Flower Baby!

From about 15 months old or so, both of my girls have loved to see themselves wrapped up in their towels after bath time.  It's a fun way to get them out of the tub.  C is on the last hooded towel that will wrap around her and it has petals for the hood...our little flower baby:

When Did That Happen?!

Since I've been hiding from the heat, I've been relying on other people to play outside with the girls.  My mommy's helpers have been invaluable and J has spent a lot of time with them, too.  Imagine my surprise, then, when I went out this morning with them while the weather was tolerable and discovered that C can pedal her tricycle!!  When did that happen?!

I had tried to show her a few times earlier this spring how to let her feet take turns pushing the pedals, but then my belly got too big to bend over and it got so crazy hot.  I knew she would figure it out eventually.  But I was still a little sad that I wasn't there when she did.  Go, C!  Such a big girl!  Maybe if I hide inside all summer with the baby, she'll figure out how to potty train herself, too.

Her First Nightgown

C recently made her debut into the little girl privilege that is a pretty nightgown.  It might have been a little early, because it almost swallows her up; but her reaction was worth it.  "I'm wearing a dress to sleep in!"

This is the same nightgown that A wore two years ago.  Why is it so picture-worthy, you ask?

Because it was my nightgown many years ago.  Another one of those handmade blessings from a Grandma whose loving hands continue to touch her family.

Remarkable Phenomenon

Ah, quiet time.  It's really not meant for a 2-year-old, I don't think.  She is still just scary enough that I'm afraid to leave her unsupervised, but I need that break.  She got close to climbing out of her crib one too many times, so she's on the floor now with the whole room at her fingertips...including the built-in shelving unit with cabinets full of toys.  So far, she hasn't started pulling everything out or climbing the shelves, but I know it's just a matter of time.

I will say that she is doing well with quiet time.  She is no more cranky in the afternoon than she is in the morning, so I can't blame her defiance on no nap.  She's just two.

The one thing I have noticed that changes after quiet time is her volume.  It's rather remarkable.  When her timer starts beeping at the end of quiet time, she begins yelling, "Mommy!  My timer!  Come!  It's beeping! Come get me!  Mommy!"  And her volume remains at that level for hours.  It's as if she's afraid to be quiet again lest she fall asleep.

She did this a few days ago when we were at the store with Daddy.  We could not get her to be quiet for all the threats in our kingdom.  Nor for all the consequences at our disposal.  She just could not use her inside voice.  The more tired (tireder?) she gets, the louder she gets.  I suppose we're using all of our "quiet" during that one hour of the day and it's too much to ask to save some for later.  I'll take that trade-off, though, and keep repeating my daily mantra, "Turn your volume down.  Turn your volume down."

Works of Art

You may have picked up on a recurring theme around here that my children can sometimes be a bit frustrating.  I always love them, of course, but sometimes they can be a smidge exasperating. That's why things like this are cherished in a mommy's heart:

And I know the little one is really thinking the same thing, she just doesn't have the fine motor skills to write her thoughts yet.  But I know how to translate this...

I love my job!

Crazy Combo

I know toddlers put a lot of crazy combinations together at the table and I'm not one to stop them.  After all, if ketchup helps green beans go down, I say go for it!  But C caught me off guard the other night at supper when she asked to follow her cupcake dessert with another pickle.  I get that some people want to finish on a salty note, others on a sweet note.  I can understand that.  I could not understand using the pickle to scrape the frosting remnants off the cupcake.  Frosted pickles?!  I'm pregnant and that still sounds disgusting!  Had to document that one.

Last Holdout

Apparently mama is the last holdout on naps around this house.  I finally surrendered and allowed C to have "quiet time" in her crib today instead of trying to force her to take a nap.  This is not very different from what we've been doing except that I didn't spend half an hour fighting with her to close her eyes at the beginning of the hour.  I put some books and a few toys in her crib and told her I would be back when the timer beeped.  She did really well for a first attempt.  I only had to go in once when her band-aid started bothering her.  And she played quietly, too, so I actually got in a short snooze.  We'll see how cooperative she is this afternoon.

It really burns me that I have to be okay with this.  I really want to be able to force her to take a nap, but that just isn't realistic.  And it's not healthy for our relationship to have this daily struggle.  So, I surrender.  I'm not sure why they don't want to take naps.  After all, I think it's glorious and look forward to that time of day more than any other.  Okay, not quite...bedtime is definitely my favorite.

This Post Brought To You By...

...a two-year-old who won't nap.  Utterly infuriating!  She's lying in her bed alternating between cute sing-songy play and downright belligerent demands yelled at her mother.  "Mommy? Mommy, can you hear me?!  I don't want to take nap!  Get me out NOW!" Brief silent pause, then "itsy, bitsy spider-man went up the water spout."  I don't know who told her it was Spider Man that went up the water spout, but she's convinced.

I really would be fine with her not napping if she would play quietly like her big sister.  But this is a foreign concept to a toddler.  That's why they are supposed to take naps.  'Cause if you're too loud during quiet time, then mommy doesn't get her nap and that's just bad for the whole house.  Never mind that a toddler who won't nap is predisposed to lots of discipline as the afternoon stretches into evening.

And so mommy stands in front of the computer and tries to lose herself in bloggy world while eating chocolate and trying to make up the day's water intake.  But don't think I can concentrate to really write anything significant or worthy of your reading.  That will have to wait for another day.

I Blame You

Alright, some more of you out there started praying for me; I can feel it.  And, THANK YOU!!

I didn't mean to cause any concern with yesterday's post, just wearing my feelings on my sleeve.  Thanks to those of you have sent me encouraging notes and made offers of help.  I really am blessed with so many friends and family who genuinely care about how I am doing.

We've had a great day today.  It probably didn't hurt that I spent a majority of the morning at the doctor's office sans kiddos for my glucose screening.  No results until tomorrow, but I'm not expecting anything out of the ordinary.  Heartbeat sounded strong and the doc was pleased with normal progress.  And she made a really sad, empathetic face when I whined about my symptoms.  That's always nice.

J stayed home with the girls and even played phonics bingo with A while I was gone.  Bonus!  Schoolwork done while I was away!

Then there was this little jewel of a bubble-blowing episode.  I don't usually let them blow bubbles with their straws because it causes a huge mess and really, who likes being splashed from someone else's cup while trying to eat?  But, they weren't at the table...

They reveled in the freedom for almost twenty minutes.  I thought one of them would hyperventilate and pass out.  You can't see it very well in the video, but A's face was red from exertion.  C obviously got bored with bubbles and started just dumping her water on the floor, but I'm cool with that because she also likes to wipe it up.  Good clean fun!  (I stopped the video right before A announced that she almost got snot in her cup.  Yum.)

We even broke out the paint and glue and did a little art this afternoon.  And we all enjoyed each other.  That feels really good.  And I blame you, friends.  Thank you.

Shoe Trend

This is the latest trend in footwear at our house.  Be sure to note that daughter shoes only come in various shades of pink.

Have I mentioned lately what an awesome man I married?

Look Who's Two!

So, I'm a little behind with this one...what's new?  We celebrated C's second birthday two weeks ago with a double party at her cousins' house.  Grandma didn't get the pink memo or else she would blend into the decor.

Elmo was a big hit with the birthday girl.  Fortunately, he has an off button.  Nobody to blame for that one but myself.

Seems too soon, but she's definitely rounding the corner out of toddler and into preschool territory.  Her vocabulary has exploded and it has been so thrilling to listen to real conversations between my girls as they work out a conflict or make up a pretend world together.  Granted, we still have to remind her to use her words instead of resorting to tantrums.  But the words are there and coming more fluently.  The last couple of days she has been so endearing, asking "Mommy, it okay I (fill in blank with innocuous play idea) now?"  Who doesn't want to grant the every wish of a 2-year-old who asks permission to do things?  She likes to argue, too, just like big sister who is teaching her most of her words.  Getting them bundled up to go out a few days ago, I pulled a hat onto A's head only to be told by little sister, "Achooilly, Mom, that my hat."

She's taken to singing, which is always a hoot.  Her favorite tunes are from Mary Poppins.  She'll waltz around the house singing, "spoonful of sooger....medsin down, medsin dow-own, medsin go down."  Or she might wake up in her bed singing, "go fly a kite, up the height, go fly a kite soaring."  She also likes the ABC song, but insists on singing it at the top of her lungs; more of a shouting really.

I'm not impressed with the recent napping developments.  She's decided that falling asleep on her own is no fun anymore and I have to stand by her crib, hand on her back for a good ten minutes or so to get her to fall asleep for nap time.  Otherwise, she'll play for over an hour in there, talking to Elmo, kicking the walls, shouting her ABC's.  I'm of the opinion that she's too young to give up napping, but I'd be fine if she would play quietly.  I can handle an afternoon grump if I've had my nap, but keep me from my nap and we've all got problems.  I'm trying to convince us both it's a phase and we'll go back to the usual routine before baby brother arrives.

She's a real snuggle bug, always wanting snuggles when anything is wrong, or even if she's just cold.  Her "hold you, Mommy" has changed to "hold me" but the pitiful look is the same.  So sensitive to the least little reprimand...that big pouty lip makes it hard to scold her.  She loves to pray at meals and bedtime, always the same as her first prayer when I was away for an evening, "Dear God, Mommy back soon, Daddy back soon, A back soon, amen."

Two years already.  Yet, it's hard to remember life before you, baby.  May God continue to fill your heart with song, your mouth with truth and our family with your sunshine.

Not What I Had Envisioned

This time yesterday, when I was thinking through my weekend, I could not have envisioned what I've been doing.  I turned my light off last night about 10:30 pm.  J came in at 11:30 pm to tell me he was headed up to a local coffee shop to play dominoes.  Count with me...one hour of sleep.  I woke up at 12:30 am to the sound of A crying and coughing in her bed.  She runs to my room to tell me she's throwing up.  Oh, joy.  So concludes hour two of sleep.

Bless her little heart, she was so proud of herself that she only threw up on the ladder of her bunk bed.  Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we had sickness from a height.  That equals distance.  And contrary to her understanding, ladders do not in and of themselves contain liquids.  However, toy baby cribs situated below the ladder full of Littlest Pet Shop pets do.

It was 2am when J and I finally crawled into bed after cleaning it all up.  About 15 minutes later, she started again.  Fortunately, she was on the floor in our room in a sleeping bag and we were well-armed.  So, we rinsed and repeated for a few hours.  I was wide awake by this point and didn't drift off to sleep until sometime after 5am.  C decided to scare the living daylights out of me by waking up crying and coughing at 6am.  I ran to her room expecting the worse, but she was just ready to get out of bed.  I told her she had to stay in bed until the sun came up, sang her a song and tried to catch a few more winks.  We'll be generous and add another hour to the sleep count.

C really was done sleeping at 7am, so we got up and watched Mary Poppins.  A woke up around 8am and we started the movie over again.  Never enough Poppins.  After the movie, I thought it was a good idea for A to have a bath.  Into the tub they went.  Meanwhile, J was disassembling the top bunk so I could get at the final crevices.  We got that done and I turned to wiping down all the hard surfaces in her bedroom.  I was wiping down a drawer handle when I heard, "There's poo poo in the tub!"  I totally ignored that announcement.  J just froze.  I thought surely if I ignored it, it would cease to be true.  Not so.  I guess C was feeling left out of all the laundry and disinfecting.  Two girls out of the tub, one husband standing in dismay looking at said contaminated tub.  We both look at each other and bust out laughing till we're crying.  (As I'm typing this, he said, "You know it's been a long night when you laugh at the word 'contaminated.'")

I ushered the girls to my shower, praying that C didn't pee along her naked way.  I got to the bathroom behind them and she's standing over a puddle.  Seriously?!  I asked her if she peed on the floor and she said, "No!" like that was the most incredulous thing I could ask.  I realized she was holding a dripping rag from the bathtub and chose to believe she had wrung it out.  While we were waiting for the water to get warm, she squeezed the rag again and says, "I pee-peed again."  Oh, isn't that so funny?!  No wait, there's more...

I wash C's hair and get a big glob of shampoo in my palm to start on A when C starts making moves like she's got business to do.  I whisked her out of the shower and onto the potty and tried to convince her to finish there.  Nothing doing.  I go back to the shower only to discover that A has commandeered the hand-held shower and is creating a lake on the bathroom floor.  Will the mopping up never end?!!!

We are attempting lunch now.  Here's hoping the second half of the day stays drier than the first.

Not ready

C has shown some major interest in potty training in the last month or so.  I procrastinated on going all out because we had so much going on, including a couple of road trips.  Finally, I couldn't rationalize it away any longer.  I didn't want to miss the oft-coveted window of opportunity if she really was ready.  So about two weeks ago, after  a successful trip to the bathroom, I introduced her to big girl panties.  She did great for the first hour and I thought we might be on to something.  I asked her every half hour and she was eager to go try.  She had another success after that first hour, so I figured we were good for awhile.  Nope, she peed all over the kitchen chair two minutes after peeing in the potty.

Back to the bathroom we went.  I handed her a fresh pair of panties and proceeded to sit on the tiny stool blocking her exit for twenty minutes (!!!) while she wrestled with trying to put them on by herself.  At one point, it was so hilarious I went to grab my phone for documentation.  Unfortunately, I'm still trying to figure out my phone and missed the first five minutes of recording even though I thought I was getting it.  Aaarrgh!  The dialogue went something like this:
Mom: Do you want help with that?
C: No, do it.
Mom: (after watching another futile attempt to get one leg in each hole) Do you want help with that?
C: No, do it, Mommy!
Mom:  (trying to restrain laughter) Can I help you with that?
C: No, Mommy, own.  My do it.  (She patted me on the chest to indicate that I had my own panties to do.  She would do hers, thank you very much.)

While this video is not quite as thorough, it is pretty funny.  And I think it answers the question as to whether or not she is really ready to potty train.  So do the 12 pairs of panties I had to wash that morning.

Who's That Baby?

My mom recently passed on a photo to me.
















I asked A who that baby was and without hesitating she identified her sister.  The resemblance is pretty crazy, I think.  That's me opening presents on my third birthday.  What's even funnier is that everybody tells us C looks just like her daddy.  Maybe, maybe not.

Again?!

Yes.  Again with the, "When did you do that?! And where was I?!  How on earth?!"

In case you can't tell, that's pencil scribbles all over the wall.  When I first saw it, I made her come and listen to my scolding about how we don't write on the walls, only on paper.  Then she peeked around the corner and showed me the other wall she had scribbled on.  I gasped in shock and she thought that was funny, so she pointed across the hall to yet another example of her artistic license.  I was speechless.

As I was supervising the scrubbing, A asked if she had ever written on the walls when she was little and I told her no, this was the first incident of misdirected art at our house.  (I'm so glad it was pencil.)  But I can say with a smile on my face that the writing's on the wall...baby #2 ain't like baby #1.

First Day of School

Today was A's first official day of homeschool!  We've been looking forward to it for a while now.  Here's the excited girl in her first-day-of-school dress.

We did art and reading today.  For art, she practiced drawing rectangles so she could make stick people with "muscles."  We also made a first day of school time capsule and filled it with a sample of her handwriting, her painted handprint, a piece of yarn as tall as she is, and a drawing she made.  If I remember where I put it, we'll take it back out in the spring to marvel at her progress.  Here's our little art student...

And our eager tag-along

C decided today that she wanted to try sitting on the potty.  I was amazed that we managed to accomplish any goals for the day in spite of 3-5 trips to the bathroom so she could sit on the potty and play with the toilet paper.  Hopefully, she'll forget all about it for a few more months.

We've been doing reading all summer, so it was nothing new.  Even though I know A has a big capacity for words, I'm still impressed at her progress and how quickly she is catching on to each new phonics rule.  Today, I introduced the "nch" and "tch" endings.  She read with confidence, "Tex will clench his drink in his left hand.  Tex will crunch his thin chips and sip his soft drink."

Throw in the usual dishes and laundry, some time playing baby turtles on the floor, giving "swimming" lessons in the ball pit, and letting the little mommy put her big kiddo to bed and you have a very full day.

It's no trite thing to say that God gets all the glory for the success of this day.  I absolutely cannot do this in my own strength.  To God be the glory for the things HE has done!!

Sense of Style

I can't handle heels, but C's got it down.  Leopard print, no less.  Maybe it's the low-slung diaper with no pants that improves her balance.

And if I can't do leopard print shoes, I'm certainly not bold enough to try a wild animal print skirt.  But I think she looks like a million bucks.

I've been a headband girl for years now, but the bright, sparkly ones seem a little young for me.

She's got quite the sense of style, no thanks to me.  Maybe she gets it from her dad.

Photo Backlog

Here's a few photo highlights of our summer so far.  

Sitting in the fire truck during a playgroup tour of the fire station

Playing princess checkers with Great-Granddaddy

Transforming a fridge box into a castle for A's birthday party

A's fourth birthday party

Hanging out with cousins

Looking for planes to take off at the municipal airport

Now if I could only get them into an album so easily.

18 Months (Just Barely)

I'm really late making notes about C's 18-month milestone.  So late, that she's almost 19 months old.  Here's hoping I can focus long enough to finish this post in one sitting.

At 18 months, C, you are so affectionate.  I always said your sister knew no stranger, but you've upped the ante.  She wanted to talk to everyone we saw; you want to hug them all.  You do not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, or species.  It doesn't even have to be an animate object.  You recently pitched a fit at the splash pad because you couldn't figure out how to hug the fountain of water coming out of the ground. You're starting to accept that sometimes you can't give a hug and blowing kisses is a reasonable substitute.  It's a shame those lizards at the pet store were in a cage and only got an air kiss.  (No, we weren't pet shopping; only passing time out of the summer heat.)

You like playing with baby dolls, looking at books in your bed, coloring at the table (and sometimes on it), taking your clothes off and trying to get them back on, racing your sister, wearing other people's shoes, dancing, most foods (pickles, olives, onions, french fries, all fruit), crunching ice, telling knock-knock jokes with no punch line, mimicking A (for better or worse), swinging on the big girl swing, helping mommy sweep, and sitting in a big chair at the table, just to name a few.

Elmo is your new crush.  It's the first time I've seen you glued to the television.  I found a pair of Elmo pajama's in the 24-month hand-me-downs and you've worn them all week.  I could hardly get you to take them off the first morning.  I made the mistake of letting you see that Elmo band-aids exist, and you had them open before we checked out.  We'll enjoy it while it lasts, because I've got a hunch that Disney princesses are not far behind.

You are fascinated by steps.  The only one we have at our house is the curb at the end of the driveway.  On rare mornings, when I'm feeling like I can handle the heat for fifteen minutes, you go almost to the street and step on and off the curb as many times as you can before the heat and humidity cause a chemical reaction that turns your mama into She-Hulk.  Any other time you see steps, you want to give them a try.  When the weather is cooler, I promise to find a big, long set of stairs somewhere that you can go up and down to your heart's content.

You're hitting the "let me do it myself" stage with full force.  It started with buckling your booster seat after you got out of it.  Now you want to buckle yourself into it, and you also want to buckle your own car seat.  You also fiercely want to be able to dress yourself, but you're just not that coordinated yet.  Boy, do you get mad, mad, mad when I have to intervene and help you.  You want to dress your baby dolls, too, but that takes awhile to master.  Your big sister has finally figured it out, thank goodness.

Your 18-month well-check was pretty routine.  We got sent to the pediatric orthopedist, but that turned out to be nothing to worry over.  I'm supposed to keep an eye out for your fourth front tooth on the bottom.  It hasn't come in yet and it might not be there at all, since most of your one-year molars are in now.  Also not a problem, but we might have to take some steps later to make sure there is space there for your adult tooth.

You warm my heart and make me smile with your big, tight hugs and happy face.  You're getting over an ear infection and I had to hold you in the rocking chair through a few naps this week.  It wasn't convenient, but it was my pleasure to comfort you and have you relax into my arms.  What does God have planned for you, little bit?  How can I help you get there?  Can't wait to see.

No News

You know the saying...no news is good news.  Sorry to take so long to report it, but C's appointment last week with the pediatric orthopedist was uneventful.  At our 18-month well-check, I asked the doc if we should be concerned about her little toes turning in.  He said the infamous, "I don't think it's anything to be concerned about, but let's consult a specialist."  That's the same thing he said before A's thumb diagnosis and surgery.  So I was a little apprehensive.

Apparently, there is no pediatric orthopedist in our town, so I had to make an hour and a half drive north.  I was less than thrilled to learn that the reason we got such a quick appointment was because we were seeing the nurse practitioner.  Nothing against the nurse practitioner, but if you drive an hour and a half with an 18-month-old in the back seat, you kinda hope to see the doctor.  It took us longer to walk from the car to the office than our office visit took.  Probably because I let C toddle along holding my finger the whole way.  She was not happy about being stuck in the car that long.

The diagnosis is hip anteversion, but nothing that won't be outgrown.  Basically, she is pigeon-toed (which we knew) and the best treatment is to wait for her to outgrow it.  Braces used to be recommended, but they've found that braces don't help significantly more than just waiting, so let's not do that to a toddler.  The straightening will be very slow and gradual and I was told that we may not even notice it.  It doesn't affect her mobility or activity, so it's not a significant concern.

So, no news is good news.  Sorry it took so long.  This week has been a crazy busy week, but more on that later.