

Sent from my iPhone

William

My parents were in town recently and they brought the kids some t shorts from San Diego. William was so thrilled, he wore his to school the very next day.

When grandpa came upstairs (William had a very sweet note left on their pillow requesting a ride to school the next day), William couldn't wait to talk about it.

Mama: what should you say to grandpa about your new shirt?
William: oh yeah! Grandpa?!?
Grandpa: (sleepily rubs his eyes, long drive+late arrival+early school drop off= sleepy grandpa) hmmm...what William?
William: Thank you for bringing me a shirt from San Diego! But, I do have a question.
Grandpa: your welcome...wait, what?
William: see this picture on the front?
Grandpa: yes...
William: I'm just wondering. Is this a picture of a dolphin or a porpoise? They are almost the same, but are different. Do you know which one is on my shirt?
Grandpa: (deer, headlights, albeit a sleepy deer) ummmmm...... I'm pretty sure it is a dolphin.
William: really? Great! How can you tell? Is it the nose? Or the tail? Or the flippers? How do you know Grandpa?
Grandpa: they told me at the shirt store.
William: oh! Wow! Well, how do you...

Mama: OK!! Zip up that jacket and out the door you go! Wow! It is time to go!

Happy at Patrick's day!

Here is William with his leprechaun hat he made at school this week. I can't keep every paper and project, but I'm trying to get pictures of some of my favorite things.

Oh, and don't worry. I am saving a lot of papers in my new file system. I'll tell you about it another time, but it only holds papers that are letter sized, not the bigger stuff.

Amelia

Amelia had a dentist appointment this morning. It went really well, but what stands out is this conversation with the dentist:

Dentist: how old are you now?
Amelia: (shyly holds up 3 fingers)
D: hmm.... I wonder how many that is? 2?

A: no! I'm not 2! I'm 3!
D: (looks to me) that surprises me! You are such a big girl, I thought you were at least 4! Are you almost 4?*
A: yes!
D: When will you be 4?
A: on my birthday!
D: (big, deep laugh, this answer has taken him off guard) You are right! I guess I asked the question wrong, didn't I?(Trying not to giggle) do you know what day your birthday is?
A: March! March 30!
D: Wow! That is very soon!

*and we finally have a dentist that TALKS to our kids at their level and spends a moment with them before shoving fingers in their mouth. Thank goodness.

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Amelia's teacups

I found a picture of the teacups and table set up.

Yes, she is one of ours...

It's taken her awhile, but Gemma is showing the same love of books as the other kids. Here she is crawling into my lap with her book of choice. She didn't stay around to listen to the whole thing, but she enjoyed the part she did hear.

On President's Day...

A month late. I'm sorry.

I will never get tired of kindergarten writing. It is osum.


Here we have a picture of what I assume must be Abe Lincoln in his tall hat. Inside his hat, we find the following gem:

"I would keep a tent and dinosaurs in my hat bkus tary are osum."

Obviously. Because dinosaurs and tents are awesome.

9 Month check up

Last Wednesday we had our 9 month visit with our doctor for Gemma.  My primary concerns were:

1. Update me on the food rules.  I knew the food rules in and out when William was a baby.  I keep up on the new stuff, but not as diligently as before.

2. Ear check - did we clear up the ear infection yet from last week?

3. Catch up on our HepB vaccine.  We declined this one at birth for the bean and need to catch up

So the answers were:

1. No major changes.  Whatever you want to give her is fine as long as it isn't a choking hazard.  Even peanut products.

2.  Ears look great.

3. Done

Everything else checked out great.  She's ahead of the game (obviously) on the gross motor skills and on track with everything else.  He noted that she is teething all over the place, which is probably why she isn't sleeping great still.

Her stats were:

Weight 20 lbs 12 oz  (85%ile for kids her age)

Height 29.5 inches (97%ile for kids her age)

Head: 45.7 cms(unknown, but probably large)

Which means, she is on track to be an Amazon.  Or a giant.  Or tall.  Or Gemma.  For reference: William's 9 month appointment & stats and Amelia's 9 month appointment and stats.

As an added bonus, that morning, Amelia woke me up and complained about her cheek hurting.  And then pointed to her cheek next to her ear.  Suddenly things started falling into place.  No apetite.  Check.  Falling apart over every little thing.  Check.  A doozy of a head cold the previous week?  Yes.  Generally difficult to negotiate/crabby/uncooperative?  Yes, yes, yes.  So far, I had been chalking these things up to being a threenager.  Yet, Wednesday morning when she came in complaining of cheek pain, I knew we probably had something more.

Luckily, the dr office was able to squeeze in an ear check for Amelia in conjunction with Gemma's well visit.  Look at me multitask.  The verdict?  Ear infections, both sides.  Ugly ear infections that had been brewing for some time according to the doctor.  He was very surprised to hear she hadn't complained once before this morning*.

* This makes two weeks in a row of ear infections for a grand total of four infected ears at our house and twenty days of remembering to give the antibiotic twice a day.

This also makes twice I have had to present kiddos to Nurse Skeptical.  Kids with no fever and no specific complaint other than they aren't sleeping well and aren't eating.  C'mon mom, her look tells me, get with the program.  KIDS CHOOSE NOT TO EAT AND SLEEP ALL THE TIME.  For NO REASON AT ALL!


I'll also add that twice I have been right about the ears being a problem.

Amelia

This is an adorable story about Amelia, but it requires a bit of background.

Amelia started taking ballet lessons this year from a woman who has a studio in her home.  She is a member of our church and has known our whole family for five years now.  In fact, when I was pregnant with Amelia, she told me I would be having a baby girl.  She was so sure, even when I was certain it was a boy.

Starting in January, the small group of girls in Amelia's class have been working on their routine for the Big Dance Show in May.  The dance is choreographed to have this group of girls having a little tea party.

As part of the routine, the girls use a tea set as props.  With Amelia's permission, we packed up her little, plastic tea set and brought it in for use during rehearsals.  The tea set has cups, plates, saucers, silverware in five different colors.  Each week when we arrive at ballet, the table is set with a tea cup and saucer at each chair.  The tea cups and saucers are all mixed up colorwise and it looks adorable.  And every week Amelia has to match everything up before she can go into the dance classroom.  It still looks adorable.

These cups have generated several funny stories that really demonstrate Amelia's personality quite well....



1.

A few weeks ago, the cups and saucers weren't on the table yet and the girls came to sit at the table.  The teacher passed out the cups and saucer willy nilly to each girl and the girls got ready to get down to practicing their dance.  Except for Amelia.  Amelia was not having any of it.  "No, no, no, no!  The cups are not together with their little plates!"

The dance teacher suggested that it might be fun to have them all mixed up one time for fun.

Amelia disagreed.  But, she was in a difficult position of having to disagree with an adult with her mama sitting right behind her shaking her head.

Amelia pressed on.  "The tea set is mine," she insisted "I should get to decide.  The cups and plates should match."

The dance teacher looked at me and laughed heartily.  She then whispered "she is SO related to your husband, isn't she?"

Why, yes.  Yes she is.

They switched the cups to be matching the saucers and all was right in Amelia's world again.

I attempted to have a conversation with Amelia on the way home about going the flow and listening to teachers.  I don't think I made much headway.



2.

A few weeks later, we were back at ballet and the table was set as usual - all willy nilly with no regard to the order required by Amelia.  She righted things as went off to dance.  When the girls came out to practice there was a problem.  ONE OF THE CUPS was missing.  Everyone looked around for it and someone questioned which cup color they were looking for.  Amelia surveyed the scene for a beat and announced that it was the light blue cup missing.

Again, the dance teacher looked over her shoulder with an eyebrow raised to say "A little engineer in training? She is so like John!"


3.

We were running late to ballet and we arrived the table was set, again with not a care to matching the cups and saucers*.  Amelia was in such a rush to get to ballet, she didn't stop to correct the disorganized place setting on the table.  When she came out mid way through the class to practice the dance she exclaimed, "Oh no! The cups!"

However, the music was already started and the girls were supposed to be dancing.  Part of the dance requires the girls to get up and switch chairs.  Amelia followed along with the dance steps.  I could see she was plotting something...but I couldn't figure out what.

Until it was time to move.  When she stood up to move to the next chair, she simply took her cup with her and left the mismatched saucer behind.  She matched this cup with the correct color saucer at the next seat and attempted to take the second cup with her again.  The dance teacher was onto her and made her leave the cups alone this time.  "Amelia!  Just dance!"

And she did.  But, she didn't like it.  As soon as the music was done, she hopped around the table and righted the colors with a big sigh of relief.

And the dance teacher looked to me and just shrugged her shoulders.  "What can you do?"




*For the record, I find it quite entertaining to watch Amelia problem solve her way through making her world organized the way she wants it.

A Volunteer

I stand in the front hallway waiting.  At times, I wonder if this waiting, waiting is the best use of my time....I have so many thing to do.  My list is a mile long.

And then here they come around the corner.  Each one of the twenty faces light up when they see me standing and waiting.  They shyly wave and a few exuberantly wave both arms over their head while doing a little jig in their place in line. A few look over their shoulder in delight to whisper "WILLIAM!  YOUR MOM IS HERE!"  Finally, my boy comes around the corner and when his eyes meet mine, a smile like the breaking dawn spreads across his face.  He has the most beautiful smile, my boy.  Totally irresistible.

"Mommy!  You came today!"

"Of course I did - remember?  We talked about it this morning."

He reaches his hand out and we hold hands the rest of the way down the hallway to his classroom.






"Mom?  I'm so, SO glad you are here."

In this moment, I'm not sure Disneyland is the happiest place on earth.  I think it might be this kindergarten class.

I am aware of the rarity of this moment.  My child is excited to see me at school.  He calls me by name in front of his peers.  Seeing me has brought a smile to his face.  This precious boy is so glad I am here.  I understand he will not feel this way about me forever and I relish these moments that are just the two of us.  By being here, he knows that he is important.  He is important enough that I stop doing everything for an hour a week to come to his school and help his teacher.  Some days I get to work with William.  Most days, I am working with other students who need a little extra help.

 So yes, most of the day I am check, check, checking things off a list.  All day long, I refer to my handwritten and mental checklist of things to do.  Pay the preschool, pick up milk at the store, wash the shirt for purple day, pack lunches, get notes ready for work meetings, etc.

At the beginning of this year, I committed to spending one hour a week at William's school helping out.  I have a lot to offer with a background in education and I love the opportunity to help.  However, there have been a lot of other perks.  I know each of his classmates by name.  I have observed (for better or worse) the classroom environment my child works in.  I have a personal relationship with his teacher.


In the end, I think although I am the one donating my time, I am coming out ahead.

Stay healthy

Contin.

Page 1: FATS AND OILS
Eat just a little bit. I like soda bkus it tasts good. Don't eat too much.

(Eat just a little bit. I like soda because it tastes good. Don't eat too much.)

Page 2: BE ACTIVE
I like to play baseball bkus it is fun. Ashleke I like all sprts. I like baseball the best. (On back). Sports are the best.

[I like to play baseball because it is fun. Actually I like all sports. I like baseball the best. Sports are the best.

Staying healthy

Page 1: FRUITS (you'll notice the pictures of fruit are labeled.). You shod eat 1 1/2 cups a day. I love frot! Orng is are the best.

[you should eat 1 1/2 cups a day. I love fruit! Orange is the best.]

Page 2: DAIRY
You soud eat and drink 8 cups a day. I like yogrt melkc, and cheese bkus they are yumme. They have clsem.

[you should eat and drink 8 cups a day. I like yogurt, milk, and cheese because they are yummy. They have calcium]

page 3: PROTEIN
Eat 5ozs a day. I like eggs fish nuts bkus the are yumme. The are osum.

[Eat 5 ozs a day. I like eggs, fish, and nuts because they are yummy. They are awesome.]

How to be healthy

Have I mentioned how much I love kindergarten writing? This is the first of 3 pages.

Page 1; no explanation required
Page 2: GRAINS, You shod eat 6oz of gans. I like bred cereal pasta bagls noodls pankas and potos. The grans are the best.

[you should eat 6 oz of grains. I like bread, cereal, pasta, bagels, noodles, pancakes, and potatoes. The grains are the best.]

Page 2: VEGETABLES
You shode eat 2 1/2 cups. I like carrits bkus they tast good. Vechtbls keep y (I asked him and he says it was supposed to say keep you healthy)

[you should eat 2 1/2 cups. I like carrots because they taste good. Vegetables keep y....]

9 Month added

How could I forget?

1. Clapping: no feat is too small or insignificant.  Clapping is always appropriate.  This adorable little trick is most often seen when she is standing unassisted.  You know, because when you are wobbling around, the best thing to do is wave your chubby arms around (did you SEE the picture with the elbow dimple?  Gah.  The cute.).  Often clapping is accompanied by a high pitched "AaaaaaaA" sound that is the same pitch and length of my own "Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!"

What really just kills me is when she will stand up, let go of everything, clap her hands and "ayyyyyyy" for just a few beats.  Then she stops and looks at everyone in the room individually.  The meaning is crystal clear.  Clap for me, people.  Clap now.  And when you do?  She erupts into giggles.

For the record, I still believe I am totally in charge of my children.


2.  Woof.  Our babysitter has two dogs.  They are sweet girls and they spend most of their time kenneled up when Gemma is around.  They have to be kenneled up because Gemma HAS NO FEAR and will happily pull ears, poke eyes, probe noses, etc.  Despite their kenneling, Gemma adores these dogs and will pull herself up on their cages in order to poke her fingers through.  This is more than one of the dogs can take (sticky, Cheerio covered, runny nosed, adorable baby out of lick range) and she will give one "woof" in order to lodge her complaint.  Gemma is surprised and jumps out of her skin every time it happens.  Which she finds hysterical.  Being so scared you startle and jump?  Absolutely the funniest thing ever.  (except the first time.  The first time she cried.  Every time after that?  She laughs and laughs and laughs).

Now, when it suits her*, she will give a "woof" followed by what can only be called a cackle.  Because it is SO funny thinking about how hilarious it is to be scared.




* Which I'll tell you is NOT in the doctor office or when the early childhood education teacher are asking questions or for demonstration of skills.

9! Months! Old!

How can it be?  Gemma is 9 months old today.  She is growing and learning at warp speed.  In the last week, Gemma has worked and worked to gain the confidence to start taking her first steps.  She absolutely prefers crawling and can cover shocking distances when properly motivated by open toilets, water on the floor, William's bedroom door left open and a cellphone/remote/electronic device left within reach.

Both John and I are trying to inhale what is left of Gemma's babyhood.  She is so happy.  Really.  All the time happy unless she needs a nap or is hungry.  Then, she will let you know.  Even with ear infections this last week.  She was a happy, go lucky, plucky little baby with a smile on her face most of the time unless she was tired or hungry.  She slept terribly at night and wasn't very interested in eating, but overall still just a happy girl!

Gemma has about 300 hundred cute things she does right now.  I'm surprised ANYTHING gets done around here with all the cuteness happening.  In no particular order:

1.  Peek - a - boo : Gemma hides her face from you.  This could be as simple as turning her face away from you or looking downward.  If you aren't paying attention, you'll miss it.  She waits a beat and then pops her head back up with a huge smile on her face.  She chortles merrily if you crow the appropriate "PEEKABOO!" in her direction.  Typically, we play about 564 rounds in a minute before she tires of it and moves on.  A round consists of looking away, popping her head back up, waiting for the peekaboo and then starting over.  And over.  Peekaboo is required now when buckling her into her carseat, dressing/undressing, diaper changes, in the bathtub and multiple other times during the day.

2.  Waving "Hi" and "Bye".  It just about kills me every time.  I was borderline last for work last week because I just need one more "bye bye" wave.  And then another.  And another.  And she was totally willing to cooperate with her sweet baby smile on her face.  Half of the time, she'll throw in a high pitched "Aieee" that matches my own high pitch "Hi/Bye" sound.  Which turns me into a huge puddle of goo.

3.  Gives kisses.  Great, big, open mouthed kisses on your mouth.  She isn't interested in your cheek or face.  She wants mouth kisses and is so excited she makes the cutest little rapid breathing noise when she makes her move.  It is like she is giggling just thinking about what she is going to do.  I'd tell you I love them (I do!), but she started kissing about two weeks ago in the middle of a doozy of a head cold that created a river of snot to continuously come out of her nose.  She dried up this last weekend only to be felled by yet another cold at the beginning of this last week.  So, each and every sweet open mouthed kiss has me cringing just a little.  I'm sure the nose will dry up sooner or later and I'll really be able to enjoy some baby kisses.

4. Singing.  To my knowledge, none of our other babies has done this.  If you start singing a song, Gemma will occasionally join in.  She will even attempt to match the notes if it is a particularly simple song.

5.  Dancing.  Again, to my knowledge, none of our other babies have done this.  If you play music, Gemma will usually sit on her knees and do the dance we have dubbed the "Gemma bounce".  Sometimes she will dance/bounce for several minutes.  She also adores being danced with.  If you do a few steps with her in your arms, she will crack a huge smile.  Until you stop.  Then the smile switches off and she'll do a little bounce to spur you back into the dancing.  If you STILL don't dance, she'll give you an insistent "eh!" along with a bigger bounce to remind you that she is READY TO GO.

Also, a few weeks ago, Gemma and I were sitting at the dance studio while Amelia had her ballet class.  The class came out to work on their dance number for the BIG DANCE SHOW and Gemma was enthralled. "Beautiful ballet arms..." the teacher sang and all the girls put their hands over their head.  Gemma observed this for one beat and then put her arms over her head as well.  "Bend your knees.." came next and so Gemma awkwardly bent her knees and would have tumbled to the ground if I hadn't had a good hold on her.  I couldn't hardly believe my BABY was doing ballet, but then she was distracted by a piece of glitter on her finger and quit learning ballet.  Which was fine by me.

6.  Mimicking.  Gemma frequently copies me, the big kids, ANY big kids really.  It never made the blog, but I meant to write about a Monday when I was cleaning the bathroom with both girls underfoot.  Which meant it took 300 percent longer.  I was wiping off the floor when Gemma noticed what I was doing.  She studied me for a few beats and then took her own hand and wiped the floor using the exact same motion.  She did it again and again (until she was either satisfied with her work or bored).  Again, I know our other kids did this.  I just don't remember this extent of mimicking and this early. 


Other notes:

-size 3 diaper/4 for overnight
-sized 12-18 month clothes
-considering moving up to another carseat as she is so HEAVY to cart around in the pumpkin seat
-randomly sleeps through the night about every 10 days or so.  Usually up one time a night, although was up 5-6 times a night when we had ear infections
- busy busy busy - she doesn't ever hold still!  She is just starting to enjoy reading books, although she can't sit through a whole book
- likes food!  She eats a big variety of pureed food and we are working towards getting her eating table food.  In the last week, we introduced yogurt with much success
-crawls like crazy, cruises and will take 4-5 steps by herself when she wants to.  Which is not usually when we have the camera out


This morning, the big kids insisted it was pajama day.  They did not want to get dressed.  Sounded good to me!  After lunch, we eased our way into clothes and ended up at the zoo.  It was Gemma's first time out at the zoo - I think she enjoyed watching everyone.

Birthday conversation

Tonight at bedtime:

Amelia: for my birthday I want 2 presents.
Mama: oh?
Amelia: I am going to get 2 rings. A sparkly silver ring and a very sparkly gold ring.
Mama: ohh? Do you think you are big enough to have rings like those?
Amelia: rings like that are very expensive. I will wait until I am big enough to have them.

(Pause)

Amelia: how old will you be on your birthday mama?
Mom: 35
Amelia: will you be old enough to not lose your ring then? I think I will be old enough by then.*
Mama: !!!!!

* backstory: I am missing a ring** and Amelia must have overheard me tell John about it this afternoon.

**my ring goes missing frequently. I will not admit here how often it occurs, but I will say that no one even panics anymore. It's here. It's always here. It will turn up soon.


Sent from my iPhone

Overheard

While we were making dinner tonight:

William: Amelia! Come here! Let's make a high dive!

Luckily, daddy was right there to nip that one before it got too far....

Sent from my iPhone

Gemma Steps!!

These aren't her first, but it is the first time we have caught them on video.

It's Purple Day at Preschool!

Which means Amelia is decked out head to toe in purple including (almost) every purple barrette we own.  She has a purple skirt, pants, shirt, sweatshirt and socks on.

Gemma even needed one this morning.   I was a little shocked she had enough hair to make it work!

Big boy

William can tie his own shoes! 3/1/13!

He is so proud and happy- although you'll need to plan an extra 10 minutes before departing because he isn't speedy yet.

Sent from my iPhone

Like an elephant

I was hustling this morning - trying to get everyone moving for the day. While talking with William and Amelia, I was in the process of changing Gemma's diaper. Luckily, William was in a very helpful mood and ran to the other side of the house to get me another diaper.

When he came back:

William: wow mom! Now Grandma isn't the only one who broke a diaper! You broke one too!

This kid remembers everything except where he left his shoes. Poor grandma broke 1 diaper when he was 2 or so. It made such an impression, he has never allowed her to forget it.

Busy busy

We overslept this morning. By a lot. Largely because Gemma was up a good portion of the night. When I got everyone up, we were 14 minutes from bus time. Not going to make it. Nothing like a scramble to make your Monday morning. Here is the run down:

Race around and get everyone ready for the day, breakfast, teeth brushed, clean clothes, shoes, jacket, etc
Drop William off at school
Target run for birthday card, Chapstick and browsing.
School district early childhood teacher meeting for Gemma at 10 (ummmm...that would be during nap time)
Feed Gemma
Get Gemma down for a nap.
Reschedule appointments x2 (dentist)
Make dr appointment for Gemma for an ear check. The gut tells me something is wrong.
Upload work documents for class tonight
Work out 35 minutes
Shower
Make lunch/pack lunches for tomorrow
Eat lunch.
Feeds Gemma
Clean bathroom
Take Gemma to dr apt
Gemma has a big ear infection
Pharmacy for meds
Home to feed Gemma
Clean another bathroom
William off the bus
John comes home
.review backpack
Do homework activity with William
Help John prep dinner
Eat with the family
Race off to work
Drop off paperwork at school office
Return call to grandma on new batcar phone
Kiss big kids
Fees Gemma
Collapse onto couch because tomorrow it all starts over again!


Sent from my iPhone

Uh oh

You turn your back for one minute. Literally one minute. It's a good thing she is cute.

More snow day fun

Snow days mean we have time to do fun things with hair- like loops.

William and Amelia also took full advantage of the time to play together as well! They played and played! It was so fun...until the fighting started.

These two are great friends. They do everything together when they are both home. This year has been a challenge for them to adjust to William being in school for full days. Both kids miss each other, although I don't think you will get them to admit it.

Snow day (s)

We had snow last week which meant no school for the kids and mama. It is HARD to get everyone outside with a baby! But, we did it! I put Gemma in her carrier with her snowsuit on and then zipped her inside my coat. It worked, but was pretty awkward for shoveling, digging, sledding or seeing my feet. The kids enjoyed lots of time outside and playing in the snow. By lots of time I mean about 12 minutes. And it takes at least 20 minutes to get everyone snow pants, mittens, hats, boots...uh oh...potty...etc.