Catching Up in Pictures

When Uncle Kelly babysat earlier in the month, he caught the following scene of Caroline taking care of her bear, "B":

He looks cold.

Maybe it's time for a nap

Better tuck him in!

We were really happy to get to see our friend Thomas this month, and we all went out to dinner at Mel's, including Grandma and Grandpa.

Working on the color-in menu

Here's what Daniel decided to do with the crayons.

You can't tell from the picture, but Max really liked the salad and salad dressing!

Uncle Kelly took everyone over to play with Grandpa while I hosted book club one night.

Caroline meets (and apparently terrifies) Smooch the cat

At the end of the evening, Smooch still won't come any closer

How they spent their time at Grandpa's house!

Actually, the better story about book club, and the one I'm sorry I didn't get a picture of, was when I walked out of the kitchen to find my friend Pam sitting on the floor with a glass of cranberry juice in her hand and Max on her knee.  The children will clamor for any beverage that is consumed in their presence, especially if it has the allure of being "off limits".  Apparently Daniel had already taken a sip and decided it wasn't for him, but Max, at that moment, had both hands on the rim of the glass and his nose and tongue plunged into the opening, lapping up as much as he could reach.  Pam was struggling not to drop him or the glass, and I simply couldn't resist the temptation to play snotty mommy and point out that my children have never had juice before.  Pam took me seriously (well, I was serious - they do only drink water and milk - but they also beg sips of juice or ginger ale or root beer, so it's not like they've NEVER had anything else) and pried the glass away, sending Max into a meltdown that required a few moments outside on the steps to cool off.  Whew!

We had one Saturday when we had TWO party invites!  The first was a birthday party at a big picnic area in Woodside.  The birthday girl even hired a "bubble guy" to entertain the kids (and adults).

Max popped a bubble

Everyone decides playing in the sand is more fun than chasing bubbles

Daniel goes for a run

Caroline plays bubbles with Melissa (who is known for stealing her whenever the opportunity arises) as her husband looks on

Just before this, Max clocked Caroline with a bubble wand.  Just after this, I poured a full bottle of water over her head to get the soap out of her hair and eyes.

Caroline did NOT want to play baseball

Daniel, out standing in his field 

out walking in his field

Apparently, Uncle Kelly informed Max that if he wanted to hit his sister in the head, this would be a more appropriate weapon.  Luckily, Max already understands sarcasm.

In the car, I peeled Caroline's soapy dress off, but she refused a change of clothes.  When we arrived at the next party 30 minutes later, she agreed to put on a tshirt, but no pants.  Thus, the oh-so-attractive outfit you see before you:

Max tried to make a basket only to have the ball bounce back and hit him in the head.
 

It happened again this time

Daniel figured out an easier way to dunk.

Ian and Caroline playing catch.  I'm telling you, sweetie, this is NOT a fashion statement.

Max attempts to dunk.

 The living room workouts involve a lot of "core" work - including Caroline's ab workout stretched between the rocking chair and couch (or couch and ottoman, or rocking chair and ottoman).

Sometimes, she stands at the kitchen gate pointing and yelling.  We offer her cookies, crackers, milk, water, all to no avail.  Finally, in an act of desperation, Joe grabbed the bag of marshmallows that was sitting next to the microwave.  

Apparently, that is what she wanted.  (And, yes, I know that marshmallows can be choking hazards - these are the mini marshmallows.  I'm not THAT bad a mother!)

Mommy Pretty Now!

Sorry for the delay - school has started up again and we're still adjusting to the new schedule.  So for a quick "moment in the life" with almost two year olds...

Tonight, after watching tv (everyone squeals "Dorge!" when Curious George comes on, and as long as there are no witnesses beyond family, Caroline shakes her booty and croons "Go, go, go" along with the Cat in the Hat), the children informed me that regardless of the fact that they didn't get up from their nap until after 3:30 and didn't finish lunch until 4, they were still ready for dinner at 5:45.  After Cheerios and chicken and avocado and blackberries and milk, they each asked to get down and go back to play.

At 6, I had switched the station and they were momentarily transfixed by the Berenstain Bears and Thomas the Train.  Then it was time for more playing - running around, throwing balls and dancing.  Caroline is in a marching phase now.

They sat up for Nina's Sproutlet Stretch - all raising their hands over their heads and then to their chests and making little hearts with their fingers.  I am constantly amazed by their comprehension and ability to follow complex directions.  Perhaps this is because I don't have high enough expectations for them, but it is truly amazing to me that these tiny little people can look at me, hear me ask them to pick up a toy and take it over to one of the other children and give it to him (or her) because he (or she) is crying - and they do it!

The other amazing observation is the gender distinction that's already showing up.  Caroline isn't entirely sugar and spice and everything nice - she's got her mean streak, for sure, and loves playing cars and building things and throwing balls.  And the boys are not always snips and snails and puppy dog tails either - Max is astonishingly affectionate and even makes his stuffed bears kiss and Daniel can sit quietly making dolls have long and involved conversations while all sorts of chaos is reigning around him.  But when one of the boys is crying - pitching a fit because a toy was taken away, or he wants something he can't have, or simply because he's a toddler and frustrated - Caroline instinctively knows to walk over to him and pat him on the back or head, or put her arms around him to give him a hug, or bring him the toy he wants.  Conversely, the boys don't seem to notice the other kids' tantrums at all.

But back to today's story.  So much for a "short glimpse"

After dancing along with Angelina Ballerina, Max and Caroline went wild tossing soft balls to each other, while Daniel raced cars back and forth on the tv stand.  And then, out of nowhere, Caroline had a meltdown.  She had found an orange crayon on the floor and had drawn on the seats of the high chairs and Daniel somehow grabbed the full box of crayons off the table to bring to me.  Because he calmed down relatively quickly, I'm fairly confident he was tattling on her.  I went in the other room and retrieved the orange crayon and put them all away and then cleaned the chairs, all while Caroline screamed.  I decided this was as good a time as any to demonstrate that she can't get what she wants every time she throws a tantrum, and she started to be distracted by things for a few seconds before remembering that she was unhappy.  Finally, she yelled for "cookie!" and looked at me, repeating, "Mommy? Cookie peas?"  Aha! A "please"!  She CAN have a cookie!

With the cookies in her hand (and mouth, and tummy), she decided we needed a little Mommy makeover time.  She grabbed whatever she could find - a flannel receiving blanket, a couple old burp cloths, and a diaper cover, to be specific - and started putting them on my head, across my shoulders, and over my face.  At one point, she decided one burp cloth was a hat and the other was a shawl.  After arranging them and proclaiming them "pretty", she decided she deserved to wear them and show them off to Daddy.  A glimpse of my future as she takes all my prettiest things.

But nothing can truly prepare your ego for the moment when your daughter carefully arranges a diaper cloth on your head, a burp cloth across your chest, and a flannel blanket over your face and proclaims, "Mommy! So pretty now!"

Ugh.

Chop Sticks!

No, they're not playing the piano yet.  But last week we discovered that the kids enjoyed stabbing at my plate of mu shu pork with chop sticks, so I gave them a chance to do it for themselves.  As you can see, Daniel and Caroline both successfully use the chopstick, but only Max really seems to enjoy the mu shu.

Living in this neighborhood, on a block with Chinese restaurants on both corners, they will definitely continue to get practice with chop sticks!

Which one are you, again?

I preface this story with a note that as soon as I realized what had happened, I called my mother and could barely tell her what had happened, I was laughing so hard.

Last night was bath night and afterwards everyone was diapered and too energized to let me get them dressed any further.  So I sat on the couch with a pile of diaper covers and onesies as they ran from the living room to the dining room and back, giggling like little madmen.  They discovered a measuring tape (the soft kind for sewing, not a hardware tape measure) and grabbed onto different parts of it to chase each other and fling each other down roller derby style.  I caught Max and started to put his diaper cover on, but he slithered away as I fumbled with the velcro.  I watched the little blue diaper cover slide down his leg as he ran out of it, but then grabbed it, and him, again and was successful this time getting the diaper cover on and a Captain America onesie, which he looked at and smiled.  Next, I grabbed Caroline and got her dressed and I was down to just one naked little boy who eventually submitted to being dressed in his bright blue Sesame Street onesie.

And we went on with our nighttime routine.  I warmed some bottles and gave them to them, noting proudly how Max and Daniel got in their correct "spots" this time, rather than switching as they've been doing the past few months.  Then I handed out toothbrushes and watched as they ran around brushing their teeth (and the furniture, a little), and then it was time for their sleep sacks - we have graduated from the swaddles to sleep sacks with open arm holes and long, sleeping-bag-like coverings to encase their legs - blue for Daniel, green for Max, pink for Caroline, and we settled in to watch one episode of Caillou before bed.

When the end music for Caillou comes on, there is generally a Pavlovian response triggered in the children as Daniel reaches up to be carried to bed and Caroline begins toddling off toward her bedroom.  This night, I scooped Daniel up and walked to the back of the house with Caroline on my heels.  When I walked into the bedroom, it was very dark - no moon showing - and Daniel started screaming as I put him in his crib, which is very unlike him.  Caroline had snuck back in the living room and as I stepped into the hall, I saw Max walking toward me and picked him up and deposited him in his bed, whereupon he started screaming, too.  I thought it might be because it was dark and Daniel was yelling - it was a little scary to me when I walked in with him.  But they always settle down, so I didn't worry.  I got Caroline and put her in bed, said good night, and headed back out.  They cried for about 5 minutes, which is longer than normal.

The night before, Daniel had cried at about 12:30, and then Caroline had cried, yelling, "Mommy - Danyoh!" as if to alert me that Daniel was crying.  But they both promptly went back to sleep.  This time they seemed to sleep solidly until about 7:00am - over an hour earlier than they are generally up.  If they wake early, they will generally fuss for a bit and then settle back down to sleep until after 8.  But not this morning - they kept on yelling every few minutes.

At 9:00, I got them up and brought them in the living room for a treat - smoothies for breakfast.  I sat on the couch and they milled around sucking on their smoothies, periodically handing me their cups to clear a blueberry husk or blackberry bit out of the straw for them.  After about 20 minutes, I looked down at Daniel who was leaning against my knee and was startled how much he looked like Max.  But he was wearing the bright blue Sesame Street shirt, so it was Daniel.  To be sure, I decided to check for the point on his ear.  I looked on his right ear, and it wasn't there.  So I looked at his left ear - maybe that's where it is.  It wasn't there.  And at this point, running my finger over both ears and finding no little bump, I honestly thought to myself, "Oh no! The point on his ear went away! How sad!" for a second or two before the truth dawned on me.

And then I leaned over to "Max" and checked his right ear and, sure enough, there was the bump!

No wonder they were so upset when I put them to bed - I'd put them down in the wrong cribs, in the wrong sleep sacks, with the wrong pacifiers, wearing the wrong onesies!  They probably woke up when sunrise broke through their curtain and would've settle back down like normal, except they were in the wrong place and freaked out all over again!

I spent all day today double checking who was who every time I changed a diaper.  I think they knew I'd dressed them in the wrong shirts and were trying to pull one over on me, but the joke ended up being on them when I didn't figure it out!

After all that, we went to the zoo with Colleen and Gavin today - here are some pictures from the petting zoo.

I am happy to report that nobody sat in the duck pond today.  Who knows what back-up clothes I would've mixed up!

Children's Creativity Museum with Hartley

We've been trying to get together with my friend Chelsea and her daughter Hartley for the past four months, but every day she was free, we had something planned, and every day we were free, she was out of town!  The one time we both had a date circled on our calendars, all four kids were sick (the Teenies with the sniffles and Hartley with Hand-Fout-Mouth...we were NOT risking having a house full of THAT).

So our outing on Saturday was highly anticipated by everyone.  Hartley's family lives down by Union Square and she's a big fan of the Children's Creativity Museum (it used be called the "Zeum") and the carousel outside.  Uncle Kelly came along so we could use two strollers and I wouldn't have to strap Caroline to me, and because he wanted to play, of course.

They were a bit apprehensive about the carousel when we first got there, and waiting for the horses to move produced more concern, but once the music started and we started spinning, they really, really enjoyed it.  (Thanks to Chelsea for grabbing a few of these pictures for us.)  In my family we always called it a Merry-Go-Round, though when I was a kid, because I was brilliant and knew that girl horses are called "mares", called it the "Mares Going Around".  In honor of that, all three kids chose to ride on horses for their first "go-round".

"Maybe I should try that horse, Uncle Kelly"

"Which one?"

"THIS ONE! Ha, ha ha, IT'S MINE!"

I said, "Everyone look at Mommy!" - not everyone looked.

That's more like it.

There's our paparazzi!

Our entry price gets us two rides each, so for the second ride, the boys decided they wanted to try out the giraffes.

"His neck is really tall!"

"It goes all the way UP!"

Waiting to get started (notice Max is attempting to text and drive - not recommended)

I had to apprehend Max for his texting!

Caroline is starting to have second thoughts about choosing a horse

And at the last minute she switched to a Ram!

That one's my favorite expression and totally epitomizes how much they enjoyed riding the carousel.

The Creativity Museum is designed for kids aged 4-11, it says, but there was definitely plenty to keep these kids busy.  Their favorite part, right off the bat, was the green screen slide - there's a video camera that records about 10 seconds of action and then replays it with a fancy background like water or spirals or something.  Pretty cool, even if my kids were just psyched to see their faces on the screen and didn't care about the background.

There was also a section with blocks and foam building bits and other stuff for climbing, which Max liked a lot.

Caroline and Hartley sat with Chelsea for a while playing with modeling clay, but when the boys came over, Hartley decided it was time to read books and Caroline followed her brothers out into the hall.  With all of the fancy things in the museum, they spent twenty minutes or so in the hall pushing their stools around and playing with a rubber ball from Uncle Kelly's pocket.

Oh, and playing with the water fountain, of course.

They explored the terrace and found a bubble table, then went inside to dance with the big girls in the video room, and then to the drawing station to play with chalk and markers (and, almost, scissors - good thing Uncle Kelly was paying attention!).

By the end of a couple of hours, they were completely spent and barely fought as we folded them back into the strollers to head home.